Mobility and Deposition of Silver Nanoparticles On Silica Surfaces Under Environmentally Relevant Conditions

Increasing use of nanomaterials in commercial products has led to widespread concerns about their potential environmental and health impacts. To better understand the transport, fate and behavior of nanoparticles in aquatic systems, it is essential to understand their interactions with different components of natural waters including natural organic matter (NOM) over a broad range of physicochemical conditions. Ag nanoparticles are widely used in many consumer applications such as antibacterial socks, and pigments. Deposition and mobility rates and the effects of NOM on particle deposition, as well as transport behavior of Ag nanoparticles onto a silica surface were evaluated using thin layer chromatography (TLC), and quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D) over a broad range of solution conditions.