Prof. Paul Westerhoff

Arizona State University

Biography

​Dr. Paul Westerhoff is a Regents Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University and the Vice Dean for Research and Innovation in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. He has over 250 journal publications on his research related to the fate of nanomaterials in water, using nanomaterial-based technologies for water and reuse treatment, reactions and fate of oxo-anions, plus characterization, treatment and oxidation of NOM and micropollutants. He is the recipient of several awards including the 2017 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Annual Achievement Award, ASU Outstanding Doctoral Mentor for 2015, 2013 ARCADIS/AEESP Frontier in Research Award, and 2006 Paul L. Busch Award. Currently, he directs a 9-university EPA network on the lifecycle of nanomaterials and Deputy Director of a newly awarded NSF/ERC on Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment. 

All sessions by Prof. Paul Westerhoff

Nano-Enabled Optical Fibers Enhance Photocatalysis and Disinfection
09:00 AM

Delivering light into reactors to enable nanomaterials, and separating nanomaterials from water, are two barriers to broadening the use of nanomaterials for drinking water. Optical fibers provide new modalities to deliver UV-A, B, C or visible light into a wide variety of reactor geometries. This presentation will cover three novel water treatment objectives that can be achieved using optical fibers coated with nanomaterials, including destruction of organics, removal of hardness, and disinfection. The physics of light and interactions within optical fibers will be discussed, with the intent of maximizing effectiveness of light enabling nano-technology related reactions. Attaching nanomaterials, securely, to optical fibers prevents concern about their release into drinking water – and in some cases limits their ability to be fouled by non-targeted constituents in water.

Prof. Paul Westerhoff

Arizona State University

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