Environmental Chemistry of Micropollutants

Research in this area is directed towards understanding the sorption and transformation mechanisms of organic micropollutants in natural and engineered systems. The early work in this area focussed on assessing sorption reversibility of apolar and polar organic compounds to natural organic matter and pyrogenic carbonaceous materials. More recent work focused on the sorption and covalent bond formation of polar and ionogenic organic micropollutants, such as antibiotics, to natural organic matter as well as the redox and photochemical transformations of such molecules.

Selected key publications are:

Photochemical transformation

Wenk, J., M. Aeschbacher, M. Sander, U. von Gunten, and S. Canonica. Photosensitizing and inhibitory effects of ozonated dissolved organic matter on triplet-induced contaminant transformation. Environ Sci Technol, 2015, 49, 8541-8549; DOI: external page10.1021/acs.est.5b02221

Redox transformation

Aeschbacher, M., S.H. Brunner, R.P. Schwarzenbach, and M. Sander. Assessing the effects of humic acid redox state on organic pollutant sorption by combined electrochemical reduction and sorption experiments. Environ Sci Technol, 2012, 46, 3882-3890. DOI: external page10.1021/es204496d

Gulkowska, A. M. Sander, J. Hollender, and M. Krauss. Covalent binding of sulfamethazine to natural and synthetic humic acids: assessing laccase catalysis and covalent bond stability. Environ Sci Technol, 2013, 47, 6916-6924. DOI: external page10.1021/es3044592

Richter M., M. Sander, M. Krauss, I. Christl, M.D. Dahinden, M.K. Schneider, and R.P. Schwarzenbach. Cation Binding of Antimicrobial Sulfathiazole to Leonardite Humic Acid. Environ Sci Technol, 2009. 43, 6632-‐6638. DOI: external page10.1021/es900946u

Hartenbach, A., T.B. Hofstetter, M. Aeschbacher, M. Sander, D. Kim, T.J. Strathmann, W.A. Arnold, C.J. Cramer, R.P. Schwarzenbach, Variability of N isotope fractionation during the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds with dissolved reductants. Environ Sci Technol, 2008, 42, 8352-‐8359. DOI: external page10.1021/es801063u

Sorption mechanisms

Sander M., and J.J. Pignatello. Sorption Irreversibility of 1,4-Dichlorobenzene in two Natural Organic Matter-Rich Geosorbents. Environ Toxicol Chem, 2009, 28, 447-‐457. DOI: external page10.1897/08-128.1

Stein K., M. Ramil, G. Fink, M. Sander, T.A. Ternes. Analysis and Sorption of Psychoactive Drugs onto Sediment. Environ Sci Technol, 2008, 42, 6415-‐6423. DOI: external page10.1021/es702959a

Sander M., and J.J. Pignatello. On the reversibility of sorption to black carbon: distinguishing true hysteresis from artificial hysteresis caused by dilution of a competing adsorbate. Environ Sci Technol, 2007, 41, 843-849; DOI: external page10.1021/es061346y

Sander M., Y. Lu, and J.J. Pignatello. Conditioning-annealing studies of natural organic matter solids linking irreversible sorption to irreversible structural expansion. Environ Sci Technol, 2006, 40, 170-178; DOI: external page10.1021/es0506253

Sander M., and J.J. Pignatello. An isotope exchange technique to assess mechanisms of sorption hysteresis applied to naphthalene in kerogenous organic matter. Environ Sci Technol, 2005, 39, 7476-7484; DOI: external page10.1021/es050299r

Sander M., and J.J. Pignatello. Characterization of charcoal sorption sites for aromatic compounds: Insights drawn from single-solute and bi-solute competitive experiments. Environ Sci Technol, 2005, 39, 1606-1615; DOI: external page10.1021/es049135l

Sander M., Y. Lu, and J.J. Pignatello. A thermodynamically based method to quantify true sorption hysteresis. J Environ Qual, 2005, 34, 1063-1072; DOI: external page10.2134/jeq2004.0301