Engineered carbon nanomaterials have shown great promise in many applications. With the rapid increase in the production and use of these materials, their environmental behaviors and implications have received much attention. Carbon nanomaterials can undergo significant physical, chemical and biological transformation in the environment, resulting in remarkable changes in their surface charge, hydrophobicity and surface functionality. Environmental transformation of carbon nanomaterials can significantly affect their colloidal stability, transport and toxicity, as well as their capabilities to accumulate/mobilize environmental contaminants and to catalyze environmentally relevant reactions. Thus, environmental transformation largely dictates the environmental behaviors and implications of carbon nanomaterials. This paper summarizes the recent key research findings in the area, with an emphasis on the underlying mechanisms and structure-effect correlations.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Transformation of engineered carbon nanomaterials
2.1 Physical transformation of carbon nanomaterials
2.2 Chemical transformation of carbon nanomaterials
2.3 Biological transformation of carbon nanomaterials
3 Effects of environmental transformation on environmental processes and implications of carbon nanomaterials
3.1 Environmental transformation affects transport of carbon nanomaterials
3.2 Environmental transformation affects capability of carbon nanoparticles to accumulate and mobilize contaminants
3.3 Environmental transformation affects catalytic efficiency of carbon nanomaterials
4 Conclusion