Nanoparticle research may mean less radioactive contamination, safer nuclear power plants

Additionally, methods or concepts from this research may be applicable to capturing other radioactive materials, cleaning nuclear waste materials, cleaning nuclear waste environments such as rivers and lakes, removing radioactive vapors released in the atmosphere during nuclear accidents like Fukushima, or capturing non-radioactive contaminants found in the semiconductor industry.

Nanoscience, she added, provides a way to use nature’s materials to solve complicated problems and she continues to be motivated by the infinite possibilities that this type of research provides her and her team.

“I continue to be amazed by the exceptional opportunities that the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology has to offer,” she said. “Driven by the continuous demands of society to find new and intriguing substances that can cure disease, help us explore or live in space, make us live longer and healthier lives or discover new energy supplies, the evolution of this astonishing field will continue.”

“The ability to manipulate atoms at the most fundamental level is fascinating and provides infinite technological possibilities,” she added. “I believe that the promise of viable applications for the future lies in the ability of scientists to understand, generate, and control materials at the nanoscale. By creating productive, cost-effective, light-weight materials that are stronger, harder, and safer in a controlled, reproducible way, nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing technology.

Want to know more about research in this field?  You can view this and other research findings in a recently released book titled “Anisotropic and Shape-Selective Nanomaterials: Structure-Property Relationships.” The study was also published in the journal JOM and was selected as one of the “top ten ranked papers” by the journal’s Editors.