I am currently studying redox reactions that are likely to lead to the reduction of mercury under post-combustion conditions in coal-fired power plants.  Most or the air-borne mercury emissions in the United States come from coal-fired power plants.  Mercury that is released to the air will eventually find its way into water bodies.  Mercury is a persistent pollutant that bio-accumulates in the food web and causes neurological damage at very low concentrations. 

Current methods used for the reduction of mercury emissions are based on trapping its oxidized forms and these existing pollution control devices do not effectively trap reduced mercury.  The mechanisms by which mercury is reduced post-combustion in coal-fired power plants are not known.  This hinders the ability of modelers to perform accurate simulations of the transport and deposition of mercury.  Effects of various emissions reduction strategies are, therefore, difficult to predict.  One of the goals of this project is to identify and quantify reactions of mercury in order to aid modelers in simulating and predicting the redox behavior of mercury.