Community college student at heart of "Supergel" project

Community college student Nadia Kivenas inserts a vial of polymer gel into a laser light scattering analyzer, which is used to determine if nanosized particles are suspended in the supergel material. Project leader Mike Kaminski observes, at left.

For testing, a small amount of dry polymer gel powder (left) is placed in a packet that swells to many times its initial volume when waterlogged (right).

Much of the success of Argonne's "Supergel" process for cleaning up radioactively contaminated structures is due to the efforts of Nadia Kivenas, a community college student who handled the hands-on task of formulating the superabsorbent polymer gels.

Kivenas came to Argonne in January 2004 when she was a second-year student at Daley College in Chicago, under the Department of Energy's Community College Institute of Science and Technology (CCI) Program to work with Mike Kaminski and others in Argonne's Chemical Engineering Division.

Kaminski and his team were tasked with developing a system to quickly decontaminate structures such as buildings and monuments using a spray-on, super-absorbent gel and engineered nanoparticles. The effort was funded by the Department of Homeland Security through the Technical Support Working Group (TSWG) to help the nation be more prepared in the event of a terrorist attack with a “dirty bomb” or other radioactive dispersal device.

The polymer gel used to absorb the radioactivity is similar to the absorbent material found in disposable diapers. When exposed to a wetting agent, the polymers form something like a structural scaffold that allows the gel to absorb a very large amount of liquid.

Kivenas' primary task in the early phases of the project was making polymer gel packets and testing them to determine their characteristics, including absorbency capacity, ability to adhere to vertical surfaces, resistance to heat, and deterioration over time. Once the optimal polymer gel formulation was identified, she worked on the decontamination phase of the work, in which concrete samples were contaminated with a radionuclide and the gel's ability to remove it was studied.

With Kivenas on board, the project moved along rapidly. Although most CCI internships are about three months' duration, Kivenas' stay was extended under the Department of Energy's Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships Program to help maintain project momentum and to allow Kivenas to expand her role within the research team.

"Nadia's experimental work was a huge contribution to the project," says project leader Mike Kaminski. "Without her involvement we wouldn't have been able to get the work done within the required time period."

Kivenas, who had the rare opportunity of working with radioactive materials, says she felt privileged to work on the project, not only because of her unusual research opportunities, but because the effort was aimed a producing a workable solution to an issue of national importance. She also appreciated being able to work on the project for an extended period. Students typically work on short-term projects that are part of continuing research but in Kivenas' case, she was a part of the project from its beginning to the end of the experimental activities.

"I did pretty much everything that a researcher normally does in addition to work in the laboratory," Kivenas says. "I wrote monthly technical progress reports for the sponsor, and at the end of the project wrote a summary report.". She also had the opportunity to interact with other researchers at Argonne when the team sought the input of their peers in formulating a wash solution.

Kivenas’ contributions also included some practical tasks. It was Kivenas who tracked down a vendor that could provide the specialized spray system needed to handle the thick polymer gel and provide the even application required.

Kivenas says her experience at Argonne has greatly added to her knowledge and skills, and strengthened her commitment to pursue a career in science and technology. She graduated from Daley College in May 2004 with an Associate in Science degree and is headed to St. Xavier College where she will study for a Bachelor's Degree in Science.

Would she like to come back to Argonne for another research project. Kivenas says, "Yes—at the first opportunity!"

Argonne's Supergel system to safely capture and dispose of radioactive elements in porous structures outdoors moved a step closer to deployment with the outdoor demonstration of the gel's application and cleanup, using commercially available equipment, in September 2005. The next steps will be to test the process in a hot cell facility using actual radioactive materials. Plans call for a pilot-scale demonstration followed by full deployment within the next 6 to 12 months.

A patent application has been filed and the Supergel technology is expected to be available for licensing.

The Technical Support Working Group is the U.S. national forum that identifies, prioritizes, and coordinates interagency and international research and development (R&D) requirements for combating terrorism. The TSWG rapidly develops technologies and equipment to meet the high-priority needs of the combating terrorism community, and addresses joint international operational requirements through cooperative R&D with major allies.

For More Information

"Supergel" System for Cleaning Radioactively Contaminated Surfaces Nears Deployment