Lyles School PhD candidate Mohammadhasan (Movey) Sasar was recently awarded the 2020 Clay Minerals Society Student Research Grant. Recipients are chosen on a competitive basis considering the qualifications of the applicant, the objectives of the research proposal, design of the research project and relation to Clay Science.

Movey will be studying the interaction of clay minerals with anionic polymers under fast-occurring flocculation. The objective of this work is to lay the groundwork for improved de-watering and time dependent evolution of engineering properties of the fluid fine tailings produced by the mining industry. Movey's research focuses in particular on the ~109 m3 of fine tailings generated to date by the oil sand industry. This work is a part of the larger project titled "Polymer-MFT interactions form surface chemistry to rheology" led by Dr Marika Santagata and Dr Cliff T. Johnston at Purdue.