{"403881":{"#nid":"403881","#data":{"type":"news","title":"The Acid Test","body":[{"value":"\u003Ch4\u003EEarth\u2019s air pollution and climate change issues are linked to combustion and its detrimental byproducts: greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and gases that pollute the atmosphere such as nitrogen oxides.\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe good news is that today\u2019s advanced materials can trap or neutralize these acid gases right in the smokestack, or even capture CO2\u0026nbsp;straight from the atmosphere. Multiple research teams are working to increase the efficiency of these important materials; the Department of Energy (DOE) is currently funding a number of such projects under its\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.energyfrontier.us\/\u0022\u003EEnergy Frontier Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(EFRC) program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut a key question remains: How do acidic gases affect materials designed to lower their emissions? How durable, for instance, will these advanced materials be when subjected to real-world environments like the hot exhaust flues of a power plant?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a knowledge gap here \u2014 scientists don\u2019t yet understand the fundamentals of how acid gases like carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur oxides interact with important classes of materials,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/walton.chbe.gatech.edu\/Walton\u0022\u003EKrista Walton\u003C\/a\u003E, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical \u0026amp; Biomolecular Engineering\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/a\u003E(ChBE). \u201cIf you create a new material that separates CO2\u0026nbsp;with record efficiency in the lab, but it only lasts a few days in an industrial environment, then it\u2019s not a useful advance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe DOE recently awarded a four-year $11.2 million grant to Georgia Tech to lead an EFRC that studies materials degradation caused by acid gases. Directed by Walton, the new center involves research teams from six universities and a government laboratory. Collaborating with Georgia Tech are researchers from Lehigh University, University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Wisconsin, Washington University in St. Louis, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDubbed the\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/efrc.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECenter for Understanding and Control of Acid Gas-Induced Evolution of Materials for Energy\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(UNCAGE-ME), the Georgia Tech-led effort is one of 10 new EFRCs recently funded by the DOE.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMULTIPLE RESEARCH THRUSTS\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe seven partners are investigating a range of solid materials \u2014 including metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites \u2014 that have the ability to trap or chemically alter acid gases via separations\/ catalysis techniques. The overall study is divided into several research thrust areas, and the goal in each case is to understand, down to the molecular level, exactly what\u2019s taking place as acid gases interact with a given material.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe EFRC is multifaceted, Walton explained. Unlike many materials efforts that focus on designing a single material for a target application, this center covers numerous materials and employs a wide range of research techniques. Moreover, the research process itself is highly integrated \u2014 most of the principal investigators from the seven partner institutions are involved in two or more projects.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe center is tackling four major research thrusts, all concerned with materials relevant to industry. The work focuses on acid-gas interactions with:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EModel nonporous oxide-based solids, such as copper and titanium oxides.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOrdered (crystalline) porous materials, such as metal organic frameworks.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EDisordered porous materials, including carbons and amine\/oxide composites.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EExternal surfaces of porous materials.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe multiple partner structure of this EFRC fits our culture at Georgia Tech very well, because we\u2019re accustomed to collaborating,\u201d said\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/sholl\u0022\u003EDavid Sholl\u003C\/a\u003E, a ChBE professor who is an EFRC deputy director and leader of the thrust investigating external surfaces of porous materials. \u201cIt means we can do things that no individual person can do alone; typically three, four, or even five different research groups are contributing their techniques to each thrust.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/jones\u0022\u003EProfessor Christopher W. Jones\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of ChBE is leading the thrust on disordered porous materials, while\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/nair\u0022\u003EProfessor Sankar Nair\u003C\/a\u003Eof ChBE is leading the ordered porous materials thrust. Assistant Professors\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/filler\u0022\u003EMichael Filler\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;and\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/faculty\/lively\u0022\u003ERyan Lively\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of ChBE, as well as\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/orlando\/\u0022\u003EProfessor Thomas Orlando\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the Georgia Tech\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry,\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;are also principal investigators in the center.\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.ornl.gov\/our-people\/staff-directory\/staff-profile-pages\/bf3349bf-cf7b-464b-8265-7896e4b72a32\u0022\u003EZili Wu\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is leading the research thrust that is addressing model nonporous oxide-based solids.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo get the complete story, visit\u0026nbsp;http:\/\/www.rh.gatech.edu\/features\/acid-test.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe good news is that today\u2019s advanced materials can trap or neutralize these acid gases right in the smokestack, or even capture CO2\u0026nbsp;straight from the atmosphere. Multiple research teams are working to increase the efficiency of these important materials; the Department of Energy (DOE) is currently funding a number of such projects under its\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.energyfrontier.us\/\u0022\u003EEnergy Frontier Research Center\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(EFRC) program.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Earth\u2019s air pollution and climate change issues are linked to combustion and its detrimental byproducts"}],"uid":"28159","created_gmt":"2015-05-12 09:13:02","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:17","author":"Kelly Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-05-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-05-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"403921":{"id":"403921","type":"image","title":"Acid Test","body":null,"created":"1449252000","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:00:00","changed":"1475895127","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:07","alt":"Acid Test","file":{"fid":"75985","name":"acid_test_trio.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/acid_test_trio.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/acid_test_trio.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":199860,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/acid_test_trio.jpg?itok=hbnnfQ0T"}}},"media_ids":["403921"],"groups":[{"id":"217141","name":"Georgia Tech Materials Institute"}],"categories":[{"id":"154","name":"Environment"}],"keywords":[{"id":"7308","name":"acid"},{"id":"2507","name":"catalysis"},{"id":"807","name":"environment"},{"id":"1692","name":"materials"},{"id":"746","name":"pollution"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"},{"id":"39471","name":"Materials"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}