EMSI: Center for Environmental Kinetic Analysis (CEKA)

将研究自然和污染环境系统中非生物和生物化学反应的动力学。研究将跨越多个时空尺度和化学体系，以深入了解分子尺度行为影响宏观世界的方式。该研究所由三个兴趣小组组成，专注于表面的溶解、沉淀和微生物反应过程。每个感兴趣的小组将研究分子、微观、介观以及大多数情况下的领域尺度上的反应。每个兴趣小组都在研究相同的材料系列(铁、锰、铝的氧化物；长石和二氧化硅；镁、钙、铁矿物)，以便将研究所整合到不同的兴趣小组。例如，铁镁硅酸盐的溶解反应可能在地下水质量中发挥作用，因为有毒金属可能存在于这些天然矿物相中。研究这一自然过程及其对地下水质量的影响本身是有用的，也可能被证明与硅酸铁转化为碳酸盐矿物有关，这一过程正在调查中，以期在二氧化碳封存中发挥可能的作用。此外，这些相的非生物溶解和沉淀反应将为动力学行为提供基线，因为第三兴趣小组研究微生物与这些相同矿物的相互作用。细菌的附着和微生物与矿物之间的氧化还原化学是维持地下水质量和修复许多有毒废物场地的关键因素。发生在环境界面上的物理化学和微生物过程影响自然过程以及环境污染物的迁移和去向、有毒化学物质的修复和人为二氧化碳的封存。一个由科学家和工程师组成的团队已经聚集在一起，开发和应用新的实验和计算技术，以创建环境动力学数据库。一批才华横溢、多样化的学生将接受培训，以在不同的长度尺度上解决这些复杂的问题。开发能够将分子尺度的信息转化为适用于现实世界的参数的人力资源，实地尺度的环境动力学问题将是研究所努力的一个主要和相对独特的成果。应用科学家和学术科学家之间的互动将推动旨在解决国家利益重大问题的研究方法。分子过程在理解和管理环境问题中扮演的角色的例子将被用来制作3D电影，这些电影将在宾夕法尼亚州立大学地球与矿物科学博物馆的GeoWall屏幕上放映，并在该地区的巡回展览中放映。环境分子科学研究所(EMSI)奖颁发给大学、工业和/或国家实验室科学家组成的跨学科团队，他们致力于解决旨在增加对自然过程和人类在分子水平上的环境活动所产生的过程的基本了解的问题。这些奖项的重点是在具有互补研究兴趣的团队之间进行合作研究，并为学生创造广泛的教育经验。宾夕法尼亚州立大学EMSI团队是由宾夕法尼亚州立大学(由国家科学基金会化学和地球科学部资助)的12名教职员工和来自洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室、太平洋西北国家实验室和劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室(由能源部环境修复科学部资助)的四名研究人员组成的合作伙伴关系。

Kinetics of abiotic and biotic chemical reactions in both natural and contaminated environmental systems will be studied. Investigations will transcend multiple temporal and spatial scales and chemical systems in order to gain insight into the ways molecular scale behavior affect the macroscopic world. The Institute is organized into three interest groups focusing on the processes of dissolution, precipitation, and microbial reactions at surfaces. Each interest group will study reactions across the molecular, microscopic, mesoscopic and, in most cases, field scales. Each interest group is studying the same families of materials (oxides of Fe, Mn, Al; feldspars and silica; Mg, Ca, Fe minerals) in order to integrate the Institute across interest groups. For example, dissolution reactions of ferromagnesian silicates may play a role in groundwater quality because toxic metals may be present in these natural mineral phases. Study of this natural process and the effect it has on groundwater quality is useful in its own right, and may also prove relevant to ferromagnesian silicate conversion into carbonate minerals, a process that is under investigation for a possible role in CO2 sequestration. In addition, the abiotic dissolution and precipitation reactions of these phases will provide the baseline for kinetic behavior as the third interest group researches the interaction of micro-organisms with these same minerals. The attachment of bacteria and redox chemistry that occurs between micro-organisms and minerals are critical factors in maintaining groundwater quality and remediation of many toxic waste sites.Physicochemical and microbiological processes taking place at environmental interfaces influence natural processes as well as the transport and fate of environmental contaminants, the remediation of toxic chemicals, and the sequestration of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. A team of scientists and engineers has been assembled to develop and apply new experimental and computational techniques to create a database for environmental kinetics. A cohort of talented and diverse students will be trained to work on these complex problems at multiple length scales. Development of the human resources capable of translating molecular-scale information into parameters that are applicable in real world, field-scale problems of environmental kinetics will be a major and relatively unique outcome of the Institute's efforts. Interactions between the applied and academic scientists will drive research approaches aimed toward solving important problems of national interest. Examples of the roles molecular processes play in understanding and managing environmental problems will be used to create 3-D movies to be shown on GeoWall screens at The Pennsylvania State University Earth & Mineral Sciences museum and at traveling exhibits throughout the region. Environmental Molecular Science Institute (EMSI) awards are given to interdisciplinary teams of university, industrial and/or national laboratory scientists working on problems aimed at increasing fundamental understanding of natural processes and processes resulting from human activities in the environment at the molecular level. The emphasis in these awards is on collaborative research among teams with complementary research interests and the creation of broad educational experiences for students. The Penn State EMSI team is a partnership among 12 faculty at The Pennsylvania State University (funded by the National Science Foundation Divisions of Chemistry and Earth Sciences) and four researchers drawn from Los Alamos National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (funded by the Department of Energy Division of Environmental Remediation Sciences).