NRG Members: (L to R) Talal Almeelbi, Rabiya Shabnam, Sita Krajangpan,
Sharanya Shanbhogue, Achintya Bezbaruah, Chad Mayfield, Christopher
Capecchi, Michael Quamme, Harjyoti Kalita, and Dhritikshama Roy.
Achintya Bezbaruah
Education: Ph.D., University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), 2002
......................M.Tech, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, 1993
......................B.E., Assam Engineering College, 1987
Research Interests Nanomaterials for Pollution Control, Environmental sensors, Recalcitrant and micro pollutants, Contaminant fate and transport, Small community water and wastewater treatment,
Environmental management
Courses: CE 478/678 Water Quality Management, CE 479/679 Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment, CE 489 Capstone Project , ECS 740 Environmental Mangement, CE 776 Groundwater and Seepage (Part), CE 204 Surveying (Part), CE 309 Fluid Mechanics, CE 775 Industrial Waste Management
Most Recent Publications: Environmental Nanotechnology Book Chapter, Alginate Entrapped Iron Nanoparticles, Pesticide Remediation with Ironnanoparticles, Modeling Wetland Processes, NDWRRI FInal Report, IWA Book Chapter, EES Paper
E-mail: a.bezbaruah@ndsu.edu.........Phone: 701-231-7461.........FAX: 701-231-6185
Research Students
Sita Krajangpan (2006-Present, Ph.D)
Jay Thompson (2006-2008, MS)
Harjyoti Kalita (2007-Present, Ph.D)
Rabiya Shabnam (2007-Present, MS)
Christopher Capecchi (2009-Present, MS)
Dhritikshama Roy (2009-Present, Ph.D)
Sharanya Shanbhogue (2009-Present, MS)
Talal Almeelbi (2009-Present, Ph.D)
Matthew Haugstad (2010-Present, BS)
Michael Quamme (2009-2010, BS)
Chad Mayfield (2009-2010, BS)
Juan Elorza (2007-2008, BS)
Sita Krajangpan (USGS/NDWRRI Research Fellow) is a graduate student (Ph.D.) in Civil Engineering (CE) at North Dakota State University. She holds a Diploma in Analytical Chemistry (1999, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand), Bachelor of Science degree (2000, Chulalongkorn University), and a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management (2004, Chulalongkorn University). Her research is focused on developing an effective metal nanoparticle delivery system for in-situ remediation of groundwater contaminants. She is specifically working amphiphilic polysiloxane graft copolymeric (APGC) vehicles for iron nanoparticles. Sita is planning to graduate in Fall of 2009.
The amphiphilic polysiloxane graft copolymers (APGC) are used as delivery vehicles for zero valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI). The backbone provided protects nZVI from oxidation by non-target compounds while creating an affinity of the modified nZVI for the water/organic (specifically, LNAPL /DNAPL) interface. The polymer also promotes colloidal stability of nZVI in aqueous suspension; the modified nZVI are significantly more stable than bare nZVI. The polymer coating makes more nZVI reactive surface available for contaminant degradation. Sita has successfully synthesized and characterized nZVI and APGCs. She has completed colloidal stability and oxygen mass comparison between APGCs coated and bare nZVI. After finishing the colloidal stability studies, the kinetic studies with groundwater contaminants (TCE and As( III)) will be conducted in batch experiments. Successful development of a delivery vehicle for iron nanoparticles will have broader ramifications in the field of groundwater remediation. Targeted delivery of the nZVI will save resources and time needed for remediation of contaminants in the subsurface and thus, will help in protecting our water resources. The project is focused towards the remediation of arsenic and chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminated groundwater. Arsenic contamination is a major concern in southeast North Dakota (568 sq mile area in Sargent, Ransom and Richland counties are affected). Read Sita's ACS 2008 Preprint. Read Sita's ASCE book chapter. Read Sita's J Haz Mat paper.
Sita's Co-advisor is Bret Chisholm of NDSU's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE).
Jay Thompson (USGS/NDWRRI Research Fellow) got his Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from North Dakota State University in Summer 2008. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering (2005, NDSU) and an Engineer in Training certificate (2004). He worked on iron nanoparticles for the remediation of pesticide contaminated groundwater. He had joined Richard Luthy's Group (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) at Stanford University for his doctoral program.
Pesticide contamination of groundwater remains an ongoing area of concern. One promising pesticide remediation technology is reductive dechlorination by iron filings or powder. This technology has been successful in both the lab and field. However, limitations inherent in this process have limited its use. Recent research has shown that nanoscale zero valent iron (nZVI), with its high surface area and reactivity, can overcome many of these limitations. Although particle properties can vary greatly with synthesis method, typical particles have diameters less than 100 nm. This property results in extremely high specific surface area, which greatly speeds reactions and can eliminate potentially harmful byproducts. Additionally, nZVI can be injected directly into an aquifer, eliminating the need for the expensive excavation associated with iron filings. This research aims to determine the effectiveness of nZVI for the remediation of five commonly used pesticides, atrazine, alachlor, dicamba, picloram and benomyl. This study examined the effectiveness of iron nanoparticles for the treatment of the herbicides alachlor, atrazine, dicamba and picloram. Iron nanoparticles were synthesized by the borohydride reduction method and characterized using transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface area analysis. The resulting particles had an average diameter of 35 nm and a N2-BET specific surface area of 25 m^2 g^-1. Of the compounds studied, only alachlor degraded in the presence of nZVI. The surface area normalized pseudo first-order rate constant (k SA) for alachlor dechlorination by nZVI was found to be 38.5 x 10 -5 L h^-1 m^-2 (R^2 = 0.999). The primary reaction by-product was identified as dechlorinated alachlor. The effect of mass transfer and ionic strength was also examined. The results suggested that nZVI may be a viable option for both site remediation and low volume, high concentration pesticide waste treatment. Read Jay's NDWRRI Final Report. Read Jay's J Enviro Sci Health B paper.
Harjyoti Kalita (USGS/NDWRRI Research Fellow) is a graduate student (Ph.D.) in Materials and Nanotechnology (MNT) at North Dakota State University. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry (2004, Gauhati University, India) and a Master of Science degree in Chemistry (2006, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati). He is working on metal ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) and molecular-imprinted polymer (MIP) for selective and enhanced recognition of environmental contaminants of concern. He is expected to graduate in Fall of 2010.
Molecular and ion imprinting technology is an attractive synthetic approach to mimic natural molecular recognition. In this process, functional monomers are allowed to self-assemble around a template molecule and subsequently cross link. Under defined conditions, the template molecule can be removed, leaving behind a cavity complementary in shape and functionality with the removed molecule. This cavity will bind molecules identical to the template molecule. The imprint functions like a lock that is only compatible with the correct key. IIP/MIP materials will be used as catalyst and for enhanced recognition of metal ions. Arsenic will be studied as priority contaminant. Later the work will be expanded to other metals and organic contaminants. Ion/molecular imprinted chemical sensors (potentially biosensors at the later stage of the research) have potential applications in clinical diagnostics, environmental analysis, and food analysis as well as detection of illicit drugs, genotoxicity and chemical weapons. Further, IIP and MIP materials will find applications in environmental remediation. An advantage of such a remediation technology will be its target specificity. The results from this work will have universal appeal and will be very relevant to North Dakota as well. Arsenic contamination is a major concern in southeast North Dakota (568 sq mile area in Sargent, Ransom and Richland counties are affected).
Harjyoti is also working on structure-property relationship of amphiphilic polysiloxane graft copolymers iron nanoparticles. Read his ACS 2009 Preprint. Also read his ASCE book chapter and IWA book chapter.
Jay's Co-advisor is Bret Chisholm of NDSU's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE).
Rabiya Shabnam (USGS/NDWRRI Research Fellow) is an MS student in Environmental Conservation Sciences (ECS) at NDSU. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry (1999, University of Madras, India) and a Master of Science degree in Biochemistry (2001, Periyar University, India). Her research is focused on encapsulating metal nanoparticles and microorganisms in alginate capsules (reactors) and studying their interactions. She will work on remediation of environmental contaminants using encapsulated microorganism-nanometal system. She is expected to graduate in Fall of 2009. She has made some progress in making of alginate capsules, optimizing their size and properties (e.g., membrane thickness, porosity). Entrapment of iron nanoparticles and microorganisms into alginate capsules has been achieved. Tracer studies are underway. The results from this work will be useful in designing permeable reactive barriers for groundwater contaminant removal and can potentially be used in household filters to remove trace contaminants. Read Rabiya's ACS 2009 abstract.
Christopher Capecchi is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering at NDSU. He holds a BS degree in Civil Engineering (2009, NDSU) and is an Engineer in Training (2008). He is currently studying plant-nanoparticle interactions with the goals of understanding the science involved and how 'the science' can be exploited for the remediation of 'problem nanoparticles'. He is planning to graduate in Spring of 2011 and join a challenging Ph.D. program.
Dhritikshama Roy (USGS/NDWRRI Research Fellow) is a doctoral students in Environmental Conservation Sciences (ECS) at NDSU. Dhriti holds MS degrees from Nicholls State University, LA (2009) and University of Kalyani, India (2004) and a BS degree from North Bengal University, India (2002).
Her MS research included treatment of aquaculture wastewater using sequencing batch reactor (SBR), pretreatment of switch grass lignocellulose for ethanol production and study of microorganisms associated with oyster.
At NDSU she is working on plant-nanoparticle interactions. She is plannig to graduate in Fall of 2012.
Sai Sharanya Shanbhogue is pursuing a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering at NDSU. She is presently researching on microorganism-nanoparticle interactions. She is plannig to graduate in Spring of 2011.
Talal Almeelbi is a doctoral students in Environmental Conservation Sciences (ECS) at NDSU. He is presently working on phosphate removal using metal nanaparticle slurry. He is plannig to graduate in Fall of 2012.
Chad Mayfield got his undergraduate (BS) in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at NDSU. Chad and Mike worked on influence of various ions on arsenic removal by bare and polymer coated iron nanoparticles. Chad is planning to go for his masters and doctoral studies in environmental engineering area. He is one of the winners of CE 370 'Green Idea Contest 2009'.
Michael Quamme got his undergraduate (BS) in Civil Engineering at NDSU. Mike and Chad worked on influence of various ions on arsenic removal by bare and polymer coated iron nanoparticles. Mike is planning to pursue his masters and doctoral studies in environmental engineering. He is one of the winners of CE 370 'Green Idea Contest 2009'.
Juan Elorza was an undergraduate (BS) exchange student in Civil Engieering from the University of Burgos in Spain. He worked on his BS senior design at NDSU on kinetics of nitrate degradation using entrapped zero-valent iron nanoparticles (nZVI). He used calcium alginate to entrap the nZVI. Juan graduated in 2007 and is presently employed as an engineer with Acciona Energy North America at its Chicago Office. Read Juan's J Haz Mat paper.
Matthew Haugstad is pursuing his undergraduate (BS) inCivil Engineering at NDSU. Matt is working on phosphate removal by micro- and nano-iron particles. Matt is planning graduate in Spring 2011 and to go for his graduate studies in environmental engineering area.