{"id":233035,"date":"2025-08-04T07:28:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T11:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=233035"},"modified":"2025-08-04T15:25:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T19:25:34","slug":"from-scraps-to-solutions-engineering-student-transforms-campus-food-waste-into-carbon-capture-material","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/08\/from-scraps-to-solutions-engineering-student-transforms-campus-food-waste-into-carbon-capture-material\/","title":{"rendered":"From Scraps to Solutions: Engineering Student Transforms Campus Food Waste into Carbon Capture Material"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up on Long Island, Caitlin Noonan \u201926 (ENG) learned to be cautious about the water she consumed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhere I lived, all of our drinking water came from underground aquifers,\u201d she explains. \u201cThat meant any chemicals used on lawns or pollutants left outside could easily leach into the water supply. I was always using a water filter, always worried about what might be in the tap.\u201d<\/p>\n

That early awareness of environmental vulnerability shaped her academic path. As a high school student, Noonan launched her first research project studying water quality and the formation of harmful algal blooms. It opened her eyes to the ways human activity affects ecological systems\u2014and kickstarted her future as an environmental problem-solver.<\/p>\n

\"Caitlin<\/a>
Caitlin Noonan ’26 (ENG) poses in front of the Wilbur Cross Building in April. (Sydney Herdle\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now a rising senior majoring in chemical engineering, Noonan, a 2025 Goldwater Scholar<\/a>, is turning her concern into action. With support from UConn\u2019s Office of Undergraduate Research<\/a> and a 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Award<\/a>, she\u2019s leading an innovative project aimed at addressing two major environmental threats: food waste and carbon emissions.<\/p>\n

Her research, titled \u201cConverting the University of Connecticut\u2019s Food Waste into Activated Carbon for Carbon Capture, Sequestration, and Usage,\u201d explores how discarded food scraps can be transformed into a powerful material capable of removing carbon dioxide (CO\u2082) from the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon entering college, I wanted to think bigger than Long Island,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I began researching carbon dioxide removal using adsorbents made from food waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

With help from UConn Dining Services staff, Noonan gathered about 10 pounds of uneaten food waste from the South Dining Hall and brought it to her lab at UConn\u2019s Center for Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2). There, she processes the scraps using a FoodCycler Eco 5 device\u2014on loan from UConn\u2019s Office of Sustainability and supported by Casella Waste Systems<\/a>. The device grinds and dries the waste into powder form.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost food waste from UConn\u2019s dining halls is already sent to Quantum Biopower, a company that converts it to methane through anaerobic digestion,\u201d Noonan says. \u201cBut food waste from apartment dorms often ends up in the trash. This pilot program helps reduce that waste\u2014and also benefits my research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"dried<\/a>
As part of the study, salad bar waste from South Dining Hall is dried, ground, and sieved. Noonan measures CO\u2082 adsorption using a thermogravimetric analyzer, which tracks weight changes as the material interacts with gas. (Christopher LaRosa\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After processing the food waste, Noonan subjects it to slow pyrolysis, a high-temperature decomposition process conducted in the absence of oxygen. This method produces three value-added outputs: biochar, bio-oil, and syngas.<\/p>\n

Her focus is on the biochar\u2014a carbon-rich, porous material that serves as the foundation for activated carbon.<\/p>\n

\u201cBiochar is tunable,\u201d she explains. \u201cThat means we can adjust its properties to optimize it for specific applications, like CO\u2082 adsorption.\u201d<\/p>\n

To further enhance the material, she treats the biochar with steam activation at 900\u00b0C (about 1,650\u00b0F). The steam knocks out carbon atoms, creating a highly porous structure ideal for trapping gas molecules like CO\u2082.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis method is cleaner than chemical activation,\u201d she says. \u201cOther processes can produce additional waste or environmental hazards. Steam is safer and more sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The final product is a dark porous powder that can be heated and reused multiple times for adsorption and then safely returned to the environment as a soil amendment. Unlike chemical adsorbents that risk leaching harmful compounds, biochar and activated carbon derived from food waste can remain stable in soil for centuries, supporting plant growth and improving soil quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen food waste decomposes in landfills, it emits methane and carbon dioxide\u2014two of the most potent greenhouse gases,\u201d Noonan says. \u201cFood waste alone accounts for roughly 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If we can divert that waste and turn it into something useful, we can begin to shift the balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noonan’s current goal is to use the food waste to reduce emissions from energy generation at UConn. In the future, Noonan envisions her activated carbon could be used larger-scale applications like industrial scrubbers or portable air filters for indoor use.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this project provides a sustainable, achievable path forward,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s about showing that everyday materials\u2014like food scraps\u2014can become part of the climate solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Julia<\/a>
At left, Julia Valla, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Graduate Studies and Education, is Noonan’s advisor. Here, Valla and Noonan add food waste to a “food cycler,” which dries and grounds the material. (Christopher LaRosa\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noonan\u2019s research is guided by her advisor, Julia Valla, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Graduate Studies and Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an undergraduate, it\u2019s remarkable that Caitlin\u2019s already making contributions that align with the future of sustainable engineering,\u201d Valla says. \u201cHer research on converting food waste into activated carbon for carbon dioxide capture is not only innovative but also addresses major environmental challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her research, Noonan serves as an undergraduate teaching assistant in Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I, and she plans to assist with Thermodynamics II in the upcoming semester.<\/p>\n

Following graduation, she intends to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, specializing in carbon capture and pollutant adsorption technologies. Her long-term goal is to become a tenured faculty member at an R1 research university, continuing to lead transformative environmental research.<\/p>\n

\u201cChemical engineers touch everything\u2014from the food we eat to the air we breathe. The world is made of materials, and chemical engineers help design those materials to solve real problems. Through my work, I want to make a measurable and positive impact on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caitlin Noonan \u201926 (ENG) created a highly-porous material from biochar, ideal for trapping gas molecules like CO\u2082<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":233039,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2649,2648,99,2387,2235,2227,2458,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2514],"class_list":["post-233035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-blue-pride","category-blue-research","category-student-life","category-sustainability","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates","category-university-life"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 09:39:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233035"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233313,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233035\/revisions\/233313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/233039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233035"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=233035"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=233035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}