Fayetteville-based company Catalyze H2O has received a $225,000 grant through the National Science Foundation’s Small Business Innovation Research program to design a reusable nanofiltration membrane platform for wastewater treatment.
This solution responds to the industry’s need for energy-efficient and effective wastewater treatment for water purification and reuse.
CatalyzeH2O has been a client of the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center since 2017 and worked closely with the center to prepare this successful Phase I application.
Market Need
Safe and reliable approaches to wastewater treatment for municipal or industry reuse are often capital and energy intensive.
This process requires the removal of a wide range of organic and inorganic contaminants, including many hazardous and toxic substances such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. “We are targeting wastewater treatment either onsite for an industrial process or in the municipal sector,” said Shelby Foster, CatalyzeH2O’s chief executive officer.
The United States spends nearly $9 billion a year on pesticides, which accounts for 16% of the world pesticide market. Among the 25 most common active ingredients in pesticides, 76% are water soluble, which leads to contaminated soil, groundwater, and nearby bodies of water.
The industry currently uses polymeric membranes to remove contaminants from wastewater, but the membranes have a high propensity for fouling. Membrane fouling occurs when contaminants are deposited on the surface of a filtration membrane, restricting the flow of liquids through the membrane’s pores. A high energy cost is associated with polymeric membranes’ high fouling propensity.
CatalyzeH2O’s Solution
CatalyzeH2O’s nanofiltration membrane will use an anti-fouling surface chemistry to provide contaminant rejection.
“We recognized a large gap in the membrane market for a stable and robust material that reduces irreversible biological damage. This membrane offers a longer lifetime of usage and will lower energy costs commonly associated with membranes,” said Dr. Lauren Greenlee, chief technology officer.
With its low energy requirement, broad contaminant rejection, and anti-fouling properties, CatalyzeH2O’s membrane is on track to provide a cost-effective, low-energy solution for the wastewater treatment market.
The CatalyzeH2O Team
CatalyzeH2O is comprised of three employees for this project: Dr. Mojtaba Abolhassani, Dr. Lauren Greenlee, and Shelby Foster.
Abolhassani, the lead scientist on the project, has first-hand experience with this technology as it was part of his PhD dissertation. Greenlee has a long record of successful funding and project management. Foster has a background in both petroleum engineering and chemical engineering. She is currently working on her MBA. Dr. Chris Griggs is serving as a consultant.
Phase I Project
In Phase I, the CatalyzeH2O team will investigate the membrane’s performance in removing common commercial pesticides from water and assess the success of its anti-fouling surface.
“The NSF is enabling us to optimize our membrane features while investigating the best path toward in-house manufacturing,” said Foster.
ASBTDC Assistance
The Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center supplied tools to help the team prepare its NSF SBIR application, reviewed draft proposal sections, and provided market research specific to the water treatment industry.
“The ASBTDC staff has helped CatalyzeH2O a lot throughout our proposal writing process. Rebecca Todd is a great resource, from getting market research to securing us a letter of support,” said Foster.
Lessons Learned
CatalyzeH2O was able to learn a great deal from the NSF reviewer comments on their initial application.
“This proposal was actually a resubmission. We learned that the NSF is more focused on the innovation of the material, so it is better to highlight the material rather than the application for a Phase I proposal ,” said Greenlee. “In our instance, we were too focused on what contaminants the membrane should treat rather than explaining the critical membrane properties to address throughout the project.”
The team also found that customer discovery was a key component of their market research.
“Get out of the building and go talk with people. The NSF likes to see that you have done some legwork to figure out who your customers will be before they fund you,” said Foster.