Howdy! My name is Krystle Dunn and I am completing the Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment System (NEWT) Summer Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program. The vision of  NEWT is to ensure water access anywhere in the entire universe! The project that I am working on will help recycle water from astronaut urine, so that they have potable water for drinking, hygiene, and oxygen generation in space.

This week I feel like have been immersed in an intense 5 E Lesson Plan.  So far, I have been engaged by reading article to build knowledge and expectations, exploring and receiving explanations when shadowing and working with mentors.

This first week I have completed a lot of background research to just wrap my head around the concepts and the problem that we are trying to solve. In space membrane distillation is the method for treating concentrated urine, but membrane scaling and fouling is a problem. So, the membranes get dirty with minerals and bacteria and need to be replaced sooner than expected. I am working in the Qilin Li Lab and her lab focuses on creating many types of membranes for water purification and keeping those membranes clean.

My mentor, Seth Pedersen’s goals is to create a membrane with low surface energy and hierarchical roughness(increased surface area) that that will make the membrane superhydrophobic. They will look similar to the images below. 

After the membrane is made we will coat it with silver nanoparticles  to increase the roughness and then coat it with 1-dodecanetiol which will make the membrane more hydrophobic. The idea is very similar to the nano waterproofing activity we completed during our RET orientation.

Here is a breakdown of my week. (Engage, Explore, and Explain)

Day 1-3

There are several undergrad, grad, and postdoc students that work in the Li lab.I was introduced to another project that is taking place in the Li lab while my mentor attended and presented at a conference on membranes. I was able to work with Suping Yu who specializes in inhibiting and understanding the growth of biofilms on membranes. She does this by cultivating the bacteria and then she compares the genetics of normal strain and antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Day 4

I was able to use the scanning electron microscope (SEM) with Seth and get images of the commercial membranes that he is currently using.

Day 5

I attended the labs group meeting and heard updates on other projects that are taking place in the lab. I attended a meeting to determine the best practices for collecting urine on campus. I also helped with the modifications of the module that houses the membrane during the Membrane Distillation experiment.

I look forward to the upcoming weeks (Elaborate and Evaluate)

We will be ordering parts and chemicals to create our membrane and be trained on electrospinning (the process we will use to create our unique membranes) and begin creating the membranes. I will also narrow down my options for a lesson plan to bring back to school.