Collaborative Research: Toward a unified model for ferrihydrite nanoparticles behavior in the environment: a multipronged investigation of surface structure and reactivity

在这个由美国国家科学基金会化学部环境化学科学项目资助的项目中，佐治亚州立大学的纳丁·卡本吉、詹姆斯·D·库比基和迈克尔·L·马切斯基教授以及康涅狄格大学的玛丽亚·克里索肖教授正在探索界面化学反应的模型，以确定污染物在环境中的去向和迁移。该项目将支持两名研究生，他们将在各自的机构体验高度跨学科的协作实验和理论培训。它还将为本科生在导师的指导下参与研究创造几个机会，这些导师不仅是STEM学科中女性和代表性不足群体的优秀榜样，而且始终努力增加这些群体对STEM研究的参与。通过将其智力方法纳入各机构化学、地球科学和环境工程系的许多课程中，该项目的影响得到了加强，这使更多的学生接触到重要的环境地球化学概念和技术。此外，除了在科学会议上发言外，他们还将把项目概念纳入其既定的K-12外联活动和基于网络的单元传播。通过这些活动，将在几个地球化学学科之间形成有效的研究协作。合作研究小组正在研究水铁酸盐的块体结构、表面性质和环境反应性之间的相互作用。水铁酸盐是一种普遍存在的复杂氧化铁。为了迎接这一挑战，研究小组正在将通过流动吸附微量热法获得的实验热力学与计算化学、光谱学和表面络合建模相结合。这个框架首次利用最近提出的亚铁水合物结构来模拟其表面反应性。表面研究的最终目标是发展对表面结构和其环境反应性之间相互作用的预测-机械理解，这将证明将直接测量的热力学数据纳入矿物-溶液界面的环境研究的强度和适用性。

In this project, funded by the Environmental Chemical Sciences program in the Division of Chemistry at the National Science Foundation, Professors Nadine Kabengi, James D Kubicki and Michael L Machesky all at Georgia State University and Professor Maria Chrysochoou at University of Connecticut (UCONN) are exploring the modeling of interfacial chemical reactions in order to determine the fate and transport of contaminants in the environment. The project will support two graduate students who will experience highly interdisciplinary collaborative experimental and theoretical training at the respective institutions. It will also create several opportunities for undergraduate student involvement in research with mentors who are not only excellent role models for women and underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines, but also consistently strive to increase participation of these groups in STEM research. The project's impact is enhanced by the inclusion of its intellectual approaches in many courses taught by faculty in the Chemistry, Geoscience, and Environmental Engineering departments at the institutions, which exposes a larger number of students to important environmental geochemical concepts and techniques. Furthermore, they will integrate project concepts into their established K-12 outreach activities and web-based modules dissemination in addition to their presentations at scientific meetings. Through these activities, an effective integration of research collaborations will develop across several geochemical disciplines.The collaborative research groups are investigating the interplay between the bulk structure, surface properties, and environmental reactivity of ferrihydrite, a ubiquitous complex iron oxide. To meet this challenge, the groups are integrating experimental thermodynamics obtained through flow adsorption microcalorimetry with computational chemistry, spectroscopy, and surface complexation modeling. This framework utilizes, for the first time, a recently proposed ferrihydrite structure to model its surface reactivity. The ultimate goal of the surface studies is to develop a predictive-mechanistic understanding of the interplay between a surface structure and its environmental reactivity, which will demonstrate the strength and applicability of incorporating directly measured thermodynamics data into environmental studies of mineral-solution interfaces.