RII Track-4: The Molecular Nature of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals on Nanoparticles

许多具有重要环境、人类健康和经济影响的物理和化学过程依赖于表面相互作用。实例包括材料生产;污染物的形成、破坏和补救;云的形成;以及宿主-病原体相互作用。解释表面上发生的性质和过程对于控制、修改和使用它们以获得进一步的科学知识和经济优势是必要的。依赖于表面相互作用的一个环境问题是环境持久性自由基（EPFR）的形成。EPFR大量存在于大气颗粒中，当废物和燃料燃烧产生的副产物与含金属的纳米颗粒相互作用时形成。与先前发现的仅存在几分之一秒的大气自由基不同，EPFR可以持续数月，使它们能够从其来源传输到更广泛的区域。与含有EPFR的吸入颗粒相关的健康风险包括各种心血管和呼吸功能障碍以及对感染的易感性增加。这些问题，结合纳米技术在未来几年的趋势和预测的影响，提出了一个迫切需要解决和填补关键的知识差距EPFR的形成。了解EPFR的结构和性质是改善战略以减轻其不利健康影响的关键一步，这将提高公众健康和生活质量。访问国家高磁场实验室（NHFML;位于佛罗里达州立大学）提供的仪器将允许详细表征EPFR，使他们与其他化学品相互作用的机制，并可能影响人类健康的更好的理解。这种与NHMFL科学家的合作对PI在南卡罗来纳州大学的当前和未来研究非常重要。阐明发生在纳米颗粒表面的物理和化学相互作用将为气溶胶科学、化学和催化的研究提供更广阔的途径，这将是合作解决关键环境和人类健康问题的关键。这项研究的首要主题是了解这些表面过程影响社会的各种方式，包括由制造的纳米颗粒催化的持久性污染物的形成，纳米颗粒与挥发性污染物的相互作用，用于环境修复和能源生产的纳米催化剂的合成，以及用于减轻流感感染的专用纳米颗粒的开发。NHMFL的设施将为这项奖学金提供良好的研究环境。NHMFL配备了最先进的设备，用于表征和分析纳米级表面，并确定复杂的化学结构。 使用先进的电子顺磁共振光谱技术在NHMFL的组合，研究目标是确定表面结合的有机EPFR的分子结构，并阐明EPFR的机制。该研究金的目标不仅是解决现有的关键需求，即调查与EPFR相关的环境和人类健康风险，而且还提高了PI对其他当前和未来项目的能力。

Non-technical DescriptionMany physical and chemical processes with important environmental, human health, and economic implications rely on surface interactions. Examples include materials production; the formation, destruction, and remediation of contaminants; cloud formation; and host-pathogen interactions. Explaining the nature and processes occurring on surfaces is necessary to control, modify, and use them to achieve further scientific knowledge and economic advantage. One environmental issue that depends on surface interactions is the formation of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs). EPFRs are present in significant amount in atmospheric particles, forming when byproducts emitted from the burning of waste and fuels interact with metal-containing nanoparticles. Unlike previously identified atmospheric free radicals, which exist for only a fraction of a second, EPFRs can persist for several months, allowing them to be transported over a wider area from their source. Health risks associated with inhaled particles that contain EPFRs include a variety of cardiovascular and respiratory dysfunctions as well as an increased susceptibility to infection. These concerns, in conjunction with the trends and predicted impact of nanotechnology in the coming years, present an urgent need to address and fill the critical knowledge gaps about EPFR formation. Understanding the structure and nature of EPFRs is a key step towards improving strategies to mitigate their adverse health impacts, which will enhance public health and quality of life. Access to instrumentation available at National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHFML; located at Florida State University) will allow detailed characterization of EPFRs, enabling a greater understanding of the mechanisms by which they interact with other chemcials and potentially impact human health. This collaboration with scientists at NHMFL is important to the PI's current and future research at the University of South Carolina at Coumbia. Technical DescriptionElucidating the physical and chemical interactions occurring on surfaces of nanoparticles will provide wider avenues of research about aerosol science, chemistry, and catalysis that will be key to collaboratively addressing critical environmental and human health questions. The overarching theme of this research is to understand the various ways these surface processes impact society, including the formation of persistent contaminants catalyzed by manufactured nanoparticles, the interaction of nanoparticles with volatile contaminants, the synthesis of nanocatalysts for environmental remediation and energy production, and the development of specialized nanoparticles for mitigating influenza infection. The facilities at the NHMFL will provide an excellent research environment for this fellowship. NHMFL is equipped with state-of-the-science equipment for characterizing and analyzing nanoscale surfaces and for determining complex chemical structures. Using a combination of advanced electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques available at the NHMFL, the research goals are to identify the molecular structures of surface-bound organic EPFRs and elucidate the mechanisms of EPFRs. The fellowship's goals will not only address an existing critical need, that is, to investigate the environmental and human health risks associated with EPFRs, but also enhance the PI's capabilities for other current and future projects.