Sustainable Chemistry Sprints

Filtration & Glassware

• • Acrylic column tubes (\(50\text{ mm} \times 300\text{ mm}\))
• • Coarse quartz gravel & Fine silica sand
• • Glass fiber mesh disks (\(10\text{ }\mu\text{m}\) retention)
• • \(500\text{ mL}\) Erlenmeyer flasks & funnel stands
• • Stopcocks / Flow regulator needle valves
• • Pipettes & volumetric graduated cylinders

Sensor Rig & Prototyping

• • Digital nephelometric turbidity meter (NTU)
• • Vernier or PASCO optical colorimeter probes
• • Digital stopwatch & digital scales (\(\pm 0.01\text{g}\))
• • Biopolymer casting clay for modular bio-tiles
• • Laser-cut or 3D printed cartridge couplers
• • Watershed mapping GIS printouts

Sprint Timeline & Benchmarks

Week 1 Days 1–5

Phase 1: Runoff Chemistry & Bio-Coagulation Jar Tests Milestone 1

Formulate standardized synthetic urban stormwater. Conduct jar test trials comparing Moringa seed cationic protein vs. Chitosan vs. Alum control. Measure floc formation time and settling velocity.

Week 2 Days 6–10

Phase 2: Adsorption Media Synthesis & Multi-Bed Column Setup Milestone 2

Synthesize biochar from agricultural husks or spent coffee grounds. Assemble variable multi-bed columns (gravel, sand, biochar, coagulant fleece). Measure clean water percolation flux (\(\text{mL/min}\)).

Week 3 Days 11–15

Phase 3: Quantitative Breakthrough & Water Quality Analysis Milestone 3

Pump \(2000\text{ mL}\) simulated contaminated runoff through columns. Measure influent vs. effluent turbidity (NTU), dissolved ion removal via colorimetry, and \(\text{pH}\) shifts. Graph breakthrough curves.

Week 4 Days 16–20

Phase 4 & 5: Permeable Tile Design & Municipal Watershed Pitch Final Expo

Package filtration media into an artistic, modular street-curb insert or interlocking permeable bio-paving tile. Present full filtration data and community life-cycle cost analysis to civic water board guests.

Under The Hood: Flocculation & Surface Adsorption Chemistry

Turbidity colloids carry negative zeta surface potentials (\(\approx -25\text{ mV}\)) that repel one another. Cationic dimeric proteins in Moringa seeds neutralize negative surface charges, allowing van der Waals forces to aggregate micro-particles into dense flocs. Meanwhile, activated biochar exposes \(400\text{--}800\text{ m}^2/\text{g}\) of microporous carbon surface, trapping dissolved heavy metal cations and organic dyes via \(\pi\text{-}\pi\) electron stacking and electrostatic chelation.

AquaFilter Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 2 • Roadmap & Lab Reagents

Deliverables & Experimental Matrix

Assessment Checkpoint

Required Portfolio Artifacts

1. Coagulation & Adsorption Log 25 Pts

Complete data logs for 4 distinct media ratios, flocculation jar test kinetics, settling velocity calculations, and molecular adsorption schematics.

2. Physical Modular Filter Cartridge 30 Pts

One fully fabricated, gravity-fed multi-stage filtration cartridge or permeable bio-paving tile prototype featuring aesthetic biomimetic exterior housing.

3. Water Quality Analytics Sheet 25 Pts

Calibrated graphs showing NTU turbidity reduction over time, spectrophotometric contaminant clearance (\(\%\)), and hydraulic flow rate curves.

4. Watershed Civic Pitch Deck 20 Pts

A 3-minute civic pitch detailing community placement in high-runoff urban corridors, raw material circularity, and long-term regeneration economics.

Filtration Bed Formulation & Layering Matrix

Record layer depths and media formulations prior to testing

Standardized Testing Protocol Instructions

A. Turbidity Clearance (NTU)

Calibrate nephelometer with \(0.02\text{ NTU}\) blank. Measure influent turbidity (\(\approx 200\text{ NTU}\)). Collect effluent at \(500\text{ mL}\) intervals. Calculate: \(\% \text{ NTU Reduction} = \frac{\text{NTU}_{\text{in}} - \text{NTU}_{\text{out}}}{\text{NTU}_{\text{in}}} \times 100\).

B. Colorimetric Adsorption

Use spectrophotometer or colorimeter at \(\lambda = 665\text{ nm}\) to measure synthetic dye/contaminant absorbance before and after bed transit. Determine mass adsorbed per gram of biochar (\(q_e\)).

C. Hydraulic Flux & Clogging

Maintain a constant \(5.0\text{ cm}\) liquid head above filter media. Record time required to discharge \(250\text{ mL}\). Calculate hydraulic conductivity (\(K\)) and monitor flow decay to detect premature clogging.

AquaFilter Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 3 • Deliverables & Matrix

Cartridge Blueprint & Project Rubric

Design & Assessment

Cartridge / Bio-Paving Tile Schematic & Bed Layering Plan

Annotate media grain sizes, flow direction, and retention screens

[ Cross-Section Filter Architecture & Flow Blueprint ]

Target Community Site:

Total Bed Volume (\(\text{cm}^3\)):

Optimal Retention Time:

Regeneration Cycle:

Chemical Analysis & Watershed Synthesis Reflection

1. Surface Chelation & Charge Neutralization: Contrast how physical sand filtration differs chemically from the electrostatic mechanisms of Moringa bio-coagulation and biochar adsorption.

2. Environmental Watershed Equity: How can decentralized, low-cost bio-filtration infrastructure reduce environmental justice disparities in communities burdened by high stormwater runoff?

STEAM Mastery Rubric (100 Points Total)

AquaFilter Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 4 • Blueprint & Evaluation

Thermal Lab Apparatus

• • Regulated constant-temp water baths
• • Dual-probe digital thermocouple loggers
• • \(150\text{ mL}\) Borosilicate melting beakers
• • Precision digital balances (\(\pm 0.01\text{g}\))
• • Silicone architectural casting molds
• • High-density foam insulation boxes

Testing & Prototyping Rig

• • Calibrated 100W halogen solar lamp simulator
• • FLIR or handheld infrared thermometer
• • Digital vernier calipers (\(0.1\text{ mm}\))
• • Whatman filter paper for leak testing
• • Acrylic mock miniature classroom test cells
• • Graphic architectural presentation boards

Sprint Timeline & Benchmarks

Week 1 Days 1–5

Phase 1: Thermochemical Phase Curves & Eutectic Mixtures Milestone 1

Map heating and cooling curves for pure fatty acids. Formulate binary eutectic mixtures (e.g., 60:40 Lauric:Myristic acid) to depress melting points to target human comfort range (\(22\text{--}24^\circ\text{C}\)).

Week 2 Days 6–10

Phase 2: Composite Capillary Stabilization & Leak Prevention Milestone 2

Impregnate molten eutectic PCM into porous diatomaceous earth or expanded perlite. Determine the maximum mass fraction (\(\%\)) of PCM absorbed without liquid seepage during phase change.

Week 3 Days 11–15

Phase 3: Environmental Chamber Testing & Thermal Damping Milestone 3

Subject mock building enclosures lined with ThermoTiles to simulated solar radiation cycles (100W lamp). Record internal temperature lag (\(\Delta t\)) and peak temperature reduction (\(\Delta T\)) vs. control gypsum tiles.

Week 4 Days 16–20

Phase 4 & 5: Facade Tessellation & Community Retrofit Pitch Final Expo

Apply dynamic thermochromic surface finishes that turn translucent or change color at \(24^\circ\text{C}\). Present building life-cycle energy savings data and kilowatt-hour reduction models to school board facility directors.

Under The Hood: Eutectic Depression & Latent Heat Enthalpy

Pure lauric acid melts at \(44^\circ\text{C}\), but mixing it with myristic acid disrupts crystal lattice symmetry. At the eutectic point (\(66\%\) lauric : \(34\%\) myristic), the mixture transitions sharply at \(\approx 23.5^\circ\text{C}\). During melting, energy breaks intermolecular hydrogen bonds without raising temperature (\(q = m \cdot \Delta H_{\text{fus}}\)), storing \(\approx 180\text{ J/g}\) of heat that would otherwise spike indoor room temperatures.

ThermoTile Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 2 • Roadmap & Lab Reagents

Deliverables & Formulation Log

Assessment Checkpoint

Required Portfolio Artifacts

1. Thermochemical Formulation Log 25 Pts

Complete eutectic phase diagrams for 4 fatty acid ratios, latent heat calculations (\(\Delta H_{\text{fus}}\)), crystallization temperatures, and supercooling observations.

2. Physical ThermoTile Prototype 30 Pts

One leak-proof, cured \(12\text{ cm} \times 12\text{ cm}\) composite wall tile incorporating shape-stabilized PCM and an aesthetic thermochromic heat-indicator facade.

3. Thermal Damping Analytics Sheet 25 Pts

Time-temperature curves comparing interior cell temperatures with and without ThermoTiles under 60 minutes of direct simulated solar radiation.

4. Community Retrofit Pitch Deck 20 Pts

A 3-minute architectural pitch projecting annual kilowatt-hour reductions, greenhouse gas offsets, and payback periods for a local community building.

PCM Formulation & Encapsulation Matrix

Record mass percentages and carrier matrices prior to melting

Standardized Testing Protocol Instructions

A. Phase Curve Mapping

Immerse thermocouple probe in \(20\text{g}\) liquid PCM blend in water bath. Cool slowly at \(1^\circ\text{C/min}\). Record temperature every \(15\text{ s}\). The flat plateau represents the latent phase change temperature (\(T_m\)).

B. Oven Leakage & Mass Loss

Place cured composite tile on pre-weighed filter paper in a \(40^\circ\text{C}\) oven for \(2\text{ hours}\). Measure paper mass change (\(\Delta m\)). Any seepage exceeding \(1.0\%\) fails structural stability standards.

C. Solar Heat Lag (\(\Delta T\))

Mount tile in mock wall cell opposite a 100W halogen source at \(25\text{ cm}\). Log internal air temperature for \(45\text{ min}\) heating and \(45\text{ min}\) cooling. Calculate peak temperature damping: \(\Delta T_{\text{damp}} = T_{\text{ctrl}} - T_{\text{pcm}}\).

ThermoTile Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 3 • Deliverables & Matrix

Tile Blueprint & Project Rubric

Design & Assessment

Architectural ThermoTile Cross-Section & Facade Blueprint

Annotate composite core, barrier layer, and thermochromic facade

[ Cross-Section Architecture & Geometric Facade Layout ]

Target Wall Orientation:

PCM Core Mass (\(\text{g}\)):

Transition \(T_m\) Range:

Peak \(\Delta T\) Damping:

Chemical Analysis & Thermal Synthesis Reflection

1. Enthalpy of Fusion vs. Specific Heat: Explain why a material undergoing a phase change can absorb significantly more thermal energy than one simply rising in temperature (\(q = m\Delta H_{\text{fus}}\) vs. \(q = mc\Delta T\)).

2. Passive Urban Heat Island Equity: How does incorporating passive thermal storage into low-income community housing address energy poverty during extreme summer heat waves?

STEAM Mastery Rubric (100 Points Total)

ThermoTile Chemistry STEAM Project Guide Page 4 • Blueprint & Evaluation