Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund

2021 Request for Proposal

General Information
Proposal ID: 2021-319

Proposal Title: Surface Water Purification System Powered by Renewable Energy

Project Manager Information

Name: Tianhong Cui

Organization: U of MN - College of Science and Engineering

Office Telephone: (612) 626-1636

Email: [email protected]

Project Basic Information

Project Summary: We propose to develop a cheap and an efficient water purification system powered by solar energy
that can be used to remove the pollutants in lakes and rivers in Minnesota.

Funds Requested: $200,000

Proposed Project Completion: 2024-06-30

LCCMR Funding Category: Small Projects (H)

Secondary Category: Methods to Protect, Restore, and Enhance Land, Water, and Habitat (F)

Project Location
What is the best scale for describing where your work will take place?
Statewide

What is the best scale to describe the area impacted by your work?
Statewide

When will the work impact occur?

During the Project and In the Future

12/8/24
1
Narrative
Describe the opportunity or problem your proposal seeks to address. Include any relevant background information.
Water pollution is becoming a global challenge. A survey conducted by the United Nations indicates that over 80% of
wastewater is discharged into the environment without proper treatment. This contaminated water is responsible for
1.8 million deaths on a yearly basis. Access to clean water is a problem not only in developing countries, but also in
developed countries like the United States, especially the state of Minnesota. Minnesota has many lakes, rivers and
streams, and it is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes". However, more than 40 percent of Minnesota’s waters are
polluted by excess phosphorus, nitrates and chloride. Agriculture and industry are the main sources of these pollutants.
Water pollution has significant impacts on the economy and human health. For example, nitrate removal systems in
Minnesota caused water supply costs to rise from 5-10 cents per 1,000 gallons to over $4 per 1,000 gallons, and the
polluted water can lead to diseases such as acute and chronic gastrointestinal diseases, diarrheal diseases, and lower
respiratory tract infections. Surface waters account for 60% of the US water supply, hence surface water purification is
particularly important in Minnesota, the United States, and all over the world.

What is your proposed solution to the problem or opportunity discussed above? i.e. What are you seeking funding to
do? You will be asked to expand on this in Activities and Milestones.
To solve the mentioned problems, the proposed research will design a solar powered water purification system that
combines photoelectrocatalyst and solar cells. The system contains a polymer sheet with immobilized photocatalyst, an
array of solar cells, a LED UV light, and four motors with propellers. The photocatalyst immobilized on polymer sheet will
directly contact water to mineralize toxic organic compounds, water pathogens and disinfectant by-products in water. A
small bias potential provided by solar cells will be applied on photocatalyst to achieve photoelectrocatalysis, which has
higher degradation efficiency than pure photocatalysis. The combination of solar cells and an LED UV light can transfer
the long wavelength portion of the solar spectrum that cannot be used by photocatalysts directly to short wavelength
UV light that can activate the photocatalyst. Finally, the motors with propellers will also be powered by solar cells, and
they will be used to hold the position of the system close to the water surface, generate turbulence in the water, and
therefore enhance mass transfer and enhance the photodegradation efficiency. The entire system is solar powered and
requires no additional energy supply, so that it can work in rivers and lakes for a long time without any maintenance.

What are the specific project outcomes as they relate to the public purpose of protection, conservation, preservation,
and enhancement of the state’s natural resources?
The proposed water purification system with one square meter in area can clean about one ton of polluted water per
day without external energy consumption based on preliminary experiments. Maintenance cycles of up to several weeks
and very low maintenance costs can be expected. By applying the proposed water purification system, the level of water
pollution in the surface waters of Minnesota can be significantly reduced, and the threat of water pollution to aquatic
animals and human health will be greatly reduced. As the result, the supply cost for drinking water purification will also
be reduced to a lower level.

12/8/24
2
Activities and Milestones

Activity 1: Development of water purification platforms in small scale

using new high-efficiency photoelectrocatalysis and an external power
supply for lab tests
Activity Budget: $132,461

Activity Description:
We propose to fabricate and evaluate a water purification platform based on photoelectrocatalysis. A shrink
thermoplastic film will be used as substrate material because it can shrink more than 80% of its original size after heating
without a loss of immobilized photocatalytic performance. The graphene and titanium dioxide composite material
synthesized by layer-by-layer self-assembly technique will be used as photocatalyst due to its relatively high
photodegradation efficiency. The photoelectrocatalysis will be achieved by applying a bias potential on the
photocatalyst, and the power source will be an ordinary battery. The performance of the platform will be tested in
laboratory by measuring degradation of dyes under solar light simulator. A separate motor will be used for stirring
water. Different synthesis paths of photocatalyst, voltage of bias potential and stirring speed will be tested to achieve
optimal degradation and energy efficiency. The energy efficiency determines the energy demand for solar cells, and the
rate of degradation determines the degradation efficiency of the final system. As a result, degradation efficiency that is
several times higher than the existing methods, and much lower power demand will be expected. The platform will be
used as the basis of the integrated water purification system.

Activity Milestones:

Description Completion Date

Design and integration of a modular purification system as a 2022-06-30
testing prototype in water
Development of graphene and titanium dioxide composite 2022-06-30
catalyst on a shrink thermoplastic film
Characterization, evaluation, improvement and optimization of 2023-06-30
the water purification system design and construction
Test and improve the performance of the water purification 2023-06-30
system under different operation conditions

Activity 2: Development of full-scale photoelectrocatalysis integrated

water purification systems powered by renewable energy, and
evaluating the performance in field tests
Activity Budget: $67,539

Activity Description:
We propose to design, fabricate, and test a full scale integrated system, which consists of the fabricated
photoelectrocatalysis system and a new solar cell power system. The high efficiency solar cell array will be used as the
power source for photoelectrocatalysis, an LED UV light, and motors with propellers. The power demand will be
estimated based on testing results from the photoelectrocatalysis platform, and a circuit will be designed to ensure each
component works under an optimized condition. The photoelectrocatalysis platform, solar cells, an LED light and motors
will be integrated on the same system that can be floated on water. The water purification system will be tested in the
lab, followed by field tests. The degradation efficiency and long-term stability of the system will be studied during
testing. The integrated system is expected to be able to degrade one ton of polluted water in 10 hours with solar light,
and show no performance decrease within one week. Then the devices will be deployed in lakes and rivers in Minnesota,
12/8/24
3
and the water quality will be monitored to evaluate the performance of the system. Finally, further improvement and
optimization will be performed according to the testing results.

Activity Milestones:

Description Completion Date

Development, evaluation, and optimization of water 2024-06-30
purification systems powered by solar cells in lab tests
Investigation of degradation efficiency and long-term stability 2024-06-30
of water purification systems by field tests

12/8/24
4
Long-Term Implementation and Funding
Describe how the results will be implemented and how any ongoing effort will be funded. If not already addressed as
part of the project, how will findings, results, and products developed be implemented after project completion? If
additional work is needed, how will this be funded?
As the product of this project, an integrated water purification system will be developed. Patents based on the
developed prototypes will be applied for commercialization. The systems will be deployed to rivers and lakes in
Minnesota. Products can be recycled after the water quality is improved or deployed in a water system that is easily
contaminated. Further work will focus on the integration and intelligence of the system, such as the implantation of
energy storage and water quality monitoring units. Other federal funding from NSF and EPA or private funds will be
applied to as further potential funding.

Project Manager and Organization Qualifications

Project Manager Name: Tianhong Cui

Job Title: Professor

Provide description of the project manager’s qualifications to manage the proposed project.
Dr. Tianhong Cui is currently a Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota. He is a
Professor in Mechanical Engineering and an Affiliate Senior Member of the graduate faculty in Department of Electrical
Engineering. He joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota in 2003. From 1995 to 2003, he held research or
faculty positions at Tsinghua University, University of Minnesota, National Laboratory of Metrology in Japan, and
Louisiana Tech University. He is a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, and a Distinguished
Visiting Professor at the University of Paris East in France. He is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineering.

Dr. Cui is an international leading expert on micro devices and advanced manufacturing. He has more than 320 archived
publications in scientific journals and prestigious conferences. He has received awards including the STA & NEDO
Fellowships in Japan, the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship in Germany, the Richard & Barbara Endowed Chair and
the Distinguished McKnight University Professorship from the University of Minnesota, the Distinguished Visiting
Professorship from University of Paris East, the Distinguished Visiting Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering
in UK, the Outstanding Editor Award from Nature Publishing Group, and numerous best paper awards. He is the
founding Executive Editor-in-Chief for a Nature journal, Microsystems & Nanoengineering. He is also serving as the
founding Editor-in-Chief for the first AAAS/Science Partner Journal titled Research.

Dr. Cui will serve as PI and project manager, responsible for overseeing the project, all reports, and deliverables. He will
supervise one Ph.D. student to work on the design, fabrication, and characterization of the surface water purification
system powered by solar energy. He will hold weekly meetings with his advisee to ensure good progress of this
proposed work, in addition to some daily technical discussion with his research assistant.

Organization: U of MN - College of Science and Engineering

Organization Description:
This work will be performed at the University of Minnesota in the Technology Integration & Advanced
Nano/Microsystems Laboratory (TIAN Lab), located in the Mechanical Engineering Building. Professor Cui is the director
of TIAN Lab equipped with the state-of-the-art instrument and facility to conduct the proposed research, with a variety
of fabrication and characterization equipment and tools, sufficient for Professor Cui, his postdoc, and Ph.D. student to
design, fabricate, characterize and analyze the proposed surface water purification systems .

12/8/24
5
Some fabrication work will be done in Minnesota Nano Center (www.nfc.umn.edu), a state-of-the-art facility for
research in nanoscience and applied nanotechnology. It is located at the University of Minnesota in a 7000 square foot
facility, including 3000 square feet of class 10 clean room. The Lab contains all of the major pieces of processing
equipment. Minnesota Nano Center well maintains these systems, keeps safe operating procedures, and trains students.
State support, support from NSF through NNCI, and industry usage allows Minnesota Nano Center to offer academic
rates that are normally less than half of the actual cost of operation. In addition to clean room tools available, the center
will also operate two new non-cleanroom labs in nanomaterials and nanotechnology.

12/8/24
6
Budget Summary
Category / Subcategory or Description Purpose Gen. Ineli gible % Bene fits # FTE Class ified Staff? $ Amount
Name Type
Personnel
1 Graduate To design, 19.9% 1.5 $156,019
Research fabricate, and
Assistant test of water
purification
systems
Principle To manage the 36.5% 0.06 $24,955
Investigator overall project,
and to conduct
overall research
Sub Total $180,974
Contracts and
Services
Sub Total -
Equipment,
Tools, and
Supplies
Tools and To use the To fabricate and $9,000
Supplies facility and assemble the
equipment at water
the Minnesota purification
Nano Center systems
Tools and Lab supplies, To build and test $10,026
Supplies instrument and the sensors and
equipment sensor networks
consumables,
minor
equipments for
settting up lab
and field
experimental
and testing
systems and
equipment
repairs and
calibration costs
12/8/24
7
 Sub Total $19,026
Capital
Expenditures
Sub Total -
Acquisitions and
Stewardship
Sub Total -
Travel In
Minnesota
Sub Total -
Travel Outside
Minnesota
Sub Total -
Printing and
Publication
Sub Total -
Other Expenses
Sub Total -
Grand Total $200,000

12/8/24
8
Classified Staff or Generally Ineligible Expenses
Category/Name Subcategory or Type Description Justification Ineligible Expense or
Classified Staff Request

12/8/24
9
Non ENRTF Funds
Category Specific Source Use Status Amount
State
In-Kind In kind: Indirect Cost at the In-kind support at the University Secured $82,896
University of Minnesota (55% of Minnesota
MTDC)
State Sub Total $82,896
Non-State
Non State Sub Total -
Funds Total $82,896

12/8/24
10
Attachments

Required Attachments
Visual Component
File:

Alternate Text for Visual Component

Current technology, proposed technology, sensor scheme, and sensing mechanism.

Optional Attachments
Support Letter or Other
Title File
University SPA Supporting Letter

Administrative Use
Does your project include restoration or acquisition of land rights?
No

Does your project have patent, royalties, or revenue potential?

Yes,
• Patent, Copyright, or Royalty Potential

Does your project include research?

Yes

Does the organization have a fiscal agent for this project?

Yes, Sponsored Projects Administration

12/8/24
11