Emerging contaminants pose critical risks to ecosystems and public health due to their pervasive presence and potential toxicity. Traditional analytical methods for detecting these contaminants are often costly and time-intensive, limiting their scalability for widespread pollutant monitoring. This seminar will explore the application of Raman spectroscopy as a rapid and cost-effective tool for analyzing emerging contaminants in environmental water systems. Dr. Wei will present recent advancements, focusing on 1) Detection of neonicotinoids in drinking water using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), 2) Microplastic analysis in the Great Lakes, combining Raman spectroscopy with fractionated membrane filtration, and 3) Monitoring polymerization kinetics of phenolic contaminants during advanced oxidation processes. Key challenges, including lowering detection limits and mitigating interference from complex environmental water matrices, will also be discussed. This innovative optical approach has the potential to enable high-resolution spatiotemporal monitoring of emerging contaminants and facilitate data-driven water management.
Biography: Dr. Wei is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he leads the Environmental Analytical Technology Laboratory, a key component of the Environmental Chemistry and Technology Program. Dr. Wei earned his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in 2018 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University before joining UW–Madison in 2020. His research focuses on developing advanced optical tools for detecting emerging contaminants in drinking water supplies. Dr. Wei has authored 41 peer-reviewed publications, which have garnered more than 3,700 citations.