Stability and Interactions of Engineered Nanoparticles (ENP) in Aqueous Matrices (SIENA)

纳米技术已经成为获得新材料最有前途的方法之一。由此产生的纳米产品的特性是令人信服的，这导致纳米材料在工业和日常生活中的应用（如催化、食品工业、表面处理、个人护理和医疗应用）的巨大增加。因此，工程纳米粒子（ENP）将不可避免地进入环境系统。然而，人们对ENP在水系统中的行为知之甚少，它们的命运和生态影响也广为人知。其适用性和效益与应用后可能产生的不良生态影响风险之间的矛盾是显而易见的。为了更深入地了解水生系统中ENP的环境行为，确定和进一步发展其基本特征的分析方法并检查其与环境基质的相互作用尤为重要。在这种情况下，至关重要的是要考虑主要的水成分，如钠和钙，以及在水生系统中普遍存在的人为和天然有机物（NOM）。NOM可以显著改变ENP的稳定性、与其他水组分的相互作用和输运行为。特别是在水净化过程和人体健康保护方面，了解这些相互作用具有高度相关性。拟议项目的目的是表征相关的无机ENP，它们的稳定性以及它们与水溶液中（天然）有机物的相互作用，考虑到典型的环境基质（地表水、地下水和废水）和物理化学条件（pH值、离子强度）。了解ENP在水生阶段的基本行为将有助于更深入地了解和评估其环境风险，优化其与水系统分离的技术，以及环境安全的ENP生产。

Nanotechnology has become one of the most promising approaches for obtaining new forms of materials. The resulting properties of the nanoproducts are convincing, which is currently leading to a tremendous increase of the application of nanomaterials in industry and in daily life (e. g. catalysis, food industry, surface treatment, personal care, and medical applications). As a consequence, engineered nanoparticles (ENP) will inevitably find their way into environmental systems. However, little is known about the behaviour of ENP in aqueous systems, and their fate and ecological influence are widely unknown. The arising conflict between the power of applicability and its benefits on the one hand and the possible risk of undesirable ecological impact after application on the other hand is obvious. For a deeper understanding of the environmental behaviour of ENP in aquatic systems, it is of particular importance to identify and further develop analytical methods for their basic characterisation and to examine their interactions with environmental matrices. In this context, it is crucial to consider main water constituents such as sodium and calcium as well as anthropogenic and natural organic matter (NOM) which is ubiquitous in aquatic systems. NOM can significantly change the properties of ENP concerning their stability, their interactions with other water constituents and their transport behaviour. Especially with regard to water purification processes and human health protection, knowledge of these interactions is of high relevance. The aims of the proposed project are to characterise relevant inorganic ENP, their stability and their interactions with (natural) organic matter in aqueous solutions, considering typical environmental matrices (surface water, groundwater, and waste water) and physicochemical conditions (pH value, ionic strength). The understanding of the fundamental behaviour of ENP in the aquatic phase will contribute to a deeper understanding and assessment of their environmental risk, to optimise techniques for their separation from aqueous systems and to an environmentally safe production of ENP.