Collaborative Research: CAS: Sunlight- and Oxidant-Induced Transformation of Tire-Derived Contaminants on Roadway-Associated Surfaces

在美国国家科学基金会化学部环境化学科学项目的支持下，纽约州立大学布法罗分校的Ning Dai、Prathima Nalam和Ravi Ranade以及华盛顿大学的Michael Dodd和Edward Kolodziej将研究轮胎橡胶衍生污染物在暴露于阳光和氧气、臭氧和羟基自由基等空气传播氧化剂的路面上的转化。轮胎在道路运输过程中磨损产生的颗粒物对水、土壤和空气污染有很大影响。这种颗粒产生的橡胶化合物和专有添加剂及其转化产物的复杂混合物可能对生态系统产生严重的不利影响。阳光和臭氧都是已知的水中反应物，但它们在转化与道路相关的表面(如轮胎橡胶、混凝土和沥青路面)上的污染物方面的作用在很大程度上是未知的。该项目将进行研究，以解决这些关键的知识差距。此外，该项目将包括一系列协同教育活动，包括K-12教师和社区大学外展，与公民科学团体的接触，以及为本科生提供基于项目的研究体验。该项目将评估阳光和空气中氧化剂对轮胎衍生的有机污染物在与道路相关的表面上的转化的独立和综合影响。将对表面反应的转化动力学、机理和产物组成进行表征，并与主体气相和水相反应的预期结果进行比较。通过使用一套精心挑选的与环境相关的污染物及其结构类似物，该项目将对路面上发生的界面光化学和氧化还原过程产生新的见解，从而能够对这些和许多其他轮胎衍生污染物的环境行为和潜在的生态系统和人类健康风险进行建模。本项目确定的结构-活性关系可用于指导选择和/或设计对环境更安全的新轮胎橡胶组件。该项目的发现有可能为环境更安全和更可持续的道路做出贡献，同时为可持续、减少生态影响的轮胎橡胶的发展提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program of the NSF Division of Chemistry, Ning Dai, Prathima Nalam, and Ravi Ranade at the University at Buffalo-the State University of New York and Michael Dodd and Edward Kolodziej at the University of Washington will study the transformation of tire rubber-derived contaminants on roadway surfaces that are exposed to sunlight and airborne oxidants such as oxygen, ozone, and hydroxyl radical. Particles generated from the wear of tires during transportation on roads contribute substantially to water, soil, and air pollution. The complicated mixture of rubber compounds and proprietary additives arising from such particles, as well as their transformation products, can have severe adverse impacts on ecosystems. Both sunlight and ozone are known reactants in water, but their roles in transforming contaminants on roadway-associated surfaces such as tire rubber, concrete, and asphalt pavements are largely unknown. This project will conduct research to address these critical knowledge gaps. In addition, this project will include a series of synergistic educational activities comprising K-12 teacher and community college outreach, engagement with citizen science groups, and project-based research experiences for undergraduate students. This project will evaluate the independent and combined effects of sunlight and airborne oxidants on the transformation of tire-derived organic contaminants on roadway-associated surfaces. The transformation kinetics, mechanisms, and product compositions from surface reactions will be characterized and compared against expectations for bulk gas and aqueous phase reactions. By using a suite of carefully selected, environmentally relevant contaminants and their structural analogues, the project will yield new insights on interfacial photochemical and redox processes occurring on roadway surfaces, which can enable modeling of the environmental behaviors and potential ecosystem and human health risks of these and many other tire-derived contaminants. Structure-activity relationships determined from this project can be used to inform the selection and/or design of new tire rubber components that are safer to the environment. The findings from this project have the potential to contribute to environmentally safer and more sustainable roadways while informing the development of sustainable, tire rubbers with reduced ecological impact.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.