Chemical Weapons Cleanup Work Earns Engineer National Research Award

Cincinnati UC has one of the top young engineering researchers in the country, according to the federal government.

Peter Smirniotis, associate professor of chemical engineering, received one of only four Young Investigator Program awards from the U.S. Army this fall. The award will support his research into less expensive and less dangerous ways to destroy chemical weapons.

"This is very prestigious," said Smirniotis, who will receive $150,000 over three years. "The Army has very special needs, and the program is very competitive."

The Army grant will help Smirniotis find alternatives to incineration, which is the primary method available now to clean up the estimated 25,000 tons of chemical warfare agents in this country. "We need more effective methods and less controversial methods," said Smirniotis.

It's important to point out that all of Smirniotis' work at UC will be done with "simulants." These are chemicals with the same basic properties as the chemical weapons, but that don't pose the same risk to human health.

"There's basically four categories of chemical agents. We'll work with all four categories, using safe substitutes to see how we can break them down."

For example, a paper to be presented at a national research meeting in November explains a promising technique for destroying mustard gas. Other work uses simulants which mimic the properties of the deadly nerve gas Sarin.

"The priority is to get simple, benign compounds. With some processes, you get very toxic byproducts."

Smirniotis has pioneered the use of photocatalysis to break down these dangerous chemicals. That combination of catalyst and light energy (solar power or ultraviolet light) appears to be both cost-effective and safe.

This isn't the first time Smirniotis' lab has attracted attention. He was one of only three American researchers to win a NATO Science for Peace grant. That project includes a collaboration with Russian scientists and industry to destroy chemical weapons from Moscow to Siberia.

On campus, Smirniotis' graduate student Lev Davydov received the 2000 Distinguished Dissertation Award for his work on the Russia project.

UC is helping to support the work as well, with $10,000 in funding from the Division of Research and Advanced Studies, the College of Engineering, and the department of chemical engineering.