Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Alcantar’s research focuses on studying the surface properties and interfacial phenomena of materials which allows one to tailor their macroscopic performance precisely for the application at hand. In specific, she is determining surface-active properties of green materials such as cactus mucilage and its effect in reacting with heavy metals, bacteria, and particulates to clean contaminated drinking water.

The REU student will use cactus mucilage, a substance obtained from cacti common to Mexico, the Opuntia ficus-indica, to test their ability to reduce the level of contaminants in drinking water. Specifically, clay particulates, heavy metals such as arsenic and chromium, and Bacillus cereus and E. coli bacteria.

The student will

• extract the cactus mucilage using simple separation techniques
• prepare solutions of different mucilage concentrations and pH values to determine and measure the performance of the mucilage when added to suspensions of the contaminant of interest. Synthetic hard and soft waters will both be prepared to mock the ion concentrations found in normal bodies of water. The time it takes for the flocculation effects of the mucilage to begin and end will be recorded and compared to the settling time of a system with no mucilage.

More information: Dr. Alcantar's website