NNCI: Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth)

非技术描述：我们对超小型物体以及如何操纵它们的理解，被称为纳米技术，不仅在医学、个人电子和国家安全等领域带来了革命性的变化，而且还加深了我们对地球如何运作和维持生命的认识。人们呼吸的空气，种植作物的土壤，工业所需的矿物中的金属，以及可能造成严重危害的污染物（从砷到危险的细菌和病毒），都与构成地球的大量纳米材料有关或受其影响。尽管研究这些超小型纳米材料存在固有的技术挑战，但迫切需要了解它们在空气、水和土壤的健康，地球自然资源的可持续性，甚至疾病和有毒物质的传播中所起的作用。弗吉尼亚理工大学国家地球与环境纳米技术基础设施中心（NanoEarth）将加速地球科学家和工程师在研究、理解、解释和利用地球造福全人类方面取得的进展。我们的设施和专业知识将被广泛分享，以帮助最大限度地提高用户项目的社会影响，并对维持地球上生命的纳米级系统进行查询。NanoEarth的用户受到了来自美国和世界各地的欢迎。我们不仅服务于一流的科学家和工程师，还服务于从小型到大型公司、政府和非政府组织、K-12学生、社区学院、文理学院和少数族裔服务机构的各种用户。（245）技术描述：NanoEarth提供了一个NNCI网站，专门支持在地方、区域和全球尺度上从事纳米地球/环境科学和工程工作的研究人员，包括这些领域的陆地、大气、水文和生物成分。通过与太平洋西北国家实验室（PNNL）的环境分子科学实验室（EMSL）的密切合作，纳米地球在全国的存在得到了显著加强。我们为“理解生命规则”、“日益融合的研究”、“导航新北极”等多个NSF十大创意提供实质性支持和能力建设。我们通过提供从水文地质学到矿物学到环境工程的整体和跨学科专业知识，努力全面了解复杂的自然或人造环境中的纳米系统。我们从单个分子扩展到整个生态系统的方法将为激发广泛领域的工程创新提供下一代模型，例如电化学，生物化学，生物力学和生物医学工程。纳米地球设施包括一系列高端的、最先进的电子、离子和x射线表征工具、样品制备实验室、广泛的纳米材料合成设施（在水、土壤/固体介质和大气环境中）、表征工具、实验/反应器系统，以及为访客提供的会议和办公空间。NanoEarth还提供了更广泛的影响计划，包括为支持多元文化和服务不足的人群提供大量资金，以及为高中科学教师和农村农业学生提供扩展计划。这个NNCI网站的总体贡献将是加速一个领域的发展，这个领域正在彻底改变对地球和环境科学与工程的理解。（246）该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-technical Description:Our understanding of ultra-small objects and how to manipulate them, known as nanotechnology, is not only revolutionizing fields like medicine, personal electronics, and national security, but it is also deepening our insights into how the Earth works and sustains life. The air one breathes, the soil in which crops are planted, the metals from minerals that build industries, and the contaminants that can cause profound harm (from arsenic to dangerous bacteria and viruses), are all related to and/or influenced by the vast store of nanomaterials that make up the planet. Despite the technical challenges inherent to studying these ultra-small nanomaterials, there is an urgency to understand the roles they play in the health of air, water, and soil, the sustainability of Earth’s natural resources, and even the transmission of diseases and toxic agents. The Virginia Tech National Center for Earth and Environmental Nanotechnology Infrastructure (NanoEarth) will accelerate the progress that Earth scientists and engineers have made in studying, understanding, explaining, and utilizing Earth for the well-being of all. Our facilities and expertise will be shared broadly to help maximize the societal impacts of user projects and queries into the nanoscale systems that sustain life on Earth. NanoEarth users are welcomed from across the US and around the world. Not only do we serve leading scientists and engineers, but we also serve diverse users from small to large companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and students from K-12, community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and minority-serving institutions. (245)Technical Description:NanoEarth provides an NNCI site to specifically support researchers who work with nano Earth/environmental science and engineering at local, regional, and global scales, including the terrestrial, atmospheric, hydrological, and biological components of these fields. The national presence of NanoEarth is significantly enhanced by a close partnership with the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). We provide substantive support and capacity-building for multiple NSF 10 Big Ideas, such as “Understanding the Rules of Life”, “Growing Convergence Research", and “Navigating the New Arctic”. We strive for a comprehensive understanding of nanosystems in complex natural or manmade environments by providing holistic and interdisciplinary expertise, from hydrogeology to mineralogy to environmental engineering. Our approach of scaling from a single molecule to entire ecosystems will provide next-generation models for inspiring engineering innovation in a broad range of fields, such as electrochemistry, biochemistry, biomechanics, and biomedical engineering. NanoEarth facilities include a broad array of high-end, state-of-the-art electron-, ion-, and X-ray-based characterization tools, sample preparation laboratories, extensive nanomaterials synthesis facilities (in aqueous, soil/solid media, and atmospheric environments), characterization tools, experimentation/reactor systems, and meeting and office space for visitors. NanoEarth also provides broader impact initiatives including substantial funding for supporting multicultural and underserved populations, and outreach programs with high school science teachers and rural agricultural students. The overall contribution of this NNCI site will be to accelerate the growth of a field that is revolutionizing the understanding of Earth and environmental sciences and engineering. (246)This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.