Moving across scales (atomic/molecular/nanoscale to local/regional/global) in Earth process science has become much more critically important in the 21st century as we face a number of very serious anthropogenic challenges at global levels. This talk will set up a background for this kind of science and engineering, and then move into two intriguing examples. First, I will discuss our recent discovery, quite by accident, that emissions from coal-burning power plants results in the massive production and global distribution of otherwise rare Magneli phases (a curious and rare titanium sub-oxide, with fascinating molecular structure and electronic properties), and that these Magneli phases show both in vitro and in vivo mammalian/human lung toxicity behavior. This is a newly discovered global health concern. Second, I will discuss artificial ocean fertilization which has been extensively studied by others as a potential geoengineering scheme for sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere, helping to mitigate anthropogenic climate change. While the potential role of naturally-occurring nano-particulate nutrients in carbon sequestration during natural ocean fertilization has been highlighted by us before, more recent research into the use of engineered nanoparticles for enhanced oceanic carbon sequestration, we believe, is entirely possible.

How does one go from nano/molecular scales to critical relevance at global dimensions?: Examples from land, atmosphere, and oceans

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.