Andrea Kraetz
Chemical engineering
Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona
Graduation date: Spring 2019
FURI | Spring 2019
Improving Selenium Oxoanion Removal with Molecular Imprinting
Selenium in water can be toxic to various organisms at very low concentrations. Layered double hydroxides (LDH) have shown promise as nanomaterial sorbents for selenium oxoanions. Due to similarities between selenium and sulfur oxoanions, LDH can favor sulfate adsorption over that of selenate in solutions with high sulfate concentrations such as power plant wastewater. Through the inclusion of LDH into a chitosan biopolymer, the nanocomposite can be molecularly imprinted to improve selenate selectivity in solutions containing sulfate. This can make water treatment for power plants and other processes more efficient and improve overall water quality.
Mentor: Candace Chan