User:Theboogeyman01/Kandis Leslie Abdul-Aziz

Born In Charleston South Carolina

Kandis Leslie Abdul-Aziz is an African-American entrepreneur chemical and environmental engineer. She is the founder of Nardo technology, a company that develops portable microfluidic analytical devices for forensic, medical and environmental applications. Microfluidic Analytical devices are convenient tools for detection and determination of many organic and inorganic compounds. Abdul-Aziz's company, Nardo Technology was inspired by her period of time working in the forensics division at the Philadelphia Police Department. She was named a Scialog Fellow in 2021, and is an editorial advisory board member for ACS Catalysis.

Biography

Early life and career

Abdul-Aziz was born in Charleston South Carolina. However at a young age she moved to Philadelphia Pennsylvania where she would discover her love for chemistry, in which she would graduate with a bachelor's degree in from Temple University. After completing her undergraduate studies, Abdul-Aziz would work at Sunoco Chemicals in her native hometown of Philadelphia as a refinery chemist.

After completing her work as a chemist, she would work as a forensic scientist in the drug chemistry area at the Philadelphia Police department. Abul-Aziz's division the Chemistry Unit (CHEM) analyzes evidence, that is submitted during drug investigations to determine the presence or absence of controlled substances.

Once leaving the Philadelphia Police Department, Abdul-Aziz further advanced. and continued her education by attending graduate school at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign she served as a member for the Women Chemists Committee, a member of the American Chemical Society, whose goal is to promote, train and empower women in the chemical sciences field. After graduating from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), in Chemistry, Abdul-Aziz was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the University Of California Riverside faculty as an assistant professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering.

Research

Overall, Abdul-Aziz's research primarily focuses on ways to create a sustainable environment. Abdul-Aziz has been awarded a $538,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award to develop a novel approach to convert greenhouse gases into chemicals that can be used as energy sources, according to an announcement from University of California Riverside. Abdul-Aziz, an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California Riverside, is developing a strategy to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. She plans to use perovskite materials to capture CO2 and convert it into hydrocarbons through methane reaction, using sources like syngas, ethane, and ethylene for polymers and fuel production. These materials hold significant promise as future resources for energy and raw materials in the chemical industry. When asked about this work Abdul-Aziz stated “I am excited to work on new technology to convert carbon dioxide and methane into usable chemical commodities,” said Abdul-Aziz. “The approach developed in this project will provide a route to optimize material properties and CO₂ utilization for both lab and process scales.”

Abdul-Aziz's research has also led to creation of recycled activated carbon filters: a porous material utilized in Brita filters and wastewater treatment facilities,from agricultural waste like corn stover and orange peels. Abdul-Aziz's research states corn stover., one of the most abundant and versatile crops which consists of stalks, leaves, cobs, and can be used in used in bioethanol production, textiles, hydrocarbons, and animal feed was removed from roughly 6.3% of corn operations in the United States, indicating an abundant supply with a low demand. Furthermore, the reason of converting corn stover into activated carbon, was to find a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as by decomposing or burning their leftover corn waste on the field, farmers are unknowingly creating greenhouse gasses.

Furthermore, Abdul-Aziz's research also conducts that the use of plastics, such as polystyrene (PS) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), in our society by providing protection and storage for food, fibers in our clothing, and containers for goods has severely damaged our society as plastics have a synergistic effect on the production of chars with bigger pore diameters or larger surface areas. According to gas analysis, the development of gas byproducts from synthetic and natural polymer cracking can impact the char crystallographic structure, pore structure, pore size, and surface area. Furthermore, this study reveals that the interaction between plastic and biomass during co-pyrolysis char production can affect its properties, with plastics promoting side reactions and altering surface, porosity, and crystallographic structure.

Abdul-Aziz's research explores the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels, particularly carbon dioxide, on the environment, including global warming, extreme weather events, and biodiversity loss. Furthermore, Abdul-Aziz's research about ICCU technology, combining CO2 capture and utilization in a single reaction system, is gaining interest for its potential to reduce emissions and produce valuable products in green technologies. Subsequently, Combining carbon capture and utilization (CCU) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) strategies can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, focusing on a net-zero emissions economy using CO2 as the primary building block.