Date Due: Open (FY17: Please check to see if this program is still accepting proposals.)
Amount: Not Specified
Summary: This component of the NSF Innovations at the Nexus of the Food, Energy and Waters Systems (INFEWS) investment is designed to advance a new understanding of the role of the chemistry of nitrogen, phosphorous, and water in the nexus of food, energy and water systems, “INFEWS: N/P/H2O.” While fundamental science and engineering research will underpin solutions to these areas of national and international need, it must also be recognized that technological innovations themselves require resources for development and deployment.
Ostensible solutions to the challenge of N, P, and water supply cannot be premised on the assumption that energy, chemical feedstocks, and other required resources will be available in great abundance.
In FY 2017, the topics of interest in INFEWS: N/P/H2O include innovative, fundamental research to:
- advance catalytic methods for the reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia that permit reductions in the energy requirements for fertilizer production;
- develop new sensing modalities that will lead to field-deployable, inexpensive, and environmentally and energetically sustainable sensors for real-time monitoring of nitrogen- or phosphorus-containing species as they move, via agricultural run-off, to other water systems; and
- develop methods for the selective and efficient detection, sequestration/separation, and recycling of nitrogen and phosphorous species from water (For proposals submitted to CHE, proposals should focus on gaining an understanding of the supramolecular recognition and binding of environmentally-relevant nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing species.); and
- develop new materials to optimize the availability of N and control the utilization of P while managing effluents within the context of sustainable energy and preservation of our natural resources
Keywords: food systems, nitrogen, phosphorous
Solicitation: 17-013
URL: https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2017/nsf17013/nsf17013.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click