The work presented in this thesis is to describe the fabrication of the nano-composites of carbonaceous materials (e.g. graphene oxide) and metal oxides (e.g. Titanium dioxide TiO2) for two specific applications in the field of public health protection: 1.) removal of micropollutants (MPs) in the aqueous environment; 2.) antimicrobial coating.The...
Lignin is the largest store of renewable aromatic carbon. Due to its refractory nature, however, its chemical potential is not fully realized, rather, most lignin is treated as a waste, burned for low-value energy. Here, we propose a biorefinery where the treatment of wastewater by a microbial electrolysis cell (MEC)...
Drinking water treatment residuals (DWTRs) are waste materials generated during the clarification process of drinking water treatment. The application of DWTRs as sorbent materials offers an opportunity to reuse and add value to these materials. For instance, as metal sorbents, DWTRs could be used as active capping materials to remediate...
In this dissertation, advances are made in understanding both the way hyporheic exchange impacts riverbed morphodynamics and the physical processes that lead to turbulent momentum transfer in the first few grains of riverbed sediments. In terms of physical advances in understanding the interplay between bedform movement and hyporheic exchange, we...
Unrestrained urban growth combined with the increase in the intensity and frequency of precipitation events, due to climate change, has become a major challenge for urban green spaces. Urban sprawl increases ecosystem degradation and the vulnerability of cities to floods as a result of excess stormwater runoff and non-point source...
The work presented in this thesis is aimed at developing surface coatings for two specific applications: 1) the self-cleaning surfaces and 2) fouling control in water filtration membranes. Since all materials interact with their environment through their surfaces, tailoring surface properties by implementing surface coatings can greatly affect their performances...
Excess loading of reactive nitrogen and phosphorus into the environment from human activities has resulted in widespread eutrophication and the degradation of surface water quality and wildlife habitat. Wastewater is the dominant point source of nutrient loading into waterways, and thus represents a critical opportunity for treatment and prevention of...
The viscoelastic properties of microbial biofilms have attracted great interests in recent years due to the ubiquity of biofilms and their wide range of industrial and municipal applications causing tremendous societal impacts. Biofilms are predominantly architected by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) matrices composed of bacterial cells and biopolymers secreted by...
Wastewater and bioreactors in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are reservoirs for antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), which can pass through treatment processes and migrate into the environment as they are released in effluent. WWTPs harbor a variety of ARGs that can be spread by horizontal gene transfer facilitated by mobile genetic...
Human activities have significantly increased riverine fluxes of carbon and nutrients. River-groundwater interactions facilitate retention and transformation of carbon and nutrients, and therefore profoundly impact carbon and nutrient cycles. From water column to the streambed, there is extensive variations in hydrodynamic transport and biogeochemical reaction over space and time. However,...