After more than seven years of collaboration with the Indigenous-owned carbon materials company, Carbonix, Dr. Andrew Vreugdenhil and his research team are celebrating a few scientific achievements.  

Professor Vreugdenhil—a faculty member in Trent’s Chemistry program and Materials Science graduate program—along with a handful of graduate students were recently named as inventors on three patents filed by Carbonix with the U.S. patent office. 

These patents describe the years of work that Trent scientists put into developing novel chemical processes that turn carbon-rich waste, from sources such as waste wood and petroleum coke from oil sands refinery, into activated carbon—black powders with specific absorptive properties.  

In particular, the team has designed and developed three activated carbon materials that can be used in specific environmental remediation applications: the removal of organic and heavy metal contaminants from water and supporting the settling of solids suspended in bodies of water.  

Learn more about Trent’s Chemistry and Materials Science programs.