Abstract
This paper refers to the transfer of the results of federally funded research towards commercialization in a very short time in order to meet the needs of an emerging and fast growing industry, involving the remediation of produced water from fracking operations on site and at low cost. The focus is on photocatalytic nanogrids: ceramic mats that may be used as covers for produced water stored in ponds and pits. The electrospun mats of the self-supported ceramic photocatalysts are responding to the whole solar spectrum and oxidize benzene and other liquid hydrocarbons in water, turning them into innocuous compounds. There is no hydrocarbon pollution left in the water after catalytic reactions and the nanogrids are reusable. The scalable processing of this technology, as well as the scaled-up proof of concept, is detailed in this work. The pathway from a research funding award in response to the Gulf oil spill remediation, through the inaugural class of the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) cohorts towards a small business development is also outlined. The impact of the visionary and effective I-Corps program on the fast translation of lab-based technology from proof of concept to prototyping for industry validation is also described.
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