Environmental Science: Nano Blog

Dr. Wei Liu received her PhD in Environmental Science from the Aix-Marseille University in 2009. From 2010 to 2017, She held several research positions at European Center for Research and Education in Environmental Geoscience (CEREGE) and French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA). In 2017, she joined the University of Geneva, department F.-A Forel for environmental and aquatic sciences as senior fellow in research and teaching. Dr. Liu’s research is focused on the mechanism of interaction at nano-bio interface and the biological effects of nanomaterials at molecular, cellular and organism scale.

Read Wei’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Metal nanoparticles in the freshwater: transformation, bioavailability and effects on invertebrates” and read more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Metal nanoparticles in the freshwater: transformation, bioavailability and effects on invertebrates. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My first article focused on the cellular bioenergetics and the geno-toxicity of metallic pollutants, an extension from my graduate work. After my PhD, I did research in the field of environmental nanoscience at CEREGE, CEA and Univ. Geneva.  I have involved in various topic including: (i) characterization of environmental fate and distribution of natural and manufactured nanomaterials; (ii) mechanistic understanding of biomolecule/nanoparticles interaction; (iii) (eco)toxicology impact of nanoscale pollutants at molecular, cellular and organism scale.

Most recently, I focus on the bioavailability and molecular ecotoxicology of nanoparticles including nanoplastics to aquatic invertebrates with the aim of proposing AOP for freshwater gastropods. So consequently, in this Emerging Investigator Series we summarise and meta-analyse the published data regarding the metallic nanoparticle’s transformation in freshwater and toxicological effects in invertebrates. We come up with an overview highlighting the currently research gaps and subsequently, the recommendations for future researches.

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

I am particularly interested in applying multidisciplinary bio-analytic approaches that combine biology, toxicology, physical-chemistry, biophysics and crystal-chemistry to better understand and explore the nature of material/living interactions.

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

We need to observe and understand whether lower doses, given within realistic environmental concentration or sub lethal dose of nanoparticles, affect the biochemical processes of aquatic organisms, and we particularly focus on simulating whether they develop early stress or not, and if yes, how.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Nanomaterials are extremely sensitive to the surrounding environment. The most challenging and exciting aspect is to work on long-term and low-dose realistic environmental exposure scenarios to nanomaterials. It is also highly critical to figure out the key factors affecting the nanomaterials transformation in biofluids.

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

I will attend the SETAC Europe 32^nd Annual Meeting. I am planning to attend the International Conference on the Environmental Effects of Nanoparticles and Nanomaterials.

How do you spend your spare time?

I enjoy reading and outdoor activities like hiking and diving.

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

Diving instructor in tropical waters.

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

Follow the topic that you find most curious about, and then let this curiosity inspire your choice of studies and research.

Yuxiong Huang is an Associate Professor of environmental science and technology at Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University. Dr. Huang is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist, with expertise in pollution control and environmental fate and transport, exposure and risk assessment. He received a B.S. degree in 2011 from the Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University; and Ph.D. degree in 2015 from Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara. Before joining Tsinghua University, he was an associate specialist at the University of California’s Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology. Dr. Huang currently leads a research group focusing on sustainable nanotechnology, addressing both the applications and implications of engineered nanomaterials.

Read Yuxiong’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Hetero-phase junction 1T/2H-MoS2 nanosheets decorated by FeOOH nanoparticles for enhanced visible light photo-Fenton degradation of antibiotic” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Hetero-phase junction 1T/2H-MoS2 nanosheets decorated by FeOOH nanoparticles for enhanced visible light photo-Fenton degradation of antibiotic. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

I’ve been working on environmental nanotechnology since 2011. My first article was to develop magnetic nanoparticle adsorbents to effectively remove emerging contaminants, published in 2012. After that, I rationally designed a series of novel magnetic-core composite nanoparticle sorbents for organic and metal contaminants remediation in aquatic systems. Recently, our group worked on photocatalysis-based advanced oxidation processes using solar energy to efficiently degrade the persistent organic pollutant, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (Environ. Sci.: Nano, 2020, 7 (8), 2229–2239, etc.). And the present work, we have constructed a hetero-phase junction with metallic 1T and semiconductive 2H MoS2 for antibiotic contaminant photo-Fenton catalytic degradation. Our research is always driven by the urgent technical demand for the effective control of emerging contaminants, and we always follow a rational design pattern to provide “nano” solutions.

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

We have a great team working together on Environmental Nanotechnology at Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University. It’s joyful and inspiring to grow up with our next generation of young environmental scientists.

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

While many different nanomaterials-based solutions have been reported for environmental remediation, most of them stunk at the benchmark scale. How to apply the engineering nanomaterials for wastewater treatment in a pilot or full-scale plant? It’s a critical question to be answered.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The most challenging part of our research is how to upgrade the batch study into a continuous reaction, for example, the reactor design. We have made some progress on it so far.

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

We will attend the ACS Meeting and Sustainable Nanotechnology Conference.

How do you spend your spare time?

I love hiking and snowboarding.

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

Probably Chemical Engineer.

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

Do good time management, particularly a good balance between research, teaching, public service and life.

Ming Xu received his B.S. and Ph.D. degree from Xiamen University in 2006 and 2011. In 2011-2013, he was a postdoc at l’Équipe de Chimie Analytique Bio-inorganique (LCABIE), Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France. In 2014, he joined the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and became a professor since 2021. His main research interests are the health risks and toxicological mechanisms of heavy metals / nanoparticles. He has (co)authored around 50 peer-reviewed papers.

Read Ming’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Enhanced peroxidase-like activity and improved antibacterial performance of palladium nanosheet by alginate-corona” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on “how ecological macromolecules affect the physicochemical properties and biological effects of engineered nanomaterials”. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

In 2010, I published the first article about the ecological risk of engineered nanomaterials, focusing on the cytotoxicity of CdTe-based nanoparticles on a diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum, during my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Qiuquan Wang in Xiamen University. Since then, I have spent many years working on the mechanism of nano-bio interface interactions and nanomaterials’ biological effects. Macromolecular corona, as we know it now, may change the original identify of nanoparticle and modify its fate in an environmental or biological scenario. However, I note that there were only a few studies focusing on the possible influence of ecological macromolecules on the antibacterial performance of nanomaterials, rarely elaborating the underlying mechanism. It is of interest that our preliminary data showed alginate could significantly enhance the peroxidase-like activity of Pd nanosheet. So, in this Emerging Investigator Series paper, we present why alginate affect the intrinsic enzyme mimetic activity of Pd nanosheet and what’s the underlying mechanism of its antibacterial activity.

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

Currently, I’m most excited that we have made some preliminary progress in tracing the biological fate of nanoparticles in vivo, and it’s very important for the understanding the benefits or risks of nanomaterials on environmental and health aspects.

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

To provide scientific basis for better use of nanomaterials in environmental and health issues, it’s important to answer how nanomaterials interact with cells at the nano-bio interface and transform within cells, what’s the primary molecular target and underlying regulation pathway of nano-bio effects, and whether nanomaterials will lead to ecotoxicological and health risks. I think there remain many knowledge gaps that are necessary to be filled in the future.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Development of specialized nanomaterials and in situ techniques for the analysis of nano-bio interactions from molecular to nanoscale level.

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

I plan to attend the 11th National Conference on Environmental Chemistry in China this year, and 8th International Symposium on Metallomics in 2022.

How do you spend your spare time?

I spent most of my spare time with my family in recent years. When have free time, I’m fond of reading, hiking, running, as well as visiting places of historic interest.

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

I guess I would be a science fiction writer. In my childhood, I enjoyed very much reading science fiction books and magazines. Now when there’s free time, I still like to watch movies and novels on this subject.

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

Never stop learning, and never stop failing.

Professor Lingxiangyu Li is currently an associate professor in the School of Environment, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2013. His research focuses on analytical, fate, and health risk of emerging pollutants particularly nanomaterials in the environment toward nanosafety assessment.

Read Lingxiangyu ’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Chemical transformation of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles in the simulated human tear fluids: Influence of biocorona” and read more about him in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Chemical transformation of silver and zinc oxide nanoparticles in the simulated human tear fluids: Influence of biocorona. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

Since I began doing PhD study in Germany 11 years ago, I did research on fate, transfromation and environmental risks of engineered nanomaterials. In other words, findings from the first article to this paper all belong to my research interest that fate, transformation and environmental risks of nanomaterials.

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

Definitely, the analytical method development for showing the real concentrations of engineered nanomaterials like Ag-NPs through wastewater treatment plants to environmental water was one of my best work, which makes me very excited. Since I develop robust methods and then applied this method to illustrate environmental issues.

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

First, what is the real concentration of engineered nanomaterials in the environment. Second, are nanoparticles at environmetally revelant concentrations a threat to organisms including human?

What do you find most challenging about your research?

The most challenging issue is speciation analysis of nanomaterials in the environmental and biological matrices.

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

The 11st National Conference on Environmental Chemistry in city of Harbin in December 2021

How do you spend your spare time?

Playing Football and reading history books.

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

Being a Military Journalist was my dream during my child period.

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

Do more thinking by yourself, and do more discussion with others.

We are delighted to share with you a selection of high-impact papers by Emerging Investigators in the field of environmental science and engineering. These papers, published across Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Environmental Science: Nano, and Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, showcase the breadth of exciting research being conducted by rising stars in our field.

The latest work from rising stars of environmental science

Emerging investigator series: bacteriophages as nano engineering tools for quality monitoring and pathogen detection in water and wastewater
Zeinab Hosseinidoust et al

Emerging investigator series: carbon electrodes are effective for the detection and reduction of hexavalent chromium in water
Noémie Elgrishi et al [OPEN ACCESS]

Emerging investigator series: quantifying silver nanoparticle aggregation kinetics in real-time using particle impact voltammetry coupled with UV-vis spectroscopy
Kathryn R. Riley et al

Emerging investigator series: air conditioning filters as a sampler for semi-volatile organic compounds in indoor and near-building air
Lisa Melymuk et al

Emerging investigator series: activated sludge upon antibiotic shock loading: mechanistic description of functional stability and microbial community dynamics
Seungdae Oh and Donggeon Choi

Emerging investigator series: heterogeneous OH oxidation of primary brown carbon aerosol: effects of relative humidity and volatility
Elijah G. Schnitzler et al

Emerging investigator series: onsite recycling of saline–alkaline soil washing water by forward osmosis: techno-economic evaluation and implication
Wenhai Luo et al

Emerging investigator series: molecular mechanisms of plant salinity stress tolerance improvement by seed priming with cerium oxide nanoparticles
Juan Pablo Giraldo et al

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The RSC’s Emerging Investigator Series provides a unique platform for early-career environmental scientists & engineers to showcase their best work to a broad audience. Contact us to apply for consideration in this Series. To be eligible, you will need to have completed your PhD (or equivalent degree) within the last 10 years†, have an independent career and appear as corresponding author on the manuscript.

Across the journals, the Emerging Investigator Series is curated by our Series Editors; David Cwiertny, Long Nghiem, Ligy Philip, Delphine Farmer, Lenny Winkel, Guang-Guo Ying and Peter Vikesland.

Read more of our Emerging Investigator Series papers using the links below.

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts Emerging Investigator Series

Environmental Science: Nano Emerging Investigator Series

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology Emerging Investigator Series

Also, read the latest interviews with our Emerging Investigators to find out more about their work and the important research challenges that they are tackling.

We hope you enjoy reading these papers from future leaders in the field of environmental science.

Dr. Kathryn Riley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Swarthmore College. She received her Ph.D. from Wake Forest University in 2014 and was a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 2015 to 2016. Before her current appointment, she was a Consortium for Faculty Diversity (CFD) postdoctoral fellow at Swarthmore from 2016-2018. Dr. Riley’s research involves the development of analytical techniques for the characterization of nanomaterials and their dynamic physical and chemical transformations in biological and environmental matrices. Her research group specifically aims to broaden participation in the field by developing techniques that provide new quantitative insights in less time and at a reduced cost when compared to more commonly employed methods. Projects in her group span the analysis of silver nanomaterials, including their dissolution, aggregation, formation of bio-coronas, and release from commercial products. To learn more about Dr. Riley’s research, visit her lab website or follow her on Twitter.

Read Kathryn Riley’s Emerging Investigator Series article “Emerging investigator series: Quantifying silver nanoparticle aggregation kinetics in real-time using particle impact voltammetry coupled with UV-vis spectroscopy” and read more about her in the interview below:

Your recent Emerging Investigator Series paper focuses on Quantifying silver nanoparticle aggregation kinetics in real-time using particle impact voltammetry coupled with UV-vis spectroscopy. How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?

My interest in nanomaterials began while I was in graduate school. At the time, I was developing capillary electrophoresis (CE)-based methods for screening DNA aptamer libraries against clinically relevant protein targets and using next generation sequencing (NGS) for identification of candidate aptamers. To support some research questions of our collaborators, I ended up developing CE separation methods for sub-micron and micron-sized plastic particles. I found the work of developing analytical tools to study particles to be incredibly interesting, so I knew that I wanted to dive deeper into the field of nanotechnology during my postdoc at NIST. There, I continued my work applying the separation principles of CE to gain new insights about nanomaterials. Over the past several years, my work with undergraduate students at Swarthmore has sought to add to our analytical toolkit by developing electrochemical methods to probe the reactivity of metal and metal oxide nanomaterials. Looking ahead, we are excited to start applying these tools to increasingly complex nanomaterial chemistries and contribute new insights to the field.

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

Of our current projects, there are two that I’m particularly excited about at the moment. The first builds on the electrochemical techniques we have developed in our lab over the past two years to enable in situ quantification of dissolved and nanoparticulate silver released from textiles. Due to the fast time resolution of the measurement, this technique would allow researchers to quantify release kinetics of the two silver forms simultaneously and without the need for sample preparation. The second project involves evaluation of the silver nanoparticle metabolite corona using a model environmental bacterium. Both of these projects allow us to push our instrumental techniques towards analysis of more complex systems, which is challenging, but exciting.

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

There are so many! I think one of the biggest challenges is the wide parameter space to be analyzed, including variations in the physicochemical properties of the nanomaterial, changes in its properties as it encounters diverse water, soil, air, and/or biological chemistries, and the varied responses of the environment to the nanomaterial. There are many excellent small-scale benchtop studies and large-scale mesocosm studies, but with so many parameters to explore, what does it all mean and how can we use the rich information gathered from both types of data to predict the behavior of new or unexplored materials?

What do you find most challenging about your research?

Most often the aspects of my work that I find most exciting are also those that are the most challenging. Our lab has spent a lot of time analyzing silver nanomaterials, which can simultaneously dissolve, aggregate, and form bio- and eco-coronas (and form oxides, sulfides, and insoluble chlorides). This complexity presents a significant analytical challenge for our lab and others – how do you ever isolate and study just one of these processes?! Fortunately, as an analytical chemist, these are precisely the challenges that I am most eager to help the community overcome.

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

Whether virtually or in-person, I plan to attend the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) conference in October 2020 and the Environmental Nanotechnology Gordon Research Conference (GRC) in June of 2021.

How do you spend your spare time?

As an alumna of Swarthmore and a former student-athlete, I enjoy spending my free time supporting our athletics teams. I volunteer my weekends to help coach our varsity softball team. In the summer, you can find me tending to my vegetable garden or playing in slow pitch softball leagues.

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

I think I would be an architect or interior designer – I used to spend hours as a child designing homes on graph paper and even when I had the chance to reconfigure my laboratory space at Swarthmore, I pulled out my iPad and drafted a to-scale design of every inch of that space. The builders must have thought I was crazy (if not for that then for overseeing the “building site” on an almost daily basis), but they literally made my lab design come to life!

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

I have had the great fortune of having fantastic mentors throughout my trajectory – some who are in my field, some who are not – some who look like me, some who do not. The single most important characteristic that they’ve all had in common is their ability to be solution oriented as I’ve faced challenges in my career, even as those solutions sometimes pushed me outside of my comfort zone. The deep, mutual respect we built in our mentoring relationship allowed for them to give and for me to receive this advice, and I have become a better leader and mentor to my students because of it. Find mentors like those!

We are delighted to share with you a selection of high-impact papers by Emerging Investigators in the field of environmental science and engineering. These papers, published across Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, Environmental Science: Nano, and Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, showcase the breadth of exciting research being conducted by rising stars in our field.

The latest work from rising stars of environmental science

Emerging investigator series: polymeric nanocarriers for agricultural applications: synthesis, characterization, and environmental and biological interactions
Stacie Louie et al

Emerging investigator series: synthesis of magnesium oxide nanoparticles fabricated on a graphene oxide nanocomposite for CO₂ sequestration at elevated temperatures
C. A. Gunathilake et al

Emerging investigator series: use of behavioural endpoints in the regulation of chemicals
Marlene Ågerstrand et al [OPEN ACCESS]

Emerging investigator series: critical review of photophysical models for the optical and photochemical properties of dissolved organic matter
Garrett McKay

Emerging investigator series: primary emissions, ozone reactivity, and byproduct emissions from building insulation materials
Elliott Gall et al

Emerging investigator series: membrane distillation and high salinity: analysis and implications
Andrea Achilli et al

Emerging investigator series: phosphorus recovery from municipal wastewater by adsorption on steelmaking slag preceding forward osmosis: an integrated process
Biplob Kumar Pramanik et al

Emerging investigator series: carbon electrodes are effective for the detection and reduction of hexavalent chromium in water
Noémie Elgrishi et al [OPEN ACCESS]

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The RSC’s Emerging Investigator Series provides a unique platform for early-career environmental scientists & engineers to showcase their best work to a broad audience. Contact us to apply for consideration in this Series. To be eligible, you will need to have completed your PhD (or equivalent degree) within the last 10 years†, have an independent career and appear as corresponding author on the manuscript.

Across the journals, the Emerging Investigator Series is curated by our Series Editors; David Cwiertny, Jeremy Guest, Long Nghiem, Ligy Philip, Delphine Farmer, Lenny Winkel, Guang-Guo Ying and Peter Vikesland.

Read more of our Emerging Investigator Series papers using the links below.

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts Emerging Investigator Series

Environmental Science: Nano Emerging Investigator Series

Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology Emerging Investigator Series

Also, read the latest interviews with our Emerging Investigators to find out more about their work and the important research challenges that they are tackling.

†Appropriate consideration will be given to those who have taken a career break or followed a different study path