Successful completion of the project will enable researchers to address the urgent need for developing biobased fire-fighting compounds for safeguarding health, environmental sustainability and supply chain resilience.
Mohi Quadir, NDSU associate professor of coatings and polymeric materials, has received an $800,000 USDA-NIFA grant to fund a research project aimed at synthesizing biobased fire-retardant additives and bio-surfactants. In addition to scientific advancement, the grant also will support the establishment of an NDSU-based Center of Excellence focused on expanding the use of agricultural byproducts to produce eco-friendly, fire-protective coatings and polymers.
In collaboration with Toufiq Reza, an associate professor at the Florida Institute of Technology, and Dilpreet Bajwa, professor at Montana State University, the team will explore the synthesis of nanogels and surfactants that can halt fire spread and propagation. The proposal's intellectual merit is based on the synthesis and engineering of the nanogels and the preparation of biobased surfactants, which have the potential to reduce or replace the PFAS-enriched compounds used currently in fire-fighting chemicals, known to pose health risks to humans.
Successful completion of the project will enable researchers to address the urgent need for developing biobased fire-fighting compounds for safeguarding health, environmental sustainability and supply chain resilience.
