Transport, Targeting and Applications of Functional Nanoparticles for Degradation of Chlorinated Organic Solvents

This project addresses the need for methods to remove or degrade subsurface contaminants that are present as dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs), and act as long-term sources of groundwater contamination. The goal is to build on a particle-based approach to subsurface contaminant remediation that is based partly on the recent success in using nanoiron to degrade chlorinated compounds dissolved in groundwater, and knowledge of how colloids migrate in porous media. The objective is to engineer reactive nanoparticles that can decompose and potentially isolate DNAPL pollutants in the subsurface. Delivering reactive particles directly to the surface of the DNAPL will decompose the pollutant into benign materials, reduce the migration of pollutant during treatment, possibly lead to encapsulation of the DNAPL, and reduce the time needed to remove residual pollution by other means, such as natural attenuation