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DTSTAMP:20260514T131701Z
DESCRIPTION:Date: Thursday\, November 17th 2022 | Time: 12:00 pm | Macdonal
 d Engineering Building RM: 267 \n\n*The session will also be accessible vi
 a zoom\n\nLearn more and register: https://mcgill.ca/x/3dc\n\nLight is the
  most abundant and fastest moving energy resource on Earth. Sunlight is th
 e primary driver of many environmental transformation and decay processes\
 , while environmental remediation technologies that harness sunlight can b
 e driven by a sustainable energy source\, typically do not require consuma
 ble chemicals\, and have greater mobility for use in isolated and off-grid
  locations. This seminar will discuss processes and technologies that harn
 ess solar energy for water treatment\, with particular emphasis on disinfe
 ction of viral pathogens. Disease causing pathogens remain the most acutel
 y deadly category of environmental contaminant. Compared to other types of
  pathogens\, much less is known about the environmental transmission of vi
 ruses due to the challenges presented in detecting\, characterizing\, and 
 culturing these smallest biological organisms. Research aiming to understa
 nd the fate and persistence of viruses in the environment\, and the develo
 pment of innovative and efficient methods to detect and control their spre
 ad has never been more vital. Understanding light induced inactivation is 
 key to predicting the fate of viral pathogens in the environment\, while e
 ngineered light-based treatment systems provide opportunities to develop s
 ustainable\, practical\, and effective methods for controlling viral patho
 gens.\n\nA meta-analysis of available sunlight inactivation rate constants
  for viruses and their surrogates revealed little correlation between path
 ogens and their common surrogates\, as well as knowledge gaps in the wavel
 ength dependent damage mechanisms. To study these mechanisms\, we used a g
 enome-wide PCR approach to study photodamage in the genomes of human norov
 irus and a common surrogate bacteriophage MS2. In contrast to previous wor
 k indicating that UV inactivation occurs primarily through the formation o
 f pyrimidine dimers which render the viral genome non-replicable after a s
 ingle photon absorption event\, we found that the single-hit inactivation 
 assumption is invalid under simulated solar radiation\, highlighting the n
 eed for further mechanistic analysis of genomic photoproducts and the cont
 ribution of non-genomic damage to viruses under environmentally relevant c
 onditions.\n\nHarnessing solar energy for water treatment is a highly desi
 rable approach to provide safe water in resource limited locations. The pr
 eferred photocatalytic nanomaterial for water treatment applications\, TiO
 2\, has a relatively wide bandgap\, limiting its spectral overlap with the
  most abundant solar wavelengths. Nanomaterials exhibiting surface plasmon
  resonance can act as light antennae when incoming resonant light radiatio
 n generates an intense electric-field enhancement leading to absorption cr
 oss-sections many times greater than the size of the particle ─ essentiall
 y\, the particle can absorb more light than incident on it. Recently\, we 
 developed a novel nanomaterial enabled system for sustainable solar photot
 hermal disinfection\, leading to the first demonstration of direct solar n
 anoparticle-enhanced thermal inactivation of bacteria and viruses in drink
 ing water. Likewise\, we have synthesized composite plasmonic-photocatalyt
 ic nanomaterials that can enhance the light absorption properties of TiO2 
 permitting more effective degradation of organic contaminants. We further 
 optimize these approaches through the fabrication of prototype reactors fr
 om immobilized nanomaterial films for application in flow-through validati
 on tests.\n\n\nDr. Stephanie Loeb\n\nDr. Stephanie Loeb is an Assistant Pr
 ofessor in the Department of Civil Engineering at McGill University. Prof 
 Loeb's research interests encompass materials science and environmental en
 gineering\, with particular expertise in the areas of nanotechnology\, pho
 tonics\, and environmental virology. The use of light\, a ubiquitous sourc
 e of energy\, is a common theme among her research projects\, which aim to
  understand how light from natural and artificial sources drive environmen
 tal processes\, and to develop novel light harnessing materials-based tech
 nologies for environmental remediation. Prior to joining McGill\, she was 
 a post-doctoral research fellow at Stanford and received her PhD from Yale
  University in Chemical Engineering. She has a MASc from the University of
  Toronto in Civil Engineering and completed her bachelor’s degree in Physi
 cs and Nanoscience jointly between UofT and the National University of Sin
 gapore.\n
DTSTART:20221117T170000Z
DTEND:20221117T180000Z
LOCATION:Unité avicole\, CA\, QC\, St Anne de Bellevue\, H9X 3V9\, 21 111\,
  chemin Lakeshore
SUMMARY:Light Driven Environmental and Engineering Processes
URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/tised/channels/event/light-driven-environmental-a
 nd-engineering-processes-343357
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