About

Professor Roland Cusick leads the Cusick Lab at the University of Illinois, focusing on advancing sustainable water and wastewater treatment technologies. Since 2014, the lab has been dedicated to integrating experimental approaches with multi-scale modeling to develop innovative solutions in this field. The research encompasses several key areas including electrochemical pollutant separations combined with energy storage systems, where the lab works on material development, process modeling, and systems analysis. Another major focus is on nutrient recovery from wastewater and grain processing facilities, employing kinetic process modeling and systems analysis to enhance recovery processes. Additionally, the lab explores bio-electrochemical sensing and data-driven modeling to improve wastewater treatment systems. Through these integrated research efforts, Professor Cusick contributes to the development of sustainable technologies aimed at improving water treatment efficiency and environmental outcomes.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Environmental science
• Chemistry
• Sociology
• Environmental engineering
• Process engineering
• Ecology
• Engineering
• Biochemistry
• Biology
• Economics
• Combinatorial chemistry
• Environmental economics
• Environmental resource management
• Waste management
• Soil science
• Materials science
• Inorganic chemistry
• Animal science
• Business
• Organic chemistry
• Agronomy
• Environmental planning

Selected publications

• The Potential of Thermomechanical and Thermochemical Processes to Enable Sustainable Household Sanitation

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2026-01-15

  articleOpen access

  for PMD and SCWO, respectively, with the grid electricity contributing 87-90% in both HRTs. Poor solid-liquid separation disproportionately increases costs and GHG emissions for SCWO relative to PMD. In the short term, optimizing a few levers─number of users, flush water volume, and the detailed design of the SCWO unit─can significantly reduce cost and emissions. In the long term, operating at maximum efficiency reduces both cost and emissions by approximately 70%. Deployment in locations with low wage, low-carbon electricity, low price levels, and large household sizes offers the greatest potential, positioning HRTs as viable advanced decentralized sanitation options in specialized settings.

  PublisherDOI

• A soy protein substitute for animal meat proteins can provide global phosphorus reduction and recirculation opportunities

  ChemRxiv · 2025-10-16

  articleSenior author

  Animal meat protein consumption is typically associated with greater environmental impacts than plant-based proteins. While most environmental impact assessments comparing animal and plant-based proteins focus on water usage and carbon emissions, phosphorus (P) use is a key parameter for a sustainable food system. Country-specific animal and crop parameters were leveraged to evaluate the P footprint of current animal meat protein consumption and potential benefits from substitution using soy-based protein. The global average P footprint for animal meat protein consumption when considering synthetic and manure P fertilizers was an estimated 2.6 kg P y-1 per capita in 2019. A complete transition to soy protein concentrate (SPC) from animal meat protein was estimated to decrease total P fertilizer applied to animal feed products by 81%, or an estimated 8.3 million metric tons of P per year and 33% of the total estimated 2019 P fertilizer utilization. Additionally, the recovery of P during SPC processing could generate sufficient renewable P fertilizer to replace an estimated 17% of total P utilized in global soybean production. The reduction and efficient reuse of P from a transition to SPC as a primary protein source can generate greater security and resiliency in global food systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Electrodepositing Polyvinyl Ferrocene Films to Enhance Oxyanion Recovery and Electrode Longevity

  ACS ES&T Engineering · 2025-02-28 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Rhenium, a critical high-value mineral, naturally occurs as perrhenate (ReO4–) and is difficult to separate from competing anions. Polyvinyl ferrocene (PVF) coated electrodes have exhibited selective adsorption of transition metal oxyanions, but performance degradation with cycling is poorly understood. This study examines the impact of two PVF film fabrication strategies (electrodeposition (ED) and dip-coating (DC)) on (i) rhenium uptake capacity and selectivity, (ii) electrode regeneration and performance longevity, and (iii) lifecycle cost of Re recovery. Electrodeposited PVF films exhibited nearly twice the rhenium uptake (351 ± 82.1 mg Re/g coating) of dip-coating PVF films (158 ± 32.7 mg Re/g coating). Additionally, after 15,000 charge/discharge cycles, Re uptake remained 69.1 ± 11.3% for ED but only 28.0 ± 12.3% for DC films, indicating improved PVF attachment to carbon scaffolds. Operational conditions significantly affected rhenium release after adsorption, with regeneration of 82.6 ± 9.4% at −0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl compared to 30.78 ± 6.2% at 0 V vs Ag/AgCl, due to reduction of both Fe and Re which promoted electrode regeneration at −0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl. A preliminary technoeconomic analysis indicates the high selectivity and longevity of PVF-ED electrodes could facilitate Re recovery at ∼5% of the current market price.

  PublisherDOI

• Defining economic and environmental typologies across 77 countries to prioritize opportunities for non-sewered sanitation

  ChemRxiv · 2025-01-21 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Lack of access to sanitation is a challenge that persists globally, with low sewerage connection rates in many low and lower-middle income countries. Engineered non-sewered sanitation (NSS) technologies can meet treatment requirements without sewers, but their relative sustainability varies across potential deployment sites. Here, we characterize the costs and carbon intensity (CI) of three emerging NSS technologies – two community reinvented toilets and one Omni Processor – across 77 countries, identify sustainability performance typologies, and map typology prevalence in countries across the globe. Locality-specific factors such as wages, diet, and material costs drive regional variability in NSS costs by up to 15-fold and CI up to 2-fold. Low-cost, low-CI typologies are predominantly in countries with lower human development indices (HDI 2-4), demonstrating alignment between sanitation need and NSS opportunity space. By elucidating key sustainability drivers and defining typologies, this work can support early-stage decision-making for NSS technology research, development, and deployment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Soy Protein Substitute for Animal Meat Proteins Can Provide Global Phosphorus Reduction and Recirculation Opportunities

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2025-12-18

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  Animal meat protein consumption is typically associated with environmental impacts greater than those of plant-based proteins. While most environmental impact assessments comparing animal- and plant-based proteins focus on water usage and carbon emissions, phosphorus (P) use is a key parameter for a sustainable food system. Country-specific animal and crop parameters were leveraged to evaluate the P footprint of current animal meat protein consumption and potential benefits from substitution using soy-based protein. The global average P footprint for animal meat protein consumption when considering synthetic and manure P fertilizers was an estimated 2.6 kg P year–1 per capita in 2019. A complete transition to soy protein concentrate (SPC) from animal meat protein was estimated to decrease total P fertilizer applied to animal feed products by 81%, or an estimated 8.3 million metric tons of P per year and 33% of the total estimated 2019 P fertilizer utilization. Additionally, the recovery of P during SPC processing could generate sufficient renewable P fertilizer to replace an estimated 17% of the total P utilized in global soybean production. The reduction and efficient reuse of P from a transition to SPC as a primary protein source can generate greater security and resiliency in global food systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Molecular Design of Highly-Nitrate Selective Electrosorbents by Controlling Polymer Solvation Properties

  ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2025-11-24

  article

  Selective capture of nitrate is a critical process for water purification and resource circularity. 1 The major challenge of developing selective adsorbent and membrane materials towards nitrate has arisen from similar physical properties between nitrate and competing anions such as chloride. 2 Redox active polymers with nitrogen-containing functional groups such as polyaniline (PANI) have shown promising nitrate adsorption capacities (1.13 mmol/g polymer ) but with limited nitrate selectivity (α NO3/Cl = 3.2). 3 To extend beyond the nitrate selectivity of the conventional redox polymers, we propose a novel material design to separate nitrate based on their solvation properties. In this work, we design functional polyaniline redox-polymers as highly selective electrosorbents towards nitrate by controlling the polymer surface hydrophobicity through synthetic functionalization. We elucidated the mechanisms behind the exceptional nitrate selectivity through a combination of ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) and in-situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM) studies. The hydrophobicity of the alkylated PANIs reduces chloride binding, thus enhancing electrosorptive selectivity towards nitrate. Through technoeconomic analysis (TEA), we report a 50% lower estimated nitrate removal costs using PNMA electrode compared to the scenario using non-functional PANI due to enhancement of selectivity and uptake, and a corresponding decrease in energy consumption per nitrate ion removed. Cho, K.-H.; Chen, C.-Y.; Aguda, A.; Fournier, M. J.; Su, X., Toward sustainable electrochemically mediated separations driven by renewable energy. Joule 2024 . Tsai, S.-W.; Wu, M.-C.; Ng, H. Y.; Hou, C.-H., Advancing the Electrosorption Selectivity of Nitrate Through Fine-Tuning Hydrophobic Ammonium Functional Groups in Anion Exchange Membranes for Membrane Capacitive Deionization. ACS ES&T Water 2024, 4 (12), 5598-5607. Kim, K.; Zagalskaya, A.; Ng, J. L.; Hong, J.; Alexandrov, V.; Pham, T. A.; Su, X., Coupling nitrate capture with ammonia production through bifunctional redox-electrodes. Nature Communications 2023, 14 (1).

  PublisherDOI

• Defining economic and environmental typologies across 77 countries to prioritize opportunities for non-sewered sanitation

  ChemRxiv · 2025-05-09

  preprintOpen access

  Lack of access to sanitation is a challenge that persists globally, with low sewerage connection rates in many low and lower-middle income countries. Engineered non-sewered sanitation (NSS) technologies can meet treatment requirements without sewers, but their relative sustainability varies across potential deployment sites. Here, we characterize the costs and carbon intensity (CI) of three emerging NSS technologies – two community reinvented toilets and one Omni Processor – across 77 countries, identify sustainability performance typologies, and map typology prevalence in countries across the globe. Locality-specific factors such as wages, diet, and material costs drive regional variability in NSS costs by up to 15-fold and CI up to 2-fold. Low-cost, low-CI typologies are predominantly in countries with lower human development indices (HDI 2-4), demonstrating alignment between sanitation need and NSS opportunity space. By elucidating key sustainability drivers and defining typologies, this work can support early-stage decision-making for NSS technology research, development, and deployment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developing Equivalent Circuit Models to Understanding of the Impact of Fabrication on Performance of Capacitive Deionization System with Ferrocene Coated Electrodes

  ECS Meeting Abstracts · 2025-11-24

  articleSenior author

  Polyvinyl ferrocene (PVF) is a polymer with high selectivity for valuable materials such as gold and rhenium as well as aqueous pollutants such as arsenic and phosphate. Capacitive deionization (CDI) systems incorporating PVF have demonstrated significant capacitance and metal selectivity. According to technoeconomic analysis (TEA) calculations, selectivity, capacitance, and longevity are essential for high-performance electrodes, requiring balanced optimization across all three aspects. However, the longevity and total electrode capacitance of PVF-coated electrodes remain critical challenges to practical applications, and the mechanisms underlying capacitance decay require further investigation. In this study, an equivalent circuit model was developed to characterize faradiac and electric double layer (EDL) contributions to capacitance and analyze the decay of capacitance and Faradaic behavior during extended cycling tests. The model incorporates both resistive and capacitive components of carbon-based EDL systems alongside Faradaic charge-transfer elements for the ferrocene coatings. The Faradaic current component was simulated with Nernst equation and charge balance principles. Calibration was achieved using experimental data from electrodes with different PVF-activated carbon (AC) coating ratios. Electrodes were prepared by applying PVF:AC slurries (ratios of 1:2 and 1:20) onto carbon paper substrates. PVF:AC electrodes were also coated with deacetylated Chitosan (CS) to evaluate the potential for aminated biopolymers to mitigate PVF loss and extend electrode lifetime. SEM imaging confirmed slurry adhesion to the substrate and revealed PVF overloading in the 1:2 ratio coating. The hybrid EDL-faradiac equivalent circuit could be accurately calibrated to all electrode fabrication and operation conditions (R² > 0.999). Calibrating EDL and faradaic contributions to current revealed that electrode composition significantly affected the distribution of EDL and faradaic capacitance. For the PVF:AC = 1:2 electrode, the mass of AC, which contributed to the double-layer capacity, is similar to PVF, where the mass contributions of PVF and AC were comparable, the electrochemical (Faradaic) capacity dominated, with a double-layer to Faradaic capacity ratio of approximately 1:1.5. In contrast, the PVF:AC = 1:20 electrode exhibited a strongly EDL-dominated behavior, with a ratio of approximately 6.1:1, indicating the dominant role of double-layer storage in anion adsorption. Equivalent circuit modeling also enabled quantification of active PVF surface loading changes across cycles. Calibrated declines in ferrocene surface loading concentrations aligned with the capacitance decay observed experimentally. Notably, the model indicated that incorporating chitosan effectively prevents PVF loss during charge-discharge cycles. For the PVF:CNT = 1:20 electrode, chitosan coated AC:PVF electrodes had significantly higher capacitance retention than non-coated electrodes, increasing from 51.0% without CS treatment to 88.4% with CS treatment after 2,000 cycles. However, for the redox-dominant PVF:AC = 1:2 electrode, CS had limited benefit for electrode duration, with retention values of 32.7% (with CS) and 29.5% (without CS). Furthermore, the CS-treated PVF:AC = 1:20 electrode preserved 43.5% of its electrochemical capacity and 86.4% of its EDL capacity after 2,000 cycles, compared to just 2.3% and 65.1%, respectively, for PVF:AC = 1:20 electrode without CS treatment. This study demonstrates the value of equivalent circuit modeling in understanding electrochemical processes and optimizing electrode fabrication and performance. These findings provide critical insights for designing more durable and efficient PVF-based electrodes in CDI systems, paving the way for broader applications in resource recovery and water treatment.

  PublisherDOI

• Defining economic and environmental typologies across 77 countries to prioritize opportunities for non-sewered sanitation

  ChemRxiv · 2025-06-20

  preprintOpen access

  Lack of access to sanitation is a challenge that persists globally, with low sewerage connection rates in many low and lower-middle income countries. Engineered non-sewered sanitation (NSS) technologies can meet treatment requirements without sewers, but their relative sustainability varies across potential deployment sites. Here, we characterize the costs and carbon intensity (CI) of three emerging NSS technologies – two community reinvented toilets (CRTs) and one Omni Processor (OP) – across 77 countries, identify sustainability performance typologies, and map typology prevalence in countries across the globe. Locality-specific factors such as wages, diet, and material costs drive regional variability in NSS costs by up to 15-fold and CI up to 2-fold within technologies. Across all three NSS technologies and all scenarios evaluated, costs ranged from 0.01 to 0.36 USD·capita-1·day-1 and CIs ranged from 8 to 269 kg CO2 eq·capita-1·year-1. Low-cost, low-CI typologies are predominantly in countries with lower human development indices (HDI 2-4), demonstrating alignment between sanitation need and the NSS opportunity space. Ultimately, the intent of this work is not to imply one-size-fits-all solutions for individual countries; by elucidating key sustainability drivers and defining typologies, this work can support early-stage decision-making for NSS technology research, development, and deployment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Potential of Non-sewered Sanitation (NSS) in Urban Settings: Exploring Core Value Propositions across Global and Local Contexts

  ChemRxiv · 2025-09-29 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Non-sewered sanitation (NSS) systems, such as Multi-Unit Reinvented Toilets (MURTs) and Omni-Processors (OPs), have emerged as viable on-site systems capable of providing safe sanitation with treatment and resource recovery capabilities. In this analysis, the opportunity space of NSS systems as alternatives to the centralized sewer collection and treatment was evaluated by cost per user per day (USD·capita-1·day-1) calculated from capital and operational costs of centralized and NSS systems as the performance indicator. The results were discussed in the context of three NSS core value propositions: (i) expanding coverage, (ii) distributing treatment, and (iii) enhancing resilience. The results showed that NSS implementation can often outperform centralized systems across facilities in the US and global cities in terms of cost per user per day when considering country, city, or facility-specific contextual features for analysis and characterization. Case studies on previous implementation highlighted the importance of context-specific NSS deployment to address climate change and city dynamics. The results from this work can contribute towards effective planning and decision-making to ensure globally sustainable sanitation coverage.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• SusChEM: Increasing Access to Sustainable Freshwater Resources with Membrane Capacitive Deionization

  NSF · $330k · 2016–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Jeremy S. Guest

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  20 shared

• Bruce E. Logan

  Pennsylvania State University

  20 shared

• Steven Hand

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  14 shared

• Andrew J. Margenot

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  11 shared

• Hannah A. C. Lohman

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  8 shared

• Seyed Aryan Emaminejad

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  8 shared

• Kyle C. Smith

  7 shared

• Marta C. Hatzell

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  7 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Civil Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1989

• M.S., Civil Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1985

• B.S., Civil Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  1983

Awards & honors

• W. Wesley Eckenfelder Graduate Research Award from the Ameri…
• Penn State Alumni Association Dissertation Award (2013)
• Dow Sustainability Student Challenge Award (2012)