Mattie Brock, a chemical engineering doctoral student in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, won first place in the student research poster competition at the American Filtration and Separation Society (AFS) FILTON in Pittsburgh.
AFS FILTON, held annually, is the leading conference for filtration and separations professionals and brings together experts from industry and academia to explore solutions and innovations that shape the future of the field.
The theme of this year's FILTCON was Energy Transition & Regulatory Compliance, and spotlighted the pivotal role of filtration and separations in enabling cleaner energy systems and meeting increasingly complex global standards. From renewable fuels and hydrogen production to carbon capture, battery technologies, and advanced manufacturing, innovations in filtration drive efficiency, reliability, and sustainability across sectors. FILTCON '26 offered a platform for scientists, engineers and practitioners to share breakthroughs, discuss evolving regulations, and explore solutions that will define the next generation of clean technology.
Brock's winning poster was titled, "Functionalization of fiber filter media for highly selective toxic metal removal from water" and presented her work investigating the functionalization of fiber filter media to enhance mercury and other highly valuable metal capture at low concentrations through targeted surface modifications.
Fiber filter media is typically used for particle capture from aqueous or oil media, but Brock demonstrated using safe, non-toxic, green chemistry-based functionalization approaches that can be used to transform chemically inert fiber filter media into a high value metal capture platform for various industrial applications. The approach offers a promising and scalable solution for toxic metal removal, contributing to safer and more sustainable water purification technologies for various industries requiring treatment of contaminated produced water.
Brock, along with five of her peers, was supported by Dibakar Bhattacharyya, Ph.D., UK Alumni Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering. Bhattacharyya was a recipient of a FILTCON Travel Award, which are presented to professors who submitted abstracts, were selected to present at FILTCON and were bringing at least two students to participate in the student poster competition.
