Next-generation sulfidated zerovalent iron nanoparticles for groundwater remediation: degradation of emerging and legacy halogenated pollutants and interactions with bacteria

水是全球健康和经济发展的关键资源，日益严重的污染加剧了水在全球的稀缺。相当多的含水层和水源受到许多卤代有机化学品的污染，这些化学品已知对人类有毒，或只是现在才与广泛的人类健康问题有关，包括癌症、神经紊乱和内分泌紊乱。从水中消除这些化学物质具有挑战性，因为它们具有高度的稳定性和持久性，需要技术进步来实现或改进它们在受污染的水源中的消除。拟议的研究计划将开发具有成本效益和安全的纳米颗粒，由铁、硫和碳等富含地球的元素制成，用于在我们的水源中高效地就地处理各种有毒的卤化有机化学品。将由这些元素组成的原子和分子明智地组装成纳米颗粒，可以产生高活性的处理剂，其性能超过传统处理剂。目前的纳米粒子要么在实际环境中反应不充分，要么含有有毒元素，使其不可能直接用于我们的含水层和水源。将进行的研究具有原创性和创新性，因为它将(I)开发安全的铁-硫-碳复合纳米颗粒，这些纳米颗粒在战略上被设计成在污染环境中非常活跃；(Ii)调整纳米颗粒的设计和组成，使其对广泛的有毒卤化物质起反应；(Iii)确定纳米颗粒与污染物降解菌协同作用的战略，以实现对污染水域的高效和可持续的清理。该研究项目将为1名博士后、4名博士、3名硕士和5名本科生提供高质量的培训。他们将开发新的纳米材料，使用尖端工具产生新的知识，了解它们的组成如何在环境中提供高活性、高稳定性，并与污染物降解细菌高度协同。这项研究将使我们能够满足对有毒卤代化学品日益严格的监管限制，以保护人类健康和环境。研究成果将通过出版物和会议直接传递给行业和政府的研究合作伙伴，并传递给更大的社区，确保为加拿大带来环境、社会和经济利益。

Water is a critical resource for global health and economic development and its global scarcity is exacerbated by increasing pollution. A significant number of aquifers and water sources are contaminated by many halogenated organic chemicals known to be toxic to humans or that are only now being linked to a wide range of human health issues including cancer, neurological disorders and endocrine disruption. Eliminating these chemicals from water is challenging because of their high stability and persistence, and technological advances are needed to enable or improve their elimination in contaminated water sources. The proposed research program will develop cost-effective and safe nanoparticles, made of earth-abundant elements such as iron, sulfur and carbon, for efficient in situ treatment of a variety of toxic halogenated organic chemicals in our water sources. The judicious assembly of atoms and molecules comprised of these elements into nanoparticles can yield highly reactive treatment agents whose performance surpasses those enabled by conventional agents. Current nanoparticles are either not sufficiently reactive in the actual environment or have toxic elements which render their direct use in our aquifers and water sources impossible. The research to be conducted is original and innovative because it will (i) develop safe iron-sulfur-carbon composite nanoparticles that are strategically designed to be very reactive in polluted environments; (ii) tune the design and composition of the nanoparticles to be reactive to a broad spectrum of toxic halogenated chemicals; (iii) identify strategies for the nanoparticles to act synergistically with pollutant-degrading bacteria to enable efficient and sustainable clean-up of polluted waters. The research program will provide high quality training for 1 postdoc, 4 PhD, 3 MSc and 5 undergraduate students. They will develop novel nanomaterials, use cutting-edge tools to generate new knowledge of how their composition can provide high reactivity, high stability when deployed in the environment, and high synergism with pollutant-degrading bacteria. The research will enable us to meet increasingly stringent regulatory limits for toxic halogenated chemicals for protection of human health and the environment. The research results will be directly transferred to research partners from industry and government, and to the larger community through publications and conferences, ensuring environmental, social and economic benefits to Canada.