Massive Potential Tested in Tiny Bubbles Called ‘Nanobubbles’
- August 7, 2024
Research at the University of Maine is exploring whether nanobubbles can tackle PFAS, nano-plastics in oceans, wastewater treatment, and rapid seed germination.
(August 2024—Orono, Maine) Space related research taking place at the University of UMaine could have big applications and solve critical environmental problems right here in Maine.
Dr. Onur Apul, assistant professor of environmental engineering at University of Maine, is leading a multi-institutional investigation backed by a $1.1 million NASA grant to explore whether nanobubbles (like the bubbles in your soda but thousands of times smaller) can support space exploration.
But the research doesn’t end there. Nanobubbles have the potential to facilitate water treatment on spaceships, making it easier for astronauts to live longer in space, but there are also applications that could help solve some leading environmental problems.
One experiment is testing whether nanobubbles can remove PFAS from drinking water. Another is testing whether they can remove nano-plastic from oceans. Can nanobubbles increase the aeration of wastewater? Can they supply a ready source of oxygen to land-based aquaculture? Can they accelerate seed germination in agriculture and forestry?
All of these questions – and more – are part of the research being undertaken by Dr. Apul and his graduate students at the University of Maine.
“Nanobubble research aims to improve on something we all need for survival—clean air and clean water,” says Dr. Apul, lead researcher on the project. “This research provides a way to understand how we can purify water in space, advance our journey to Mars and interstellar colonization, and explore applications right here in Maine.”
Nanobubbles offer unique benefits: They are nanoscopic in size which means that they hold their shape for a long time; they don’t rise quickly to the surface; and they can transfer gases very rapidly.
UMaine’s Ph.D. candidate selected for Zero Gravity Flight
Kenneth Mensah, a Ph.D. candidate at UMaine’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and one of Dr. Apul’s students, was selected in March to join an elite group of students working to advance scientific research and experimentation of nanobubbles. Part of a half-million-dollar NASA grant, the funding will culminate in a parabolic Zero Gravity Flight (aka “vomit comet” because people get nauseous) scheduled for early 2025 in either Arizona or Texas. The nanobubble research is also scheduled to launch in 2025 aboard a rocket propelled
by bluShift Aerospace of Brunswick, Maine. Both flights are designed to provide critical insights and understanding of nanobubbles and their vast potential.
Dr. Apul points to a series of advances where Maine is leading the charge:
- Wastewater Treatment on a Municipal Scale – the City of Orono has funded a pilot experiment around rapid aeration of waste activated sludge. Students are working now with Orono wastewater treatment plant manager Chris Prue.
- Aquaculture Advances. Fish grown for aquaculture need a dependable source of oxygen, and nanobubbles can provide clean oxygen for recirculating aquaculture systems. Aquaculture research is being led by Deborah Bouchard at UMaine Extension.
- Pollutant Removal. Nanobubbles can offer organic pollutant removal technologies and have the capacity to help with the removal of nanoplastics, PFAS, siloxane, and other toxic substances. Dr. Apul is leading this research with his students.
- Space Exploration. Astronauts need sources of clean oxygen and ways to grow food in space. Nanobubbles may hold a solution. This research is facilitated by Dr. Emily Matula the NASA mentor in Maine.
What’s Next?
Dr. Apul and his team of students are creating a CubeSat to hold the experiment and will be
conducting two Zero G tests:
- A rocket launch with bluShift Aerospace of Brunswick, Maine, to be scheduled in 2024 or early 2025..
- A zero-G testing at an anti Gravity facility in Arizona or Texas sometime in early 2025.