- Rozovsky wins prestigious NSF Early Career Award
- UD students meet alumni, experience 'closing bell' at NYSE
- Newark Police seek assistance in identifying suspects in robbery
- Rivlin says bipartisan budget action, stronger budget rules key to reversing debt
- Stink bugs shouldn't pose problem until late summer
- Gao to honor Placido Domingo in Washington performance
- Adopt-A-Highway project keeps Lewes road clean
- WVUD's Radiothon fundraiser runs April 1-10
- W.D. Snodgrass Symposium to honor Pulitzer winner
- New guide helps cancer patients manage symptoms
- UD in the News, March 25, 2011
- For the Record, March 25, 2011
- Public opinion expert discusses world views of U.S. in Global Agenda series
- Congressional delegation, dean laud Center for Community Research and Service program
- Center for Political Communication sets symposium on politics, entertainment
- Students work to raise funds, awareness of domestic violence
- Equestrian team wins regional championship in Western riding
- Markell, Harker stress importance of agriculture to Delaware's economy
- Carol A. Ammon MBA Case Competition winners announced
- Prof presents blood-clotting studies at Gordon Research Conference
- Sexual Assault Awareness Month events, programs announced
- Stay connected with Sea Grant, CEOE e-newsletter
- A message to UD regarding the tragedy in Japan
- More News >>
- March 31-May 14: REP stages Neil Simon's 'The Good Doctor'
- April 2: Newark plans annual 'wine and dine'
- April 5: Expert perspective on U.S. health care
- April 5: Comedian Ace Guillen to visit Scrounge
- April 6, May 4: School of Nursing sponsors research lecture series
- April 6-May 4: Confucius Institute presents Chinese Film Series on Wednesdays
- April 6: IPCC's Pachauri to discuss sustainable development in DENIN Dialogue Series
- April 7: 'WVUDstock' radiothon concert announced
- April 8: English Language Institute presents 'Arts in Translation'
- April 9: Green and Healthy Living Expo planned at The Bob
- April 9: Center for Political Communication to host Onion editor
- April 10: Alumni Easter Egg-stravaganza planned
- April 11: CDS session to focus on visual assistive technologies
- April 12: T.J. Stiles to speak at UDLA annual dinner
- April 15, 16: Annual UD push lawnmower tune-up scheduled
- April 15, 16: Master Players series presents iMusic 4, China Magpie
- April 15, 16: Delaware Symphony, UD chorus to perform Mahler work
- April 18: Former NFL Coach Bill Cowher featured in UD Speaks
- April 21-24: Sesame Street Live brings Elmo and friends to The Bob
- April 30: Save the date for Ag Day 2011 at UD
- April 30: Symposium to consider 'Frontiers at the Chemistry-Biology Interface'
- April 30-May 1: Relay for Life set at Delaware Field House
- May 4: Delaware Membrane Protein Symposium announced
- May 5: Northwestern University's Leon Keer to deliver Kerr lecture
- May 7: Women's volleyball team to host second annual Spring Fling
- Through May 3: SPPA announces speakers for 10th annual lecture series
- Through May 4: Global Agenda sees U.S. through others' eyes; World Bank president to speak
- Through May 4: 'Research on Race, Ethnicity, Culture' topic of series
- Through May 9: Black American Studies announces lecture series
- Through May 11: 'Challenges in Jewish Culture' lecture series announced
- Through May 11: Area Studies research featured in speaker series
- Through June 5: 'Andy Warhol: Behind the Camera' on view in Old College Gallery
- Through July 15: 'Bodyscapes' on view at Mechanical Hall Gallery
- More What's Happening >>
- UD calendar >>
- Middle States evaluation team on campus April 5
- Phipps named HR Liaison of the Quarter
- Senior wins iPad for participating in assessment study
- April 19: Procurement Services schedules information sessions
- UD Bookstore announces spring break hours
- HealthyU Wellness Program encourages employees to 'Step into Spring'
- April 8-29: Faculty roundtable series considers student engagement
- GRE is changing; learn more at April 15 info session
- April 30: UD Evening with Blue Rocks set for employees
- Morris Library to be open 24/7 during final exams
- More Campus FYI >>
9:59 a.m., Aug. 28, 2009----Two University of Delaware faculty members have been awarded $330,000 from the National Science Foundation to conduct a theoretical and experimental study of the transport and retention of nanoparticles through subsurface porous media.
The 30-month project will be led by Lian-Ping Wang, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with a joint appointment in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, and Yan Jin, professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
While engineered nanomaterials are being widely used in applications ranging from medicine to environmental cleanup, little is known about their environmental, health, and safety implications.
“It's becoming increasingly important to assess the environmental implications of nanoparticle release, including the potential impact on species within aquatic ecosystems,” Jin says. “Many regulatory organizations are struggling to identify how to assess the potential environmental impacts associated with nanomaterials, as they exhibit properties that are distinct from their larger counterparts.”
Wang and Jin plan to develop an experimentally validated, mechanistic simulation approach that can connect micro- to nanoscale phenomena to a centimeter scale retention profile. The resulting simulation tool will eventually be used to guide the design of better experiments for studying nanoparticle retention in natural soil. The researchers will focus on addressing questions related to the effects of size and aggregation on nanoparticle transport.
They will use computational tools to simulate flow field within porous soils and to track nanoparticle movement and interaction with soil-grain surfaces. In parallel, they will measure the transport of silica and magnetite nanoparticles in model sand media. These results will then be used to develop a better understanding of hydrodynamic forces and physicochemical interactions as well as to guide scale-up of the observations made in the model experimental systems.
“The work will provide us with insight into how size, aggregate shape, and surface chemistry play a role in nanomaterial-soil interactions,” Wang says. “It will also help us foresee the potential risks of nanomaterials and explore ways to minimize these risks to human and ecosystem health.”
This new project builds on the ongoing collaboration that Wang and Jin initiated in 2006 with funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. They have received two grants totaling $340,000 from the USDA over the past three years.
Jin and Wang believe the main reason for their continued success in securing research funding is the rather unconventional nature of their collaboration. “We have very complementary strengths,” says Jin. “We really benefit from each other's knowledge, and so do our students.”
Their joint work is now being published in journals covering engineering fluid mechanics, environmental engineering and science, and soil science.
Jin is an experimentalist whose area of expertise is environmental soil physics, while Wang's work, which focuses on multiphase fluid mechanics, is more theoretical. He has been motivated by Jin to improve the computational tools that he has developed because, he says, “She presents very interesting problems, and the computational tools we had aren't advanced enough to solve them.”
Their recent collaborations have provided Wang and Jin with new research tools and new insights into the transport of colloidal particles. “But the big unknown is whether nanoparticles behave similarly to their larger counterparts,” Jin says.
Article by Diane Kukich
Photo by Ambre Alexander