News & Events

When

Date - September 24, 2021
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

What

Professor of Nanoscience at UNC Greensboro
Dean, Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering at NC A&T and UNC Greensboro
Talk Title: Tailored Nanomaterials for Advanced Environmental Applications

Abstract:

Anthropogenic nanoparticles are of great interest due to their importance in advanced technological applications. Increased usage of nanoparticles in industrial processes as well as in commercial products continues to raise global concerns regarding their adverse impact on the environment and on human health. A critical issue that arises in understanding the environmental health and safety concerns of nanoparticles lies in their method of preparation and the properties of the nanoparticles that arise as a result of different preparation techniques.¹ In order to obtain a molecular level understanding of the materials speciation and consequently transformation, it is necessary to develop well-defined and well-characterized nanoparticles.  Advanced synthetic protocols developed by us have resulted in well-defined homogenous nanoparticles (Figure 1) that enable us to conduct studies to assess the toxicity of the nanoparticles and correlate the results specifically to the particle size, shape and composition.^2,3 The results are paramount toward understanding nanoparticle properties in the environment. The presentation will showcase examples of nanoparticles in environmental settings, and their effect on biological processes. The interaction of nanoparticles with various environmental components and the analytical methods required for their assessment will be described. Our work will show a systematic method that leads to a critical understanding of the toxicity, bioavailability, and environmental fate and transport of nanoparticles.

REFERENCES

1. Dissanayake, N.M.; Arachchilage, J. S.; Samuels, T. A.; Obare, S. O. ‘Highly Sensitive Plasmonic Metal Nanoparticle-Based Sensors for the Detection of Organophosphorus Pesticides,’ Talanta 2019, 200, 218-227.

2. Saeed, T. S.; Maddipatla, D.; Narakathu, B. B.; Albalawi, S. S.; Obare, S.O.; Atashbar, M. Z. ‘Synthesis of a novel hexaazatriphenylene derivative for the selective detection of copper ions in aqueous solution,’ RSC Advances 2019, 9, 39824 – 39833.

3. Diaz, S. S.; Al-Zubaidi, H.; Ross-Obare, A. C.; Obare, S. O. ‘Chemical reduction of chlorpyrifos driven by flavin mononucleotide functionalized titanium (IV) dioxide’, Physical Sciences Reviews 2020. 2020-0007