Environmental Science: Nano Blog

In case you missed it, in August we launched Environmental Science: Nano’s Advanced Materials themed collection!

Advanced Materials are produced through rational design. Precise control of material composition and internal structure can also be achieved through advanced manufacturing approaches. By intent, Advanced Materials have exceptional mechanical, electrical, optical, or magnetic properties or other functionalities that differentiate them from conventional materials. These properties enable self-repair, produce stimulus responsive changes in shape, transform energy and many other emergent phenomena. While not all Advanced Materials are nano-enabled, many Advanced Materials are reliant upon nanoscale particles and/or nanoscale phenomena to facilitate their desired performance.

Explore this collection highlighting contributions that address the environmental aspects of Advanced Material production, usage, and disposal.

Guest Editors Wendel Wohlleben, Jerome Rose, Mark Wiesner, and Peter Vikesland discuss the importance of advanced materials towards sustainability in their Editorial.

We hope you enjoy our Advanced Materials collection!

Environmental Science: Nano Editorial team

We are delighted to announce Environmental Science: Nano’s Nanocircular economy themed collection!

The circular economy is a framework put forth to rebalance society’s relationship with materials and their underlying resources. The three principles, (1) eliminate waste, (2) circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and (3) regenerate nature, are straightforward in theory but complex in practice. Achieving a truly circular material is challenged by the many dimensions of the system that supports its generation, use, and reuse. Nonetheless, there is global movement towards adoption of circular resources, materials, and product systems. Given that nanomaterials are fully integrated into the global material ecosystem, they are inherent to this transition away from linear to circular materials. To date, it is yet to be realized how unique properties of the nano-scale can be leveraged to advance and accelerate this transition.

This special collection highlights the range of opportunities for nanomaterials to underline advancements in circular technologies and resource flows. The works included in this collection merely scratch the surface and illuminate the vast future potential to support, and even accelerate, the circular materials transition. We hope that this collection of papers elucidates new avenues for inquiry and inspires new research directions for nanomaterials to shepherd new horizons for circular materials.

We sincerely hope you enjoy reading the broad range of papers featured in this collection.

In addition to the Open Access papers in this collection, all articles will be free to read until the beginning of March 2025.

Guest editors Leanne Gilbertson and Peter Vikesland discuss the Nanocircular economy in their Editorial.

We hope you enjoy our Nanocircular economy collection!

Environmental Science: Nano Editorial team

We have been delighted to celebrate Environmental Science: Nano’s 10^th anniversary in 2024!

This special collection celebrates members of our community who have supported our journal over the last decade, including those who have served on our Editorial and Advisory boards as well as authors, outstanding reviewers and Emerging Investigators that have helped shape the journal to where it is today. We are honoured that the authors in this collection continue to share their latest discoveries and perspectives with us.

In particular, we are grateful that Changlun Chen and Chunjiang An, who published in our very first issue, have returned to give us their perspectives on nanoscale composites for uranium remediation and oil spill nanotechnology.

We sincerely hope you enjoy reading the broad range of papers featured in this collection.

In addition to the Open Access papers in this collection, all articles will be free to read until February 2025.

Editor in Chief Peter Vikesland discusses the 10^th anniversary of the journal in their Editorial.

We hope you enjoy our 10^th Anniversary collection!

Environmental Science: Nano Editorial team

Briana Aguila is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. After completing her undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Florida, Briana earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of South Florida under Prof. Shengqian Ma studying “Functional Porous Materials: Applications in Environmental Sustainability”.  During her Ph.D. Briana was an intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and worked on metal-organic frameworks for nuclear waste remediation under research scientist Dr. Praveen Thallapally. As Briana began her career as an Assistant Professor, she was able to travel back to PNNL through the Visiting Faculty Program and worked alongside research scientist Dr. Quin Miller on carbon mineralization in basalt rock.

Read Briana’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: kinetics of diopside reactivity for carbon mineralization in mafic–ultramafic rocks” and read more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Kinetics of Diopside Reactivity for Carbon Mineralization in Mafic-Ultramafic Rocks. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first publication in graduate school was from an internship at PNNL working on the removal of Cs and Sr from nuclear waste using a functionalized metal-organic framework (Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 5940-5942). I am grateful for the mentorship I had from my host, Dr. Praveen Thallapally, and my Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Shengqian Ma, for the research opportunities and helping produce a publishable piece of work. Throughout my career, I have always been interested in materials for environmental applications. Now, I am eager to be delving into geochemistry and how we can use minerals found in nature to solve environmental problems. Transitioning into the mentor role, I also want to be including my undergraduate researchers so they can experience the writing process. I look back and laugh, as one of the reasons I went into chemistry was because I was much more math and science focused with little enjoyment in writing; how the times have changed!

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

Currently, I am most excited about studying new minerals and how they behave once injected with CO₂. A better understanding of the fundamentals at the nano-scale is the first step in moving forward with putting carbon storage technologies at the forefront of creating a carbon-negative industrial sector. I am also excited about recruiting new students who can get hands-on experience with this type of research at the undergraduate-level.

In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

I think the most challenging part of most research is putting what you learned at the bench and applying it to the real world. As we learn the fundamentals of how these minerals are transforming into carbonates, this needs to be supplemented with large-scale studies in the basalt rock, similar to PNNL’s Wallula Basalt Project (https://www.pnnl.gov/projects/carbon-storage/wallula-basalt-project). Other important questions would be how to capture the CO₂ for injection, whether direct air capture is feasible and implementing point source capture to create green industries.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Since I am at a predominantly undergraduate institution, the hardest part, for both my students and myself, is committing adequate time for research. I am very grateful for summers, when there are not as many courses and the priority can shift to research. This is also a great time to partake in summer research programs, such as the PNNL Visiting Faculty Program, which has been vital for making research progress in my group.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I enjoy presenting at conferences and supporting my undergraduate research students as they present their posters, some of which, are experiencing a scientific conference for the first time! I am planning to attend the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Durham, NC October 25-28^th, 2023. I can also be reached via email at briana.aguila@fmarion.edu and on twitter @BriAguila.

How do you spend your spare time?

When I have a free moment, I like to spend time with my husband and our three dogs. I also love cooking, watching The Bachelor, reading, going to the movies, camping, and spending time with family.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

Two professions come to mind. Given my lifelong love of crime dramas, Criminal Minds, NCIS, Law & Order, etc., and my most recent obsession with true crime podcasts, I would want to be some sort of criminal investigator. My other choice would be the host of a food travel show; move over Guy Fieri!

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

I think a lot of early career folks struggle with imposter syndrome; just know you are not alone in this and it is completely normal. As long as you stay true to what you are passionate about you will surprise yourself with what you are capable of.

Yaqi You is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Resources Engineering at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her research group studies microbiomes in both natural and engineered system through an interdisciplinary lens, with a long-term goal of harnessing the environmental microbiome for a sustainable food-energy-water nexus. Current research directions of interest include manipulating soil and rhizosphere microbiomes using carbonaceous materials, understanding the impact of emerging contaminants on the spread of antibiotic resistance, and addressing aquatic intermittency effects on stream microbiomes and water quality. She received a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a postdoctoral fellow in Environmental Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Read Yaqi’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Differential effects of carbon nanotube and graphene on the tomato rhizosphere microbiome” and read more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Differential effects of carbon nanotube and graphene on the tomato rhizosphere microbiome. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first paper was about the persistence of mobile antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural soils due to a process called horizontal gene transfer and the influence of antibiotic residues on that process. Since then, my research has continued to focus on the environmental microbiome but evolved significantly to encompass areas in environmental health, sustainable nanotechnology, biotechnology, and biogeochemistry. What has also expanded over time is my research toolbox. My current group employs systems microbiology, analytical chemistry, and data science to understand responses of microbial systems to environmental changes with an ultimate goal of harnessing microbial powers for sustainable development. This recent article exemplifies the trajectory of that evolution. In this work, we found that carbon nanotubes have a greater impact than graphene on the rhizosphere microbiome and that rhizosphere microbes have unique responses to carbon nanotubes compared to bulk soil microbes. I hope our work can help unveil mechanisms underlying CNM-introduced plant phenotypic changes.

 What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

At the moment, I am very excited about delineating microbial responses to carbonaceous materials, particularly those in the rhizosphere. The rhizosphere microbiome is an essential component of the plant holobiont and significantly contributes to host fitness. Material-based manipulation of the plant rhizosphere holds promise to achieve sustainable crop production.

 In your opinion, what are the most important questions to be asked/answered in this field of research?

When studying the rhizosphere, I think important questions include (1) how can we disentangle complex microbe-chemical interactions in response to material-based modulation, and (2) to translate knowledge in this line to the implementation of precision rhizosphere manipulation and even engineering.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The rhizosphere represents one most complex microenvironment where a tremendous diversity of microbes and molecules coexist. Multi-omics is an ideal tool to understand the dynamic rhizosphere. However, multi-omics integration, a merger of molecular biology, analytical chemistry, bioinformatics, and data science, is always challenging.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

My group is attending the AEESP (Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors) Research & Education Conference in Boston beginning on June 20, 2023. We also plan to attend the ASA (American Society of Agronomy)-CSSA (Crop Science Society of America)-SSSA (Soil Science Society of America) International Annual Meeting in St. Louis starting on October 29, 2023.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy traveling and photographing, watching movies, reading books, playing ukulele, and spending time with friends and family.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

My childhood dream was becoming an astronaut and I almost chose an astronomy major as an undergraduate. I was also fascinated with ancient world history and comparative history.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Creating a supportive “network” (credit to Earth Science Women’s Network) is critical and rewarding, both professionally and personally; learning research directions not immediately adjacent to one’s own field can spark new, interdisciplinary ideas.