Award Abstract # 1736093
CREST Center for Innovation Research and Education in Environmental Nanotechnology

NSF Org: EES
Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM
Recipient: UNIVERSITY OF PUERTO RICO
Initial Amendment Date: July 20, 2017
Latest Amendment Date: July 26, 2023
Award Number: 1736093
Award Instrument: Continuing Grant
Program Manager: Tomasz Durakiewicz
tdurakie@nsf.gov
 (703)292-4892
EES
 Div. of Equity for Excellence in STEM
EDU
 Directorate for STEM Education
Start Date: October 1, 2017
End Date: September 30, 2024 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $5,000,000.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $5,118,600.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2017 = $1,350,000.00
FY 2019 = $650,000.00

FY 2020 = $1,000,000.00

FY 2021 = $1,000,000.00

FY 2022 = $1,118,600.00
History of Investigator:
  • Liz Diaz-Vazquez (Principal Investigator)
    liz.diaz2@upr.edu
  • Elvira Cuevas (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Zhongfang Chen (Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Carlos Cabrera (Former Principal Investigator)
  • Liz Diaz-Vazquez (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
  • Luis Fonseca (Former Co-Principal Investigator)
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
39 PONCE DE LEON AVE
SAN JUAN
PR  US  00931
(787)763-4949
Sponsor Congressional District: 00
Primary Place of Performance: University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras
Ponce de Leon Ave.
San Juan
PR  US  00931-3346
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
00
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): Q3LLLDFHPNL3
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): Centers for Rsch Excell in S&T
Primary Program Source: 04002223DB NSF Education & Human Resource
04001718DB NSF Education & Human Resource

04001920DB NSF Education & Human Resource

04002021DB NSF Education & Human Resource

04002122DB NSF Education & Human Resource

04002223DB NSF Education & Human Resource
Program Reference Code(s): 9131, 9150, 9179, SMET
Program Element Code(s): 9131
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.076

ABSTRACT

The Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program supports the enhancement of research capabilities of minority-serving institutions through the establishment of centers that effectively integrate education and research. CREST promotes the development of new knowledge, enhancements of the research productivity of individual faculty, and an expanded presence of students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

With National Science Foundation support, the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras will establish the Center for Innovation, Research, and Education in Environmental Nanotechnology. The Center is a strategic effort that involves collaborations with universities, national laboratories and industry to utilize nanomaterials research to address environmental pollution, a topic of local and national importance, while developing the future STEM workforce

This Center will conduct interdisciplinary research in three areas. (1) The Nanomaterials for Water and Soil Remediation subproject will yield innovative approaches, research and education in the development of nanomaterials for water purification, soil remediation and resource recovery. In particular, these efforts will develop reactive membranes for water purification, heavy metal remediation, and microbial reactors. (2) Sensors for Environmental Monitoring research will develop nanomaterials that enable new, robust and stable devices for physical and chemical sensing of contaminants of environmental concern. The main goal is to develop devices that remain operational under environmental conditions with minimal power consumption. (3) Nanomaterials for Energy Conversion research will focus on energy storage and conversion, with special interest in the development of advanced materials for the recovery of energy from small molecules that are typically encountered in the environment such as: ammonia and urea. Emphasis will be placed on the discovery of nanomaterials for the enhanced operation of ammonia alkaline fuel cells and urea microbial fuel cells.

Education and training in environmental nanotechnology will support the professional development of undergraduate and graduate students, K-12 teachers, and university faculty. A citizen-based research initiative will be implemented to enable communities to make informed decisions and establish appropriate public policies related to environmental conservation practices and the use of environmental nanotechnology. The Center also addresses the national need to develop a diverse and well-prepared STEM workforce.

PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH

Note:  When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

(Showing: 1 - 10 of 86)
Zhou, Andrew F. and Pacheco, Elluz and Zhou, Badi and Feng, Peter X. "Size-Dependent Electrical Transport Properties in Conducting Diamond Nanostripes" Nanomaterials , v.11 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071765 Citation Details
Sánchez-Álvarez, Annelis O. and Dick, Jeffrey E. and Larios, Eduardo and Cabrera, Carlos R. "Anodic coulometry of zero-valent iron nanoparticles" Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry , v.896 , 2021 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelechem.2021.115331 Citation Details
Vélez, Carlos A. and Corchado-García, Juan and Rojas-Pérez, Arnulfo and Serrano-Alejandro, Edwin J. and Santos-Homs, Christian and Soto-Pérez, Joesene J. and Cabrera, Carlos R. "Manufacture of Pd/Carbon Vulcan XC-72R Nanoflakes Catalysts for Ethanol Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Media by RoDSE Method" Journal of The Electrochemical Society , v.164 , 2017 10.1149/2.1041714jes Citation Details
Liu, Chen-Xia and Zhang, Wen-Hua and Wang, Nan and Guo, Penghu and Muhler, Martin and Wang, Yuemin and Lin, Shiru and Chen, Zhongfang and Yang, Guang "Highly Efficient Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes by a Copper-Triazolate Metal-Organic Framework" Chemistry - A European Journal , v.24 , 2018 10.1002/chem.201803306 Citation Details
Chen, Wei and Liu, Zhiqiang and Zhao, Yinghe and Yi, Xianfeng and Chen, Zhongfang and Zheng, Anmin "To Be or Not To Be Protonated: cyclo -N 5 ? in Crystal and Solvent" The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters , v.9 , 2018 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b02841 Citation Details
Li, Fengyu and Liu, Xinying and Chen, Zhongfang "1 + 1? > 2: Heteronuclear Biatom Catalyst Outperforms Its Homonuclear Counterparts for CO Oxidation" Small Methods , 2019 10.1002/smtd.201800480 Citation Details
Zhao, Yinghe and Zhang, Jun?Jie and Yuan, Shijun and Chen, Zhongfang "Nonvolatile Electrical Control and Heterointerface?Induced Half?Metallicity of 2D Ferromagnets" Advanced Functional Materials , v.29 , 2019 https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201901420 Citation Details
Cai, Xinyong and Chen, Yuanzheng and Sun, Bai and Chen, Jiao and Wang, Hongyan and Ni, Yuxiang and Tao, Li and Wang, Hui and Zhu, Shouhui and Li, Xiumei and Wang, Yanchao and Lv, Jian and Feng, Xiaolei and Redfern, Simon A. and Chen, Zhongfang "Two-dimensional Blue-AsP monolayers with tunable direct band gap and ultrahigh carrier mobility show promising high-performance photovoltaic properties" Nanoscale , v.11 , 2019 10.1039/c9nr01261c Citation Details
Wang, Ya and Comer, Jeffrey and Chen, Zhongfang and Chen, Jingwen and Gumbart, James C. "Exploring adsorption of neutral aromatic pollutants onto graphene nanomaterials via molecular dynamics simulations and theoretical linear solvation energy relationships" Environmental Science: Nano , v.5 , 2018 10.1039/C8EN00575C Citation Details
Gao, Yan and Xie, Yuee and Chen, Yuanping and Gu, Jinxing and Chen, Zhongfang "Spindle nodal chain in three-dimensional ?? boron" Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics , v.20 , 2018 10.1039/c8cp03874k Citation Details
Chen, Zhe and Zhao, Jingxiang and Cabrera, Carlos R. and Chen, Zhongfang "Computational Screening of Efficient Single?Atom Catalysts Based on Graphitic Carbon Nitride (g?C 3 N 4 ) for Nitrogen Electroreduction" Small Methods , v.3 , 2018 https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.201800368 Citation Details
(Showing: 1 - 10 of 86)

Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.

Print this page

Back to Top of page