Manuel Montaño, PhD in Applied Chemistry

Biography

Dr. Manuel D. Montaño is a postdoctoral associate at Duke University investigating how nanomaterials influence the fate and behavior of molecular contaminants present in nano-enabled products. He completed his Ph. D. in 2014 at the Colorado School of Mines, where his doctoral work focused on the development of analytical techniques for the detection and characterization of engineered nanomaterials in the environment; specifically working to develop single particle ICP-MS (spICP-MS) as a viable option for the routine analysis of nanoparticles in complex biological and environmental matrices. His research interests include: further developing analytical instrumentation such as spICP-MS and field flow fractionation for accurate and precise determination of engineered nanomaterials in the environment, quantifying the release of plasticizers and polymer additives from nano-enabled composites using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry, developing methods for the extraction and quantification of carbon nanotubes in sediment using near infrared fluorescence spectroscopy, and developing accurate analytical techniques for the differentiation of engineered and naturally occurring nanoparticles in environmental samples.