You are here:
Effects of Natural Organic Matter on Stability, Transport and Deposition of Engineered Nano-particles in Porous Media
Citation:
SAHLE-DEMESSIE, E., Z. Li, AND G. A. Sorial. Effects of Natural Organic Matter on Stability, Transport and Deposition of Engineered Nano-particles in Porous Media. Presented at ACS 2010 National Meeting and Exposition, Boston, MA, August 22 - 26, 2010.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform EPA
Description:
The interaction of nano-particles and organic substances, like natural organic matter, could have significant influence on the fate, transport and bioavailability of toxic substances. Natural organic matter (NOM) is a mixture of chemically complex polyelectrolytes with varying molecular weights, produced mainly from the decomposition of plant and animal residues, is ubiquitous in the environment. Nanomaterials released into the environment interact with NOM, and the interaction could alter the fate and transport of the nanomaterials and other adsorbed pollutants. Due to the carboxylic and phenolic moieties distributed throughout the entire molecule, NOM generally carries a negative charge in the natural environment. In this study we investigated the effect of NOM characteristics and water quality parameters on adsorptive interaction with selected nano-particles. The role of particle size and surface of nano-particles and the effect of pH and ionic strength on the adsorption of NOM and environmental fate and transport were experimentally investigated. The result will analyzed using equilibm isotherm model and critically compared to the adsorption of other naturally occurring colloids. The results are compared to adsorption of other hydrophobic organic chemicals.