[WATER]Manufactured Nanoparticles: Assessing the Mobility of a Future Class of Contaminant in Groundwaters

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Nanotechnology is rapidly expanding, and is forecast to become a trillion dollar industry in the near future. It is inevitable that as nanotechnology applications increase, increasing amounts of manufactured nanoparticles (mNPs) will be released into the environment. The environmental and human health implications of the release of most of the huge range of possible particle types are as yet largely unknown, but in the context of groundwaters, apart from implications for the drinking of contaminated water, there is also a potentially serious threat to indigenous bacterial populations, including those that are involved with attenuating contaminants. Thus it is very important to develop methods for assessing the mobility of mNPs in the various environmental compartments, including groundwaters. The movement of charged interacting particles through variably-sized rock pore systems where the pore walls are also charged is complex to predict. Preliminary experiments indicate that aggregation followed by straining and various attachment processes occur, depending on both particle/rock combinations and chemical conditions, but quantification/prediction is not possible without resolving some difficult surface measurement issues. However, such problems are common in a range of commercial applications, and consequently Malvern Instruments (MI), the leading particle characterization instrument manufacturer, has been developing new approaches that offer the possibility of tackling some of these problems. This project, therefore, aims to apply these new approaches to experimental metal oxide mNP / sandstone systems in order to help develop a conceptual model of the interactions of mNPs and rock, and from this to use the measured parameter values in a quantitative representation of the system appropriate for use in pollution risk assessment. The model developed should also be of direct use in cases where mNPs are used in groundwater remediation (though this will be rare until the health issues are more fully understood). The project will include laboratory, field, and computer modelling aspects. Besides facilitating access to a rapidly expanding research area, it will provide training in a specialization lacking in the water industry, and also develop the transferable skills and insights necessary for any groundwater contamination career.