Where can we find clean drinking water? How can we remove excess carbon dioxide from the oceans? When is a contamination site really clean? Molecular environmental scientists are zooming in on the biosphere, looking for answers to these big questions by examining their smallest components. Examining chemical reactions at the molecular- and nano- scales, they hope to understand how contaminants and nutrients are transported through the soil, water and air. Chemical processes such as oxidation, solubility, evaporation and absorption involve multiple chemical reactions occurring between multiple compounds, and are difficult to examine from a macroscopic point of view. Using X-ray spectroscopy, available at SLAC's Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), molecular environmental researchers get a direct look at the chemical processes that impact life on earth. Molecular environmental science includes elements of microbiology, chemistry, environmental engineering, geology and physics.
Molecular environmental science uses SSRL technology because X-rays are ideal for looking at structures on the molecular scale. Higher frequency light is better for atomic-scale imaging, and lower frequency light is better for larger-scale imaging. SSRL offers techniques that can examine samples containing many different materials, samples with highly uneven surfaces, or samples diluted in water or soil.
By learning more about the molecular nature of these materials, scientists hope to better understand our complex ecosystem, and predict when it may be harmful to humans or when humans may be doing the damage.
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