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Science 21 March 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5870, pp. 1631 - 1635
DOI: 10.1126/science.1141134
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Review

Nanominerals, Mineral Nanoparticles, and Earth Systems

Michael F. Hochella, Jr.,1* Steven K. Lower,2 Patricia A. Maurice,3 R. Lee Penn,4 Nita Sahai,5 Donald L. Sparks,6 Benjamin S. Twining7

Minerals are more complex than previously thought because of the discovery that their chemical properties vary as a function of particle size when smaller, in at least one dimension, than a few nanometers, to perhaps as much as several tens of nanometers. These variations are most likely due, at least in part, to differences in surface and near-surface atomic structure, as well as crystal shape and surface topography as a function of size in this smallest of size regimes. It has now been established that these variations may make a difference in important geochemical and biogeochemical reactions and kinetics. This recognition is broadening and enriching our view of how minerals influence the hydrosphere, pedosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere.

1 Center for NanoBioEarth, Department of Geosciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA 24061–0420, USA.
2 School of Earth Sciences and School of Environment and Natural Resources, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
3 Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA.
4 Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
5 Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706–1692, USA.
6 Center for Critical Zone Research, Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19717–1303, USA.
7 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: hochella{at}vt.edu

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