280156 VU MA-ERD-W-4.8 Nanoparticles in the Environment (PI) (2022W)

Students attending the course successfully are able to describe the fundamental differences of dissolved and particulate compounds in the aquatic environment. They are aware of the different definitions of natural and technical colloids as well as nanoparticles and typical representatives. They can describe processes important for colloids and nanoparticles in the environment as aggregation, deposition, transformation and dissolution. They are familiar with concepts of electrophoretic mobility, zeta-potential, particle size ranges and shape factors and how they influence important processes of colloid stabilization, transport and scavenging. They can recall principles of key instrumental techniques for colloid analysis, namely Field Flow Fractionation, light scattering techniques and single-particle ICP-MS. They know the important representatives of engineered nanoparticles and can apply their knowledge from natural particles to assess their possible reactions in the environment (agglomeration, transformation, dissolution).

The written exam will reflect on course content (lectures & exercises).
The presentation evaluation is done according to
1) preparation of the topic (20%)
2) use of additional sources and information, also coupling to course content (20%)
3) quality of presentation (40%)
4) Q&A part of the presentation (20%)