Laura Powell – PhD Student
"Detection of Nanoparticles in Aqueous Media"
My project is focused on detecting and characterising nanoparticles in aqueous media through techniques such as single impact electrochemistry and functionalised differential resistive pulse sensing (Di-RPS). Nanoparticles are prevalent in everyday life; from cosmetics to sports gear1, manufacturers utilise the incredible surface properties of nanoparticles to enhance their products. The bigger, long term, effects of the use of nanoparticles is still relatively unknown2 but this does not seem to curb the appeal of industry manufacturers. Nanoparticles have a large surface area to volume ratio which means that the surface of the particle dominates the bulk of the material3. This large surface area enables a huge active layer to be present with only a minute amount of material. Detecting these particles is a challenge because of the size, stability and mobility however, by detecting in situ the morphology and size of the nanoparticles can be maintained to enable detection of non-aggregated and non-spherical particles.4
1 T. M. Benn and P. Westerhoff, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008, 42, 4133–4139.
2 Z. Sheng, J. D. Van Nostrand, J. Zhou and Y. Liu, J. Hazard. Mater., 2018, 341, 448–456.
3 S. E. F. Kleijn, S. C. S. Lai, M. T. M. Koper and P. R. Unwin, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2014, 53, 3558–3586.
4 Y. Y. Peng, R. C. Qian, M. E. Hafez and Y. T. Long, Chem. Electro. Chem., 2017, 4, 977–985.
Personal Interests
https://www.facebook.com/groups/109533179173353/about/
http://www.parkrun.org.uk/southampton/
https://www.susc.org.uk/