Spring Week 7

 This week came with some challenges, but in the end I am moving in the right direction. I am in the middle of figuring out the perfect configuration for my electrocoagulation. It seems when organic matter was added to the equation, as I am using real wastewater samples now, that the amount of voltage and surface area of my cathode and anode needed to be dramatically reduced. My electrical source can't go bellow a constant of 10 V so I am going to increase the sample size in hopes of finding a solution. While it can be deflating sometimes, this is what I truly love about science. I will get a solution figured out and once I do it will be off to the races with trials. 

I did have the sediments from the first trial that I dried out and treated with hydrogen peroxide to burn off the organic matter. I am hoping to test that next week or take the weight to see what was removed even if I used too high of a voltage on the trial. 

Spring Week 6

    Over the last week I didn't feel great about how my first trial run went. I proceeded to do a little research and discovered that when a water sample undergoes electrocoagulation and there is either too much power or too much anode/cathode surface area for the sample then the sample will become congealed. That is exactly what took place with my sample after undergoing electrocoagulation. Therefore, I realize I need to make some adjustments so that I don't "cook" the water and instead have it undergo separation so that I may remove the sediment and top layer with ease. I think this will take form in either submerging less anode/cathode and/or turning down the volts. Hopefully I will be able to establish a working model. It seems the addition of organic matter compared to last semester is changing the equation quite a bit! Love a good challenge. 

Spring Week Five

 I was able to see the dried result of the top and bottom layers of sediment that I had left out to dry. The top layer was very dark and crusty and dramatically decreased in size after undergoing the evaporation. This was the same case with the bottom layer of sediment but it appeared to have a tannish color. We will most likely use hydrogen peroxide to burn off the organic matter to see how much of the composition are microplastics. Everything was weighed and it will be exciting to see how many microplastics were successfully removed. 

Spring Week Four

 This week I was able to run my first trial on a sample of water that was obtained from the wastewater treatment center out in Surprise, AZ. I was hoping it was going to be a little more successful than it actual was. I was left with a triple layer solution that had a dark layer on top, murky water in the middle and a bottom sentiment. I was able to abstract the middle layer of water and lay the other two layers out in petri dishes to dry to see what was left over after the water evaporated. 

Spring Week Three

 This week has been a special week for me as I was selected as one of the All-Arizonia scholars. So I took the brief moment this week to celebrate all of the people who have helped me on this journey of college so far. While also taking a moment to pat myself on the back! Next week I will have some information on what is going on in the lab!

Spring Week Two

 I haven't been able to start on my project quite yet. I have a meeting with my PI hopefully this week and we will map out what I will try to accomplish this semester and move on from there. It is very exciting to be able to tackle a problem that is such a current event and that can lead to a possible solution!

Spring Week One

 I have been very excited to get back into the lab this semester! While it was a nice winter break, I couldn't help but think about my project for this upcoming semester. With that and in addition to all the research I did around microplastics and their removal over break; I can say I am happy to apply some of the knowledge to my project. I know that I will be trying to apply electrocoagulation to some real samples from the clarifying stage of the wastewater treatment process! More to come!