Water Quality and Wastewater Treatment, Environmental Engineering Graduate Student Coy McNew

The overall goal of graduate student Coy McNew's Ph.D. Research at Vanderbilt University is to gain a better understanding into the behavior of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) in the subsurface environment, including an increased understanding of the retention of these potential pollutants in porous media. This should lead to improved means of water and wastewater treatment containing ENM and subsequently, increased public health - as well as a better understanding of the risk these ENM may pose to other biological systems in the natural environment
Coy works under the direction of Dr. Gene LeBoeuf in the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, and is pursuing his Ph.D. In Environmental Engineering.
The unique physicochemical properties of engineered nanomaterials (ENM) make them attractive for application in a number of advanced technologies; however, these same properties raise concerns about their impacts to ecosystems and human health. With the impending mass production and increased number of applications of these ENM, there will be ample opportunities for the ENM to enter the natural environment. Several studies have predicted the possible toxicity of aqueous ENM aggregates to biological systems and in order to minimize the risk of these possible contaminants we must improve our understanding of the fate and transport of these particles in the natural environment. Coy's research looks at how these ENM interact with different types of natural organic matter (NOM) that are ubiquitous in the subsurface environment. By using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) I can directly measure the deposition and subsequent detachment of these ENM onto bare silica surfaces as well as surfaces altered by adsorbed NOM. In doing so, I can investigate what roles the fundamental structure and physicochemical properties of this attached phase, or adsorbed, NOM play on the attachment and detachment of ENM.
To learn more about Environmental Engineering research and graduate studies, visit www.cee.vanderbilt.edu