Elucidating the Effects of Structure on the Redox Reactivity of Mycogenic Mn Oxide Nanoparticles

在这个由美国国家科学基金会化学分部环境化学科学项目资助的项目中，北卡罗来纳州立大学的欧文·达克沃斯、马修·波利佐托、莱斯利·索伯斯和史密森学会的卡拉·桑泰利正在研究一个具有重大教育和培训潜力的项目。北卡罗莱纳州立大学（NC State University）和史密森学会（Smithsonian Institution）组建了一个跨学科的研究小组，主要由职业生涯早期的研究人员组成，他们将与一群国际专家合作。该项目还将为来自科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）领域代表性不足的群体的一名博士后、一名博士生和几名本科生提供研究经验。丰富的知识环境激发了跨学科的互动，并前往国内和国际合作实验室，将赋予从事该项目的学生和博士后研究人员广阔的视野和解决环境化学新问题所需的技术技能。此外，史密森学会将通过在国家自然历史博物馆的各种外展活动，为科学家提供教育和与公众互动的机会。该项目的重点是了解矿物结构如何影响真菌产生的锰氧化物的各种特性。从超级基金中分离的锰氧化真菌将用于生产掺杂不同金属离子的Mn（IV）氧化物纳米颗粒，这将导致结构变变性，包括掺杂金属的位置、结构缺陷的数量、Mn（III）含量和矿物层的顺序。这些粒子将通过互补的尖端光谱、微观、伏安、计算和x射线散射方法来仔细表征，以确定它们的结构和电性能。氧化锰纳米颗粒和一组取代醌之间的氧化还原反应的动力学和产物，作为氧化还原反应活性的探针，将被量化，以获得真菌原氧化物性质的整体视图。潜在的结果将是通过开发新的综合概念模型来改变我们对表面化学的看法，这些模型将矿物结构、电学性质和反应性联系起来，并开发新的环境修复方法和其他技术。

In this project funded by the Environmental Chemical Sciences Program in the Chemistry Division at the National Science Foundation, Owen Duckworth, Matthew Polizzotto, and Leslie Sombers of North Carolina State University and Cara Santelli of the Smithsonian Institution are working on a project that has significant educational and training potential. An interdisciplinary team of predominantly early-career investigators at NC State University and the Smithsonian Institution has been assembled who will collaborate with a cadre of international experts. The project will also provide research experiences for a postdoctoral fellow, a doctoral student, and several undergraduates from groups underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The rich intellectual environment stimulated by interdisciplinary interactions and travel to domestic and international collaborating laboratories will endow students and postdoctoral researchers working on the project with the broad perspectives and technical skills required to solve emerging problems in environmental chemistry. Additionally, the Smithsonian Institution will provide opportunities for scientists to educate and interact with the general public through a variety of outreach engagements at the National Museum of Natural History.The project focuses on understanding how mineral structure underlies various properties of Mn oxides produced by fungi. Manganese-oxidizing fungi isolated from a Superfund site will be used to produce Mn(IV) oxide nanoparticles doped with different metal ions, which will result in structural variability, including changes to the site of dopant metal incorporation, the number of structural defects, the Mn(III) content, and the ordering of mineral layers. The particles will be carefully characterized by a complementary array of cutting-edge spectroscopic, microscopic, voltammetric, computational, and X-ray scattering methods to determine their structure and electrical properties. Kinetics and products of redox reactions between the Mn oxide nanoparticles and a set of substituted quinones, which function as probes of redox reactivity, will be quantified to gain a holistic view of mycogenic oxide properties. Potential outcomes will be to transform our view of surface chemistry by developing new integrated conceptual models that link mineral structure, electrical properties, and reactivity, and the development of novel approaches to environmental remediation and other technologies.