Environmental fate, transformation and toxicity of nanomaterials
With the fast development and wide use of nanotechnology-enabled products, the nanomaterials will inevitably released into water, soil systems during use or after disposal of the products. However, it’s unknown if these nanomaterials would pose any hazardous impacts on the ecosystem and human health. These nanomaterials are not static in the aqueous environment, and they will undergo profound physical and chemical transformation reactions, such as aggregation, surface adsorption with macromolecules, oxidation, sulfidation and dissolution… A comprehensive understanding of these transformation reactions is critical to the prediction of nanomaterial fate and behavior in the environment, as well as the evaluation and elucidation of the nanotoxicity from a viewpoint of chemistry.
Currently, the group is working on the biological and environmental interactions of two dimensional nanomaterials including graphene, graphene oxide and MoS2 nanosheets, as well as other potential target 2D nanomaterials (boron nitride, black phosphorus). This material family is chosen because of their excellent physiochemical properties and great potential of widely use. We use experimental tests and characterization tools to study the nanomaterial stability, dissolution, and redox reactions in environmental and biological systems. We also use computational simulation to study the physical interactions of 2D nanomaterials with biological components (e.g. cell walls).
Currently, the group is working on the biological and environmental interactions of two dimensional nanomaterials including graphene, graphene oxide and MoS2 nanosheets, as well as other potential target 2D nanomaterials (boron nitride, black phosphorus). This material family is chosen because of their excellent physiochemical properties and great potential of widely use. We use experimental tests and characterization tools to study the nanomaterial stability, dissolution, and redox reactions in environmental and biological systems. We also use computational simulation to study the physical interactions of 2D nanomaterials with biological components (e.g. cell walls).