| Buckminsterfullerene (C60) is an engineered nanoparticle that has received considerable interest with regards to the risk that is posed by these new materials, which is partially determined by the level of exposure that can be expected for these nanomaterials once they are released into the environment. Previous studies have examined C60 mobility in saturated porous media, though little attention has focused on resolving the role played by particle size in this process. The objective of this study was to characterize the role of size in determining C60 mobility in saturated porous media. It was concluded that under favorable attachment conditions nanoparticles were more mobile than their colloidal counterparts, indicating that a size effect does in fact exist. The SEI-XDLVO modeling approach was effective in interpreting nanoparticle aggregation and deposition as a function of solution chemistry; however, it failed to completely account for the observed size effect. |
