W1 PM Overview of Manufactured Nanomaterials and the Environment
Wednesday, 16 November 2005: 1:50 PM - 5:30 PM in Ballroom 1

(CHE-1117-841394) Transport of Nano-C60 and Sorbed Naphthalene in Soil.

Cheng, X.¹, Kan, A.¹, Tomson, M.¹, ¹ Rice University, Houston, TX, USA

ABSTRACT- Since fullerenes are expected to be manufactured in an increasing scale, there is no doubt that those nanomaterials will ultimately enter the environment. One might expect that C60 would not enter groundwater in great quantities due to the insolubility of C60 in water. However, water-stable nanoscale C60 aggregates (nano-C60 particles) can be formed in water by several methods, indicating that C60 might be mobile in groundwater. Since the toxicity of nano-C60 particles has been reported recently, people may be more concerned about the potential exposure to C60 if it is mobile. What is more, dissolved organic matter in groundwater has been reported to significantly enhance the transport of neutral organic contaminants. It is unknown whether the release of C60 and other nanosized carbonaceous nanomaterials into aqueous environments will have the similar effect. Therefore, it is of central importance to investigate the C60 transport, and its effect on contaminant transport in water. The transport of nano-C60 particles through a soil column was investigated for the first time. Breakthrough experiments were conducted at different flow rates. Nano-C60 particles were observed to be more mobile at higher flow velocities. High deposition of nano-C60 particles to the soil column, as well as spiked release was observed. The transport of naphthalene through the same soil column with 0.18% of nano-C60 particles deposited was measured. Adsorbed nano-C60 particles in the soil column sorbed naphthalene similar to soil organic carbon.

Key words: nano-C60, transport, naphthalene, soil