Vicki Grassian

About

The Grassian research group focuses on the chemistry and impacts of environmental interfaces including atmospheric aerosols, aqueous microdroplets, engineered and geochemical nanomaterials, and indoor surfaces.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Environmental chemistry
• Environmental science
• Geography
• Geology
• Engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Materials science
• Meteorology

Selected publications

• Acidity across the interface from the ocean surface to sea spray aerosol

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 197 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Aerosols impact climate, human health, and the chemistry of the atmosphere, and aerosol pH plays a major role in the physicochemical properties of the aerosol. However, there remains uncertainty as to whether aerosols are acidic, neutral, or basic. In this research, we show that the pH of freshly emitted (nascent) sea spray aerosols is significantly lower than that of sea water (approximately four pH units, with pH being a log scale value) and that smaller aerosol particles below 1 μm in diamete…

  DOI

• Oxide– and Silicate–Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment

  Chemical Reviews · 2023 · 186 citations

  Interfacial reactions drive all elemental cycling on Earth and play pivotal roles in human activities such as agriculture, water purification, energy production and storage, environmental contaminant remediation, and nuclear waste repository management. The onset of the 21st century marked the beginning of a more detailed understanding of mineral aqueous interfaces enabled by advances in techniques that use tunable high-flux focused ultrafast laser and X-ray sources to provide near-atomic measur…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Indoor Surface Chemistry: Developing a Molecular Picture of Reactions on Indoor Interfaces

  Chem · 2020 · 128 citations

  DOI

• Impact of Surface Adsorption on DNA Structure and Stability: Implications for Environmental DNA Interactions with Iron Oxide Surfaces

  Langmuir · 2024-12-19 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Environmental DNA (eDNA), i.e., DNA found in the environment, can interact with various geochemical surfaces, yet little is known about these interactions. Mineral surfaces may alter the structure, stability, and reactivity of eDNA, impacting the cycling of genetic information and the reliability of eDNA-based detection tools. Understanding how eDNA interacts with surfaces is crucial for predicting its fate in the environment. In this study, we examined the surface interaction and stability of h…

  PublisherDOI

• Comparison of Different Vibrational Spectroscopic Probes (ATR-FTIR, O-PTIR, Micro-Raman, and AFM-IR) of Lipids and Other Compounds Found in Environmental Samples: Case Study of Substrate-Deposited Sea Spray Aerosols

  ACS Measurement Science Au · 2024-11-17 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  The use of vibrational spectroscopy to probe environmental samples is increasing with the development of new methods, including microspectroscopic probes. In this study, we compare different vibrational methods to interrogate lipids and other compounds found in environmental samples. In particular, we compare the vibrational spectra for different lipids that include fatty acids (protonated and deprotonated forms), fatty alcohols, and fatty esters by utilizing attenuated total reflection Fourier…

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Surface Photochemistry and Redox Chemistry of Adsorbates on Oxide Surfaces at the Adsorbed Water Interface: Fundamental Studies of Atmospheric Significance

  NSF · $540k · 2010–2014

• EAGER: NanoEHS Critical Needs - Determining Surface Composition in Biological Media and the Roles of Core Composition and Very Small Particles

  NSF · $100k · 2014–2016

• Molecular-Based Studies of Metal, Metal Oxide and Metal Sulfide Nanoparticle Transformations in the Environment

  NSF · $450k · 2016–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Kimberly A. Prather

  Scripps Institution of Oceanography

  130 shared

• Christopher Lee

  University of British Columbia

  55 shared

• Mark A. Young

  University of California, San Diego

  53 shared

• Sarah C. Larsen

  University of Houston

  50 shared

• P. D. Kleiber

  University of Iowa

  46 shared

• Jonas Baltrušaitis

  Lehigh University

  41 shared

• Francesca Malfatti

  National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics

  38 shared

• Olga Laskina

  West Pharmaceutical Services (United States)

  37 shared

Labs

• Grassian Group at UCSDPI

Education

• PhD, Chemistry

  UC Berkeley College of Chemistry

  1987

• M.S, Chemistry

  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  1982

• BS, Chemistry

  University at Albany State University of New York

  1981

Awards & honors

• 2021 American Chemical Society Award in Surface Chemistry
• Sustainability Nanotechnology Award (2020)
• IUPAC Distinguished Woman in Chemistry or Chemical Engineeri…
• William H. Nichols Medal (2019)
• American Institute of Chemists Chemical Pioneer Award (2018)

Similar researchers at University of California, San Diego

• J. Silvio Gutkindh-163
• Eduard Arzth-110
• Seth Cohenh-100