Research

This project aims to elucidate NM property-exposure and property-hazard relationships from a life cycle perspective and provide predictive models for unintended implications of NMs that will improve design of safe nano products and processes.

This project seeks to develop innovative chemical and catalytic process to purify water with smaller chemical footprint, fewer waste production, and better energy efficiency. With my prior experience on the fate, transport, and exposure of ENMs, my research also address the need for safety by design to by minimizing release and exposure potential of nanomaterials in use.

Agricultural practices, mining, and nuclear weapons production have resulted in the dispersion of elevated levels of radionuclide contaminants in groundwater. This project aimed to identify the role of iron-sulfide minerals in the long-term sequestration of reduced U(IV) formed under sulfate-reducing conditions when subjected to re-oxidizing conditions. I utilized bench-scale experiments and geochemical modeling, coupled with cutting-edge X-ray and electron beam techniques to understand how iron sulfides slowed UO₂ oxidative dissolution and protected U(IV) against mobilization.