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The mineral-water interface is where the action happens: be it crystal growth, adsorption reactions, mineral dissolution, redox reactions, or even the growth of crystallites from the melt. It is the conduit by which life communicates with the geology of an environment. Processes at the interface control fresh water quality, the development of soils and the distribution of plant nutrients, the development of certain ore deposits, the mobility of contaminants, biomineralization, and the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, just to name a few. My research focuses on the understanding of environmentally-relevant processes at the mineral-water interface. My approach is a combination of surface-sensitive techniques (e.g. microscopic and spectroscopic), electrochemical methods, and molecular simulations to describe surface-mediated processes.I am currently interested in the following topics:
- The oxidation of sulfides as it relates to acid mine drainage or the contaminated leachate from hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”
- The role of the atomic and electronic structure of sulfide and oxide surfaces in redox reactions that immobilize aqueous species such as arsenic, chromium, and uranium
- Mercury contamination in groundwater
- Photochemical reactions on mineral surfaces and their role in regulating the concentration of redox-sensitive elements in the photic zones of surface waters or the atmosphere
- Microbe-mineral interactions
Renock D.and Voorhis J. (2017) Electrochemical investigation of arsenic redox processes on pyrite. Environmental Science and Technology - In press
Ouyang B., Akob D., Akob D.A., Dunlap D., and Renock D.(2017) Microbially mediated barite dissolution in anoxic brines. Applied Geochemistry 76, 51-59, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2016.11.008
Richardson J.B., Renock D.J., Görres J.H., Jackson B.P., Webb S.M., and Friedland A.J. (2016) Nutrient and pollutant metals within earthworm residues are immobilized in soil during decomposition. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 101, 217-225, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2016.07.020
Niu D., Renock D., Whitehouse M., Leone J., Rowe H., Landis J., Hamren K., Symcox C.W., and Sharma M. (2016) A relict sulfate-methane transition zone in the mid-Devonian Marcellus Shale. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 182, 73-87, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2016.03.004
Renock D., Landis J.D., and Sharma M. (2016) Reductive weathering of black shale and release of barium during hydraulic fracturing. Applied Geochemistry 65, 73-86, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2015.11.001
Renock D.and Shuller-Nickles L.C. (2015) Predicting geologic corrosion with electrodes. Elements 11, 331-336, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2113/gselements.11.5.331
Yuan K., Renock D., Ewing R.C., and Becker U. (2015) Uranium reduction on magnetite: Probing for pentavalent uranium by electrochemical methods. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 156, 194-206, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2015.02.014
Balsam W., Ji J., Ji J.F., Renock D., Deaton B.C., and Williams E. (2014) Determining hematite content from NUV/Vis/NIR spectra: Limits of detection. American Mineralogist 99, 2280-2291, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2014-4878
Renock D., Mueller M., Yuan K., Ewing R.C., and Becker U. (2013) The energetics and kinetics of uranyl reduction on pyrite, hematite, and magnetite surfaces: a powder microelectrode study. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 118, 56-71, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2013.04.019
Renock D.and Becker, U. (2011) A first principles investigation of coupled substitution in galena. Ore Geology Reviews 42, 71-83, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.oregeorev.2011.04.001
Renock D.and Becker U. (2010) A first principles study of the oxidation energetic and kinetics of realgar. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74, 4266-4284, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2010.05.003
Renock D., Gallegos T., Utsunomiya S., Hayes K., Ewing R.C., and Becker, U. (2009) Chemical and structural characterization of As immobilization by nanoparticles of mackinawite (FeSm). Chemical Geology 268, 116-125, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2009.08.003
Pointeau V., Deditius A.P., Miserque F., Renock D., Becker U., Zhang J., Clavier N., Dacheux N., Poinssot C., Ewing R.C. (2009) Synthesis of coffinite . Journal of Nuclear Materials 393, 449-458, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnucmat.2009.06.030
Deditius A. P., Utsunomiya S., Renock D., Ewing R. C., Ramana C. V., Becker U., and Kesler S. E. (2008). A proposed new type of arsenian pyrite: Composition, nanostructure and geological significance. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 72(12), 2919-2933; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2008.03.014