Special Seminar, Monday, November 6th
Danmeng Shuai, Ph.D.
Society is currently confronting serious threats to our sustainable development including the contamination of dwindling freshwater supplies, an impending energy crisis, and infectious disease outbreaks. Innovative mate-rials-based strategies have emerged as a promising platform for sustainable water treatment, renewable ener-gy production, and antimicrobial applications with performance that can far exceed traditional approaches. Work presented herein will demonstrate the promise of several novel materials-based strategies for treat-ment of impaired water supplies, biofuel production, and pathogen inactivation. For example, an emerging photocatalyst of graphitic carbon nitride was proven highly effective for the removal of a broad spectrum of persistent organic micropollutants and pathogens under simulated sunlight and artificial indoor light, provid-ing a sustainable route by which otherwise chemical pollutants and pathogens can be destroyed with reduced energy footprint. In addition to focusing on the fundamental science and practical engineering application of innovative materials for water treatment, this talk will also discuss the future of functional materials that can be translated into renewable energy production and infectious diseases prevention.