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个人简介
Research Interests
Environmental Chemical Engineering
Atmospheric Chemistry
Wastewater Treatment
Research Projects
Research in the Valsaraj group involves several areas of environmental, chemical and materials engineering.
Chemistry of aqueous surfaces in the atmospheric context
Aqueous surfaces such as thin water films on aerosols, water droplets (fog, mist, dew, rain) and frozen precipitation (snow, ice) exist in the atmosphere. In most cases they have very high surface area to bulk volume ratio. A number of gas phase atmospheric trace gases (e.g., semi-volatile and volatile hydrophobic organic compounds) adsorb and react with gas phase oxidants (hydroxyl radical, singlet oxygen, ozone, nitrate radical, etc.) at these surfaces. These heterogeneous, multiphase processes are important in tropospheric chemistry. Our group uses a variety of techniques to probe the heterogeneous chemistry of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) on aqueous surfaces. These include falling droplet reactor and thin film flow reactors. We also collaborate with the groups of Professor Bin Chen (LSU Chemistry) and Prof Collin Wick (Louisiana Tech) on Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of PAHs at the air-water interfaces.
Fog processing of organic compounds in the near-surface atmosphere
Fog is a near surface cloud with water droplets condensed on sub micron particles. The typical size of fog droplets are 1 to 50 microns and are therefore high surface area. Sunlight induced photochemistry in these systems can help to process most inorganic and organic species via oxidative reactions to form secondary organic aerosol precursors. It is also well known that a large fraction of organic carbon in fog is not spectated. To understand these problems, our group is engaged in both field collection and analysis of fog waters. We use active cloud water collectors. We then use a variety of analysis techniques (GC/MS, HPLC/MS, ICP/MS) to understand the composition of fog waters.
Aerosol transport of oil and dispersant components from a deep sea oil spill
During the Deep Water Horizon Spill a substantial amount of crude oil, as well as chemicals (dispersant) to combat the spill were set free in the Gulf of Mexico. This scenario can repeat in future accidents as well. This research investigates the contribution of the aerosolization of semi-volatile components of crude oil via bursting bubbles on the sea surface. Preliminary experiments from our laboratory have lent credible evidence for this process. Ejection rates of alkanes (C>15) from collected oil mousse samples and model mixtures are being assessed in a small-scale bubble reactor via GC-MS in the absence and the presence of dispersants and pure surfactants. The generated particulate matter are being characterized for its organic and inorganic constituents with SEM, ICP-MS, GC-MS and X-ray microscopy.
Photochemical reactors for waste treatment
Our on-going research in this area involves the use of highly ordered three-dimensional structures such as photonic crystals of titania for photocatalytic applications. These photonic crystals can influence electromagnetic waves in a manner similar to electrons in semiconductors. Fabricating them on optical fibers and using them in a monolith configuration is a vast improvement in current designs of photochemical reactors.
研究兴趣
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LANGMUIRno. 7 (2024): 3651-3658
LANGMUIR (2024)
Extremes in Atmospheric Processes and Phenomenon: Assessment, Impacts and MitigationDisaster Resilience and Green Growthpp.267-282, (2022)
Ahmed Al Harraq,Philip J. Brahana, Olivia Arcemont,Donghui Zhang,Kalliat T. Valsaraj,Bhuvnesh Bharti
ACS Environmental Auno. 6 (2022): 549-555
ACS Engineering Auno. 1 (2022): 3-11
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