UK-SRP Graduate Student Researcher Receives Award from American Institute of Chemical Engineers

(October 2005) - Jian Xu, a chemical engineering Ph.D. student, has been awarded First Place in the National Paper (full manuscript) Contest conducted by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environmental Division. Xu's Ph.D. research advisor is Professor D. Bhattacharyya of Chemical and Materials Engineering.

The paper is in the area of Nanotechnology and Environment. The award is based on the manuscript (published in the October 2005 issue of J. Nanoparticle Research, vol 7, p 449-467): Synthesis of Nanoscale Bimetallic Particles in Polyelectrolyte Membrane Matrix for Reductive Transformation of Halogenated Organic Compounds by Jian Xu, Alan Dozier, and Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506.

Jian Xu's work showed that chlorinated organic pollutants can be detoxified at highly enhanced rates by membrane-immobilized nanostructured iron particles at room temperature. Xu's research has led to highly significant advancements in the area of environmental remediation.

The research is funded by NIEHS and by U.S. EPA STAR Program.