VT College of Science Magazine Spring 2009 | Page 10

Issue No. 6 sprINg 2009

C o l l e g e

o f

ViRginia teCh paRt
of $14 Million nSf
nanoteChnologY gRant
Photo courtesy of Michael Hochella

S C i e n C e

M a g a z i n e

8

Researchers from geosciences and civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech are part of a consortium of four principal
universities and five other schools awarded a multimillion dollar
grant to study nanotechnology and the environment. This is one of
only two such consortiums funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to form a national Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEIN). Total funding for the project is $14
million over five years with an opportunity to renew for another five
years. Virginia Tech’s portion of the grant is $1.75 million.
Nanoparticles are as much as a million times smaller than the head
of a pin and have unusual properties compared with larger objects made from the same material. These unusual properties make
nanomaterials attractive for use in everything from computer hard
drives to sunscreens, cosmetics, and medical technologies. However,
the environmental implications of these materials are virtually unknown.
Headquartered at Duke University, CEIN will integrate the expertise
of researchers in such fields as ecology, cell and molecular biology,
geochemistry, environmental engineering, nanochemistry, and social science. In addition to Virginia Tech and Duke, the other schools
involved in the project are Carnegie Mellon University and Howard
University, with the University of Kentucky and Stanford University
playing smaller but important roles. The other CEIN named in the
grant is headquartered at UCLA and includes UC Santa Barbara. The
centers are charged with studying the behavior of nanomaterials
and helping to assess existing and future concerns surrounding
their environmental implications.
“This is a grand challenge,” said Michael Hochella, University Distinguished Professor of Geosciences and one of five lead investigators in the consortium. “The potential diversity of nanomaterials is
staggering, with countless variations in size, shape, surface chemistry, chemical composition, coatings, and composites. Our challenge
is to unravel the role of nanoparticles — both manufactured and
naturally occurring — in ecosystems, their movements through the
environment, their interactions with organisms, the mechanism by
which they exert their influence and thus, their environmental impacts.”
Other researchers from Virginia Tech involved in the project are Lin-

sey Marr and Peter Vikesland, both associate professors in civil
and environmental engineering.

Nano continued page13

Top: The Berkeley Pit in Butte, Montana. Surface
waters that drain this area contain heavy
metal-contaminated mineral nanoparticles.
Such environmental nanoparticles contribute
to the transport of these metals as much as
500km downstream.
Bottom: “The potential diversity of nanoparticles is staggering,” Hochella said.