Magnetic Resonance Studies of Intermolecular Interactions in Environmental Matrices

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The proposed research is designed to address the need for a molecular-level understanding of contaminant behaviour in the environment and will focus on three research areas: (i) understanding the mechanisms through which small hydrophilic organic compounds associate with environmental matrices; (ii) the role that the supramolecular structure of natural organic matter plays in the occurrence of non-ideal sorption behaviour in terrestrial environments, including the retention and desorption of contaminants; and, (iii) the development of practical applications of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) as a tool to probe contaminant behaviour in the environment.***More than 30% of the Earth's accessible freshwater is used for agricultural, industrial, and domestic activities. This important natural resource is continuously at risk to contamination from an estimated flux of 300 million tons of anthropogenic organic chemicals per year. The goal of the proposed research is to develop and improve our understanding of the associations and interactions that occur between chemical contaminants and environmental matrices in soils, sediments, and aquatic ecosystems. These interactions play an important role in governing the behaviour of contaminants in the environment, including: persistence, natural attenuation, transport, and environmental availability. Understanding the nature of these interactions at the molecular-level is seen as a prerequisite for the development of more accurate models of contaminant fate and exposure; such models are needed in order to develop more efficient and effective practices to manage and remediate contaminated environments. Elucidating molecular-level mechanisms in environmental systems is difficult due to the chemically complex and physically heterogeneous nature of environmental matrices and as such a full understanding of these processes is dependent upon the availability of molecular-level analytical tools that can overcome these challenges in order to observe these interactions directly. NMR, which is uniquely suited for the analysis of complex heterogeneous materials, is emerging as a powerful analytical tool to address the need for a molecular-level understanding of contaminant behaviour in the environment.**