Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Professor Alison Bain at Oregon State University is conducting research funded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Division of Chemistry under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to investigate the influence of micro- and nanoplastics on atmospheric aerosol processes. The $750,000 project grant, awarded on March 15, 2026, and scheduled for completion by February 28, 2031, focuses on understanding how plastic particles—including polyethylene, polystyrene, and nylon—interact with mixed-phase aerosol droplets. The research team will conduct laboratory and aerosol droplet-scale experiments to systematically examine how environmental aging affects plastic surface morphology and chemistry, the uptake of water and chemical species by plastics, and the mixing behavior of micro- and nanoplastics with existing atmospheric aerosols.

The project will deliver scientific insights into the fundamental physical and chemical interactions between atmospheric plastics and aerosols, with potential implications for understanding atmospheric processes and air quality. Additionally, the award supports educational activities, including training undergraduate students in large dataset handling relevant to analytical and environmental chemistry and developing science curricula investigating microplastics for rural Oregon students. The research team will also develop new instrumentation to investigate the physical processes governing plastic-aerosol interactions, contributing to both fundamental scientific understanding and applied research capabilities in environmental chemistry.