A bioengineered approach for sustainable crude oil pollution treatment via entrapment, dispersal and removal using Nano-CarboScavenger

Daza, Enrique A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/88311 Copy

Description

Title

A bioengineered approach for sustainable crude oil pollution treatment via entrapment, dispersal and removal using Nano-CarboScavenger

Author(s)

Daza, Enrique A.

Issue Date

2015-07-22

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Pan, Dipanjan

Department of Study

Bioengineering

Discipline

Bioengineering

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• petroleum
• spill
• crude oil
• oil
• nanotechnology
• sustainability
• Nano-CarboScavenger
• dispersion
• dispersant
• absorption
• nanoparticle
• bioengineering

Abstract

Aqueous petroleum contamination continues to threaten life-dependent bodies of water and surrounding ecosystems including human habitation. It is now well established that most methods of petroleum remediation are either inefficient or involve highly toxic chemical dispersants. In this work we adopt a commercially-amenable nanotechnology based approach to design tunable, biodegradable particles for efficient and safe petroleum remediation. Exhaustively characterized 100 nm sized hybrid dual-shelled polymeric (PS275-b-PAA50) and carbon-cored nanoarchitectures (Nano-CarboScavengers or NCS) were derived predominantly from natural carbohydrate sources and designed for a multipurpose oil sequestration and dispersion agent that is environmentally undisruptive. NCS distribution on crude oil contaminated water was found to combine both absorption and dispersion mechanisms to treat a maximum of 80% of the pollution, while NCS distribution on a petroleum distillate mixture efficiently treated 91% of the pollution by absorption alone. NCS exposure to Zebrafish, Vibrio fischeri, and MCF-7 were performed in vitro and were found to be remarkably un‐inhibitive with LD50: 8 g/L, EC50: 1.28 g/L and IC50: 4 g/L respectively. This far exceeds expected NCS exposure (ENE) of 1x10-5 g/L in bodies of water. Finally, NCS degraded in the presence of human myeloperoxidase (HMPO) and horseradish peroxidase (HRP), suggesting any incidental biological uptake can be enzymatically digested in living systems.

Graduation Semester

2015-8

Type of Resource

text

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88311

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2015 Enrique Daza

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