The NSF Divisions of Chemistry (NSF/CHE) and Materials Research (NSF/DMR) will support a workshop titled "Nanomaterials and the Environment - the Chemistry and Materials Science Perspective". Co-chaired by Vicki Grassian of the University of Iowa and Robert Hamers of the University of Wisconsin, the workshop will be held in Arlington, VA on June 28-29, 2011. The workshop will engage a diverse group of established investigators from academia, US government laboratories, and leading international laboratories who work to elucidate the interactions between anthropogenic nanomaterials and the environment. The objective of the workshop is to discuss and summarize the challenges and opportunities for chemists and material scientists in this area of research in a workshop report that will be broadly disseminated to the chemistry and materials science community.
This proposal was funded specifically to run an invitation-only workshop for a diverse group of investigators in chemistry and related fields who work on various aspects of Nanomaterials and the Environment. Researchers were chosen for their outstanding research and education ideas and for their ability to think broadly about the role of chemistry and molecular-based studies in understanding nanomaterials in the environment. The workshop was held in Arlingtion, Virginia from June 28th to 29th 2011 for most participants. The topic of the workshop, Nanomaterials and the Environment, underscores a society relevant research area that chemists can play an important and leading role. Some of goals completed included: 1. Identified challenges and opportunities in understanding Nanomaterials and the Environment , i.e. identify problems, techniques and computational methods (including but not limited to the role of computational chemistry, size-dependent behavior and translating laboratory-based studies to environmental conditions). 2. Identified areas where environmentally-relevant fundamental studies are needed to better understand Nanomaterials and the Environment. As complexity is an issue in all studies related to the environment, it is important to identify relevant fundamental chemistry issues that need to be addressed. 3. Educated chemists through the workshop and workshop report on some of the issues so that chemists with their expertise in molecularly-based studies involving state-of-the-art instrumentation, computation and synthetic methodologies can apply these toward Nanomaterials and the Environment 4. Articulated the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problems such as Nanomaterials and the Environment and identify opportunities for collaboration between chemists and engineers, geoscientists, atmospheric scientists etc. 5. Identified mechanisms for chemists to take leading roles on environmental problems including but not limited to Nanomaterials and the Environment and tie this to foundation-wide initiatives including Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) a five-year NSF-wide investment area. 6. Prepared a workshop report and disseminate to the community some of the areas that are identified as important problems, techniques and computational methods needed to better understand Nanomaterials and the Environment. 7. Disseminated workshop findings further in a symposium at an American Chemical Society Meeting The workshop report is available to all and can be downloaded at http://nsfenv-nano.chem.wisc.edu or can be requested through the PI.
