Reports & Publications

Bilateral Trade Welfare Impacts of India’s Export Ban of Non-Basmati Rice Using the Global Partial Equilibrium Simulation Model (GSIM)

Eihab Fathelrahman, Raeda Osman, Dana Loyd Keske Hoag, Gregory N. Sixt, and Kenneth Strzepek

Keywords

Food trade, trade barriers, rice, partial equilibrium global simulation model (GSIM)

A Zwitterionic Hydrogel-Based Heterogeneous Fenton Catalyst for Water Treatment

Devashish Gokhale, Ian Chen, Wan-Ni Wu, Arthur Monne Gagnaire, and Patrick S. Doyle

Keywords

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), Fenton oxidation, heterogeneous catalyst, zwitterionic hydrogel, PFAS degradation

Yeast-laden hydrogel capsules for scalable trace lead removal from water

Devashish Gokhale, Patritsia M. Stathatou, Christos E. Athanasioud, and Patrick S. Doyle

Keywords

Lead contamination, biosorption, yeast, hydrogel capsules, scalability

Photomolecular effect: Visible light interaction with air–water interface

Guangxin Lv, Yaodong Tu, James H. Zhang, and Gang Chen

Keywords

Photomolecular effect, water clusters, superthermal evaporation, cloud absorption, solar interfacial evaporation

Robust Chemiresistive Behavior in Conductive Polymer/MOF Composites

Heejung Roh, Dong-Ha Kim, Yeongsu Cho, Young-Moo Jo, Jesús A. del Alamo, Heather J. Kulik, Mircea Dincă, and Aristide Gumyusenge

Keywords

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), gas sensing, single-use detection, hybridization strategy, conductive MOFs (cMOFs), conductive polymers (cPs)

Solid-state steelmaking by scrap consolidation: A processing pathway with minimal energy and CO₂ burdens

Onur Güvenç, Rebecca Lizarde, and C. Cem Tasan

Keywords

Steel processing industry, scrap metal consolidation (SMC), energy savings, CO2 emissions reduction, rolling temperature and reduction

Cavity growth – or lack thereof – in imperfectly roll bonded sheet metal

Mornout, C. J. A., Güvenç, O., and Tasan, C. C.

Keywords

Roll bonding, imperfect interface, environmental benefits, mechanical behavior, finite element model

Modeling Henry's law and phase separations of water–NaCl–organic mixtures with solvation and ion-pairing

Aaron D. Wilson, Zi Hao Foo, Ashini S. Jayasinghe, Caleb Stetson, Hyeonseok Lee, Harry W. Rollins, Akshay Deshmukh, and John H. Lienhard

Keywords

Henry's law, water–NaCl–organic mixtures, salt-induced liquid–liquid equilibrium

Multifunctional zwitterionic hydrogels for the rapid elimination of organic and inorganic micropollutants from water

Devashish Gokhale, Andre F. Hamelberg, and Patrick S. Doyle

Keywords

Hydrogel, micropollutants, water quality

Plausible photomolecular effect leading to water evaporation exceeding the thermal limit

Tu, Yaodong, Jiawei Zhou, Shaoting Lin, Mohammed Alshrah, Xuanhe Zhao, and Gang Chen

Keywords

Photomolecular effect, water, hydrogel

Intentional creation of carbon-rich dark earth soils in the Amazon

Morgan J. Schmidt, Samuel L. Goldberg, Michael Heckenberger, Carlos Fausto, Bruna Franchetto, Jennifer Watling, Helena Lima, Bruno Moraes, Wetherbee B. Dorshow, and J. Taylor Perron

Keywords

Agriculture, anthropology, dark earth, Amazon, carbon-sequestering soil

Climate-Resilient Investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenneth Strzepek and Brent Boehlert

Keywords

Water, agriculture, infrastructure, climate change

More than magnetic isolation: Dynabeads as strong Raman reporters toward simultaneous capture and identification of targets

Jongwan Lee, Marissa McDonald, Nikiwe Mhlanga, Jeon Woong Kang, Rohit Karnik, and Loza F. Tadesse

Keywords

Dynabeads, trace contaminants, emerging pollutants

Three-Dimensional Imaging of Emulsion Separation through Liquid-Infused Membranes Using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy

Chen Song and Gregory C. Rutledge

Keywords

Water, liquid-infused membranes (LIMs)

Unraveling Polymer–Ion Interactions in Electrochromic Polymers for their Implementation in Organic Electrochemical Synaptic Devices

Heejung Roh, Shuwen Yue, Hang Hu, Ke Chen, Heather J. Kulik, and Aristide Gumyusenge

Keywords

Polymer–ion interactions, organic electrochemical synaptic devices

High-throughput experimentation for discovery of biodegradable polyesters

Katharina A. Fransen, Sarah H. M. Av-Ron, Tess R. Buchanan, and Bradley D. Olsen

Keywords

Biodegradable polymers, plastics sustainability 

Mine ownership and community relations: Comparing hydrosocial dynamics of public and private companies in Chile

Scott D. Odell and Anthony Bebbington

Keywords

Chile, mining, water, lithium, copper

Near-term regional climate change in East Africa

Yeon-Woo Choi, Deborah J. Campbell, and Elfaith A.B Eitahir

Keywords

Regional climate model, fine-scale climate projections, extreme precipitation, heat stress, East Africa

Significantly enhanced sub-ambient passive cooling enabled by evaporation, radiation, and insulation

Zhengmao Lu, Arny Leroy, Lenan Zhang, Jatin Patil, Evelyn Wang, and Jeffrey Grossman

Keywords

Sub-ambient passive cooling, evaporative cooling, radiative cooling, infrared transparent, solar-reflecting, porous insulation, stagnation temperature, cooling power, shelf life, climate conditions

Contested baselines and transboundary water resources management, with illustrations from the Nile

Dale Whittington

Keywords

Transboundary water management, baselines, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, water policy, Nile basin

A new convergent science framework for food system sustainability in an uncertain climate

Gregory N. Sixt, Michael Hauser, Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Alejandra Engler, Jerry Hatfield, Sheryl L. Hendriks, Samuel Ihouma, Chandra Madramootoo, Renee J. Robins, Pete Smith, Lewis H. Ziska, and Patrick Webb

Keywords

Climate change, convergence, food systems, transformation, vulnerability

Assessing the food security implications of climate change on global food trade

Gregory Sixt and Kenneth Strzepek

Keywords

Climate change, food trade, food security, food trade vulnerability, bi-lateral trade

Comment on 'Egypt's water budget deficit and suggested mitigation policies for the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam filling scenarios'

Kevin Wheeler, Marc Jeuland, Kenneth Strzepek, Jim Hall, Edith Zagona, Gamal Abdo, Thinus Basson, Don Blackmore, Paul Block, and Dale Whittington

Keywords

Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Nile, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Aswan High Dam Reservoir, mitigation

A climate change modelling framework for financial stress testing in Southern Africa

Vafa Anvari, Channing Arndt, Faaiqa Hartley, Konstantin Makrelov, Kenneth Strezepek, Tim Thomas, Sherwin Gabriel, and Bruno Merven

Keywords

Central bank, climate change, financial sector, climate stress

Operations, risk, and small firms: Field results from irrigation equipment vendors in Senegal

Mark Brennan, Stephen Graves, Jonars Spielberg, and Bish Sanyal

Keywords

Empirical, irrigation, policy delivery, private sector, sub-Saharan Africa, supply chain risk

Coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of immobilized micelle systems and their interactions with hydrophobic molecules

Devashish Gokhale, Ian Chen, and Patrick S. Doyle

Keywords

Micelle systems, hydrophobic molecules, water, extraction

Perspective—electrochemical sensors for neurotransmitters and psychiatrics: steps toward physiological mental health monitoring

Marjon Zamani, Tatum Wilhelm, and Ariel Furst

Keywords

Electrochemistry, psychiatrics, mental health, neurotransmitters, electrochemical sensors

Portable seawater desalination system for generating drinkable water in remote locations

Junghyo Yoon, Hyukjin J. Kwon, SungKu Kang, Eric Brack, and Jongyoon Han

Keywords

Electromembrane, seawater desalination, portable desalination, electrodialysis, ion concentration polarization, water

Biomaterials for boosting food security

Benedetto Marelli

Keywords

Biomaterials, silk, food security, silk coatings, food waste, agro-food systems

Dynamics of an impacting emulsion droplet

Maher Damak, Jolet de Ruiter, Sreedath Panat, and Kripa K. Varanasi

Keywords

Agriculture, pesticides, agricultural sprays, emulsion droplets

Why we must connect research to action to solve critical food systems and climate challenges

Gregory Sixt and Peter Smith

Keywords

FACT Alliance, food systems, sustainability, climate change, policy

 Implications on food security in high food importing countries: food import vulnerability in the Gulf cooperation council

Greg Sixt and Ken Strzepek

Keywords

Food security, climate change, health

Sustainable production of reduced phosphorus compounds: mechanochemical hydride phosphorylation using condensed phosphates as a route to phosphite

Feng Zhai, Tiansi Xin, Michael B. Geeson, and Christopher C. Cummins

Keywords

Anions, phosphates, cell and molecular biology, phosphorus, sodium

Micelle-laden hydrogel microparticles for the removal of hydrophobic micropollutants from water

Devashish Gokhale, Ian Chen, and Patrick S. Doyle

Keywords

Microparticles, monomers, hydrophobicity, surfactants, hydrogels, micropollutants

The impact of assuming perfect foresight when planning infrastructure in the water-energy-food nexus

Raphael Payet-Burin, Mikkel Kromman, Silvio J. Pereira-Cardenal, Kenneth M. Strzepek, and Peter Bauer-Gottwein

Keywords

Hydroeconomic optimization model, water infrastructure, Model Predictive Control (MPC), Stochastic Dynamic Programming

RFusion: robotic grasping via RF-visual sensing and learning

Tara Boroushaki, Isaac Perper, Mergen Nachin, Alberto Rodriguez, and Fadel Adib

Keywords

Computer systems organization, embedded and cyber-physical systems, robotics, sensor networks, computing methodologies, artificial intelligence

Surface requirements for optimal biosensing with disposable gold electrodes

Marjon Zamani, Victoria Yang, Lizi Maziashvili, Gang Fan, Catherine M. Klapperich, and Ariel L. Furst

Keywords

Electrodes, genetics, sensors, biotechnology, gold

Effects of molecular flexibility and head group repulsion on aramid amphiphile self-assembly

Samuel J. Kaser, Andrew J. Lew, Dae-Yoon Kim, Ty Christoff-Tempesta, Yukio Cho, and Julia H. Ortony

Keywords

Amphiphilic molecules, electron microscopy, spectroscopic measurement

Well-switching to reduce arsenic exposure in Bangladesh: Making the most of inaccurate field kit measurements

Yusuf Jameel, Rajib Hassan Mozumder, Alexander van Geen, and Charles F. Harvey

Keywords

Well-switching programs, arsenic exposure, field kits

Data analytics and pump control in a wastewater treatment plant

Hilary A. Johnson, Kevin P. Simon, and Alexander H. Slocum

Keywords

Pump system efficiency, wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), efficiency metrics, time-series analysis,  control optimization, specific energy

Continuous and selective removal of lead from drinking water by shock electrodialysis

Huanhuan Tian, Mohammad A. Alkhadra, Kameron M. Confort, and Martin Bazant

Keywords

Shock electrodialysis, lead contamination, electrokinetics, electrodes, ions, contamination, animal feed, selectivity

A microbial electrochemical technology to detect and degrade organophosphate pesticides

Amruta A. Karbelkar, Erin E. Reynolds, Rachel Ahlmark, and Ariel L. Furst

Keywords

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides, microbial electrochemical technology, degradation, engineered E. coli, bacteria, fluorescence, electrochemical cells, imaging probes

Potential climate change risks to meeting Zimbabwe’s NDC goals and how to become resilient

Mark Howells, Brent Boehlert, and Pablo Cesar Benitez

Keywords

Energy modeling, climate change, climate resilience, OSeMOSYS, integrated assessment modeling, Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), renewable energy integration

Past and future trends of Egypt’s water consumption and its sources

Catherine A. Nikiel and Elfatih Eltahir

Keywords

Water, farming, agriculture, irrigation

Dynamics in supramolecular nanomaterials

Yukio Cho, Ty Christoff-Tempesta, Samuel J. Kaser, and Julia H. Ortony

Keywords

Amphiphilic small molecules, molecule assemblies, supramolecular systems, rational amphiphile design

Robotic grasping of fully-occluded objects using RF perception

Tara Boroushaki, Junshan Leng, Ian Clester, Alberto Rodriguez, and Fadel Adib

Keywords

Robotics, radiofrequency perception, radiofrequency grasping

Emerging investigator series: aramid amphiphile nanoribbons for the remediation of lead from contaminated water

Ty Christoff-Tempesta and Julia H. Ortony

Keywords

Self-assembled nanoribbons, small molecule amphiphiles, electron microscopy, spectroscopic measurement

Iron oxide xerogels for improved water quality monitoring of arsenic(iii) in resource-limited environments via solid-phase extraction, preservation, storage, transportation, and analysis of trace contaminants (SEPSTAT)

Michael S. Bono, Jr., Emily B. Hanhauser, Chintan Vaishnav, A. John Hart, and Rohit Karnik

Humidity-Initiated Gas Sensors for Volatile Organic Compounds Sensing

Maxwell T. Robinson, Julie Tung, Meysam Heydari Gharahcheshmeh, and Karen K. Gleason

Keywords

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), Huanglongbing (HLB) citrus disease, agriculture, gas sensors

Engineering and characterization of gymnosperm sapwood toward enabling the design of water filtration devices

Krithika Ramchander, Megha Hegde, Anish Paul Antony, Luda Wang, Kendra Leith, Amy Smith, and Rohit Karnik

Keywords

Water filtration, wood, natural materials, plant xylem, E. coli, MS-2 phage, rotavirus

Morphological transitions of a photoswitchable aramid amphiphile nanostructure

Dae-Yoon Kim, Ty Christoff-Tempesta, Guillaume Lamour, Xiaobing Zuo, Ki-Hyun Ryu, and Julia H. Ortony

Keywords

Morphology, nanostructures, nanotubes, two dimensional materials, irradiation

Dual-stage atmospheric water harvesting device for scalable solar-driven water production

Alina LaPotin, Yang Zhong, Lenan Zhang, Lin Zhao, Arny Leroy, Hyunho Kim, Sameer R. Rao, and Evelyn N. Wang

Keywords

Atmospheric water harvesting, solar energy, multistage system, adsorption, zeolite, water

Self-assembly of aramid amphiphiles into ultra-stable nanoribbons and aligned nanoribbon threads

Ty Christoff-Tempesta, Yukio Cho, Dae-Yoon Kim, Michela Geri, Guillaume Lamour, Andrew J. Lew, Xiaobing Zuo, William R. Lindemann, and Julia H. Ortony

Keywords

Aramid amphiphiles, molecular exchange, self-assembly, nanoribbons

Living materials with programmable functionalities grown from engineered microbial co-cultures

Charlie Gilbert, Tzu-Chieh Tang, Wolfgang Ott, Brandon A. Dorr, William M. Shaw, George L. Sun, Timothy K. Lu, and Tom Ellis

Keywords

Biomaterials, synthetic biology

A heat and mass transport model of clay pot evaporative coolers for vegetable storage

Danyal Rehman, Ethan McGarrigle, Leon Glicksman, and Eric Verploegen

Keywords

Evaporative cooling, postharvest vegetable storage, transport modelling, global development

A continuum model of unstable infiltration in porous media endowed with an entropy function

Beljadid, Abdelaziz, Luis Cueto-Felgueroso, and Ruben Juanes

Keywords

Vadose zone, infiltration, gravity fingering, entropy, nonequilibrium thermodynamics

Managing risks in lower-income economy supply chains: evidence from agricultural firms in Senegal

Mark Brennan, Jonars Spielberg, Stephen Graves, and Bish Sanyal

Keywords

Supply chain, irrigation equipment, quality risks, contractual risks, risk-management strategies, downstream firms

Understanding the effect of intermittent water supply on drinking water quality

Sophia Wu

Keywords

Intermittent Water Supply (IWS), Continuous Water Supply (CWS), water quality, waterborne pathogens

A microneedle technology for sampling and sensing bacteria in the food supply chain

Doyoon Kim, Yunteng Cao, Dhanushkodi Mariappan, Michael S. Bono Jr., A. John Hart, and Benedetto Marelli

Keywords

Food safety, food quality monitoring, bacterial pathogens, microneedle, regenerated structural biopolymers

Acid-modulated synthesis of high surface area amine-functionalized MIL-101(Cr) nanoparticles for CO2 Separations

Gang Han , Katherine Mizrahi Rodriguez, Qihui Qian, and Zachary P. Smith

Keywords

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), amine-functionalized, acidic modulators

Anchored causal inference in the presence of measurement error

Basil Saeed, Anastasiya Belyaeva, Yuhao Wang, and Caroline Uhler

Keywords

Measurement error, causal relationships, single-cell RNA-seq data, causal inference

Assessment of the use and barriers of evaporative cooling technologies by small holder farmers in Kenya

Benson Maina and Eric Verploegen

Keywords

Evaporative cooling technologies (ECTs), smallholder farmers, barriers to adoption

Bacteriophage therapy testing against Shigella flexneri in a novel human intestinal organoid-derived infection model

Alejandro Llanos-Chea, Robert J Citorik, Kourtney P Nickerson, Laura Ingano, Gloria Serena, Stefania Senger, Timothy K Lu, Alessio Fasano, and Christina S Faherty

Keywords

Shigella flexneri, bacterial pathogens, human intestinal model, bacteriophage

Hydrothermal synthesis of sub-20 nm amine-functionalized MIL-101(Cr) nanoparticles with high surface area and enhanced CO₂ uptake

Gang Han, Qihui Qian, Katherine Mizrahi Rodriguez, and Zachary P. Smith

Keywords

Hydrothermal, MIL (Material Institut Lavoisier), amine-functionalized

Food and liquid sensing in practical environments using RFIDs

Unsoo Ha, Junshan Leng, and Alaa Khaddaj, and Fadel Adib

Keywords

Food sensing, liquid sensing, radio frequency identifiers

Crowdsourcing market information from competitors

Joann F. de Zegher and Irene Lo

Keywords

Mechanism design for social good, information sharing, platform design, operations in developing countries

Light manipulation with photonic fibers and optical light guides: dynamic structural color and light distribution in microalgae cultures

Joseph David Sandt

Keywords

Department of Mechanical Engineering

High-arsenic groundwater in the southwestern Bengal Basin caused by a lithologically controlled deep flow system

M. R. Khan, H. A. Michael, B. Nath, B. L. Huhmann, C. F. Harvey, A. Mukherjee, I. Choudhury, M. Chakraborty, M. S. Ullah, K. M. Ahmed, S. L. Goodbred, P. Schlosser, B. C. Bostick, B. J. Mailloux, T. Ellis, and A. van Geen

Keywords

Groundwater, arsenic, radiocarbon, Bengal Basin

Multi-scale analysis of drying thermally thick biomass for bioenergy applications

Kevin S. Kung and Ahmed F. Ghoniem

Keywords

Drying, biomass, multi-scale modeling, dryer optimization

Changes in arsenic exposure in Araihazar, Bangladesh from 2001 through 2015 following a blanket well testing and education campaign

Brittany L. Huhmann, Charles F. Harvey, Ana Navas-Acien, Joseph Graziano, Faruque Parvez, Yu Chen, Maria Argos, Alauddin Ahmed, A.K.M. Rabiul Hasan, Habibul Ahsan, and Alexander van Geen

Keywords

Arsenic, mitigation, drinking water, well water, urine

Osmotically-induced Cleaning of Fouled Reverse Osmosis Membranes in Desalination

Omar Labban, Grace Goon, Zi Hao Foo, Xuanhe Zhao, and John H. Lienhard

Keywords

Reverse osmosis, membrane fouling, chemical-free cleaning, osmotically-induced foulant detachment, osmotic backwashing

Climate change, agriculture, water, and food security: what we know and don't know

Auroop Ganguly, Jerry Hatfield, John H. Lienhard V, Chandra Madramootoo, Erwan Monier, John Reilly, Renee J. Robins, Amit Roy, Peter Smith, Susan Solomon, Anthony Walker, and Lewis Ziska

Keywords

Climate change, agriculture, water security, food security, crop biotechnology, climate-smart agriculture, resilient agri-food systems, climate model projections