NSF funds multi-university center to study environmental implications of nanotechnology

Caption: Dissolution of an nC60 aggregate by sodium acetate. Credit: Peter Vikesland, Virginia Tech. Usage Restrictions: with coverage of research by Peter Vikesland and/or of the announcement of the NSF-funded Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology.

Blacksburg, Va. – Researchers from geosciences and civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech are part of a consortium of four principal universities and five other schools awarded a multi-million dollar grant to study nanotechnology and the environment. This is one of only two such consortiums funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to form a national Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). Total funding for the project is $14 million over five years with an opportunity to renew for another five. Nanoparticles are as much as a million times smaller than the head of a pin, and have unusual properties compared with larger objects made from the same material.

These unusual properties make nanomaterials attractive for use in everything from computer hard-drives to sunscreens, cosmetics and medical technologies. However, the environmental implications of these materials are virtually unknown.

Headquartered at Duke University, the CEIN will integrate the expertise of researchers in fields such as ecology, cell and molecular biology, geochemistry, environmental engineering, nanochemistry, and social science. In addition to Virginia Tech and Duke, the other schools involved in the project are Carnegie Mellon University and Howard University, with the University of Kentucky and Stanford University playing smaller but also important roles. The other CEIN named in the grant is headquartered at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and includes UC Santa Barbara. The centers are charged with studying the behavior of nanomaterials and helping to assess existing and future concerns surrounding their environmental implications.

"This is a grand challenge," said Michael Hochella, University Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Virginia Tech, one of five lead investigators in the consortium. "The potential diversity of nanomaterials is staggering, with countless variations in size, shape, surface chemistry, chemical composition, coatings and composites. Our challenge is to unravel the role of nanoparticles—both manufactured and naturally occurring—in ecosystems, their movements through the environment, their interactions with organisms, the mechanism by which they exert their influence and thus, their environmental impacts." Other researchers from Virginia Tech involved in the project are Linsey Marr and Peter Vikesland, both associate professors in civil and environmental engineering and NSF Career Award recipients.

Caption: Surface waters that drain this area contain heavy metal contaminated mineral nanoparticles. Such environmental nanoparticles contribute to the transport of these metals up to 500 km downstream. Inset: TEM image of mineral nanoparticles found in the Clark Fork River. Credit: Courtesy of Michael Hochella, Virginia Tech Usage Restrictions: With coverage of the research by Dr. Hochella and/or announcement of the new NSF-funded Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology

A distinctive element of the center is the synthesis of the data into a risk assessment model and to transfer the results into the policy-making community and society at large. The center will place students at the center of the collaborative process between schools. Virginia Tech's part of the program includes undergraduate and graduate student fellowships, undergraduate research grants, seminar series, internships, lab rotations, service learning opportunities and annual workshops. In addition, the project will utilize recruitment efforts that will establish a diverse cadre of graduate students of underrepresented minorities and women. Howard University's status as a Historically Black College and University makes it a valuable asset in the recruitment process.

Outreach is another key component of the CEIN. The center will develop educational tools for high school science teachers as well as curricula for partner museums, 4-H council, and other learning venues. Also a critical part of the project is to foster dialog with policy makers, regulators, government, and industry. The center's social science aspect will focus on creating an infrastructure that supports this type of engagement and understanding of science on the nano scale.

"We are very, very fortunate to have been awarded this grant," Hochella said. "The list of world-class universities that applied but were not awarded this center is truly sobering. The expertise and facilities of our CEIN will now enable us to respond to emerging challenges, develop fundamental knowledge and the human resources across disciplines, and engage society to ensure that nanotechnology emerges as a tool of sustainability." ###

About the College of Science

The College of Science at Virginia Tech gives students a comprehensive foundation in the scientific method. Outstanding faculty members teach courses and conduct research in biology, chemistry, economics, geosciences, mathematics, physics, psychology, and statistics. The college is dedicated to fostering a research intensive environment and offers programs in many cutting edge areas, including those in nanotechnology, biological sciences, information theory and science, and supports the university's research initiatives through the Institute for Critical Technologies and Applied Sciences, and the Institute for Biomedical and Public Health Sciences. The College of Science also houses programs in intellectual property law and pre-medicine.

About the College of Engineering

The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 5,600 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology.

About Virginia Tech

Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become among the largest universities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.

Contact: Catherine Doss cdoss@vt.edu 540-231-5035 Virginia Tech

Tags: Nano or Nanotechnology and Nanotech