The U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $174,049 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) grant to Cache Environmental Laboratories, P.C. to develop a low-cost, biochar-based electrochemical device for rapid and accurate detection of per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in rural water supplies. The portable pollutant detection device utilizes inexpensive lignin-based...
This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212), will fund Home Grown Fuels, LLC, a woman-owned small business, to demonstrate PFAS phytoremediation and evaluate whether the addition of biochar as a soil amendment increases PFAS uptake. The project will also investigate the thermal destruction of PFAS in the harvested...
This federal Project Grant award of $650,000.00 from the USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program is funding a 24-month effort by Home Grown Fuels, Inc., a woman-owned small business, to develop an in-situ phytoremediation approach for remediating PFAS-contaminated soils and returning farmland to productivity. The project aims to create commercially viable technological solutions to address environmental challenges in agricultural...
This Cooperative Agreement award, provided by the National Science Foundation under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, focuses on developing advanced electrochemical degradation technology for removing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from water. The $999,603 award to Elateq, Inc., a small, minority-owned business, aims to create a sustainable, cost-effective, and easily operated on-site solution to destroy these "forever chemicals" that are...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), under the Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113) federal grant program, aims to develop a novel at-home test kit for the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The total award amount is $260,993 with a project period from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026. The primary goals of this project are to: Optimize the adsorptive and photocatalytic performance of metal-organic...
This $200,000 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) aims to develop a portable, low-cost sensor system that can detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called "forever chemicals," in water in real-time. The key objectives of this 2-year project are to: 1) create a selective sensing material by modifying polyaniline with fluorous surfactants to improve PFAS detection sensitivity; 2) design a dual-modal...
This $165,507 federal Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program (CFDA 10.212) supports the development and validation of an affordable, handheld quantitative fluorometer and colorimeter system. This technology will enable rapid, field-based enumeration of E. coli and antibiotic-resistant E. coli in agricultural water samples, providing a more accessible alternative to...
This Project Grant award of $305,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program supports the development of a portable device for rapid, on-site detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. The award recipient, Wave Lumina Inc., will create a field-deployable sensor system that integrates surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and artificial intelligence-enhanced signal processing to detect PFAS at...
This $1,234,866 Cooperative Agreement award, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, supports the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. The project aims to create a rapid, cost-effective PFAS detection method to complement current liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques, which are slower and more expensive....
The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded a $174,746 Project Grant under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) to Glanris Water Systems Inc., a for-profit manufacturer, to develop a low-cost, easily manufactured modified biochar that can adsorb plant nutrients. The goal is to use this biochar to remediate agricultural runoff and wastewater, removing harmful phosphate and nitrate,...