List of Abstracts 2022: WORKSHOP
Date: October 20, 2022
Introduction of the Project NanoEnviCz
The NanoEnviCz infrastructure could provide research support for diverse users. It is interesting to present the important role of NanoEnviCz infrastructure. The NanoEnviCz infrastructure is formed from experts focused on nanomaterials and nanotechnologies for environment protection and sustainable future. The second aspect of successful support by NanoEnviCz infrastructure is the instrumental equipment of all participating institutions. The simple way how to apply for cooperation with the NanoEnviCz infrastructure allows to get quick results of your research. The supported research was so far in cooperation with applicants from research institutions, universities (as student theses), companies, and other infrastructures. The IIC research within NanoEnviCz project is focusing on nano/materials for sorption (heavy metals, radionuclides, and other pollutants), also for degradation of pollutants, chemical warfare agents. The equipment of IIC within NanoEnviCz is possible to find on the website www.nanoenvicz.cz as well as equipment of other institutions from the infrastructure. The beauty and utility of NanoEnviCz infrastructure is to apply at once for facilities of all institutions which could be useful for the research of the user. The examples of some results supported by NanoEnviCz infrastructure will be presented and some of them will be discussed more in detail. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Project No. LM2018124.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a technique which employs a high strength magnetic field to observe small variations in atoms and hence compounds and their structures via active atomic nuclei. NMR is frequently used in all fields of research and industry to study physical, chemical, and biological properties of compounds and matter, with chemists in particular commissioning NMR spectroscopy to unequivocally determine chemical structures and purities. Utilising NMR spectroscopy, it is possible to observe site-specific interactions at the single-bond level, along with kinetics of reactions/interactions, identification, and quantification.
At the Technical University of Liberec (TUL), in conjunction with NanoEnviCZ, a state-of-the-art NMR spectrometer (JNM-ECZ400R/M1, 400 MHz, JEOL, Japan) is available, with both liquid-state and solid-state probes available. This allows for the applications to encompass a wide variety of topics, including the measurements and explicit analysis of nanofibers and nanoparticles, nanomaterials for biomedicine, composite materials and their functionalised derivatives, and composite materials. Furthermore, the pathways and processes of nanomaterials for catalytic degradation of pollutants, functional surfaces for environmental protection, modified filters for advanced materials, and redox active nanomaterials can be probed and analysed using NMR spectroscopic techniques. The NMR hence offers techniques and analysis for a variety of applications which are not dependent on specific disciplines, but rather useful for all areas of research and industry. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Project No. LM2018124.
Gas sorption analysis, also commonly called BET, is a technique for analyzing specific surface area of solid materials (powder materials). Furthermore, the method can used to analyze pore size distribution of micro- and mesoporous materials and to determine the total pore volume of the material. Common materials analyzed by the BET are active carbons or zeolites, also active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) by pharmacy companies or feedstocks for ceramic industry. Moreover, scientists routinely utilize the method for analyzing their newly synthesized materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), carbon allotropes including carbon nanotubes and graphene and its derivatives, and also various types of nanoparticles e.g. iron oxide or titanium oxide nanomaterials. This contribution will in brief cover the basic principles of gas sorption analysis and introduce interesting examples of measured samples.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Project No. LM2018124.
The large surface area, thermal stability, and wide range of means of functionalizing the graphene monolayer could be exploited in the development of heterogeneous catalysts with active sites controlled at the atomic level. However, utilization of the unique properties of graphene for application in a catalytic process relies on the development of a three-dimensional (3D) graphene-like catalytic material with connectivity of the pore network, providing good accessibility to the active centres. This presentation shows the results of studies on nanostructured carbon materials for the development of heterogeneous catalysts implemented within the NANOENVICZ infrastructure. It is demonstrated that 3D graphene-like microporous carbons synthesized in a zeolite template overcome the limitations arising from π - π stacking and strong van der Waals interactions between sheets of graphene, limiting the accessibility of the surface sites and dramatically decreasing the surface area of conventional graphene. The 3D channel system is also a significant advantage over traditional carbon nanotubes with precluded cross-plane diffusion for even very small reactant molecules. The regularity of the porous system of the 3D graphene materials with pore openings fitting the molecular size of a variety of hydrocarbon molecules is also a unique characteristic that is not available in graphene foam or crumpled graphene.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Project No. LM2018124.
Due to their easily tunable physicochemical characteristics, there is a virtually unlimited number of different nanomaterials with specific properties. Even a small change in nanomaterial characteristics (e.g. size, shape, surface charge) can change their biocompatibility. The pace of development of new nanomaterials and their dynamic behaviour represents a significant challenge for safety assessment. High-content imaging (HCI) is a multifunctional advanced microscopy-based platform for automatic image analysis of large sets of images. The HCI is currently being widely employed in biological testing of nanomaterials, especially in their screening safety evaluation, hazard ranking, grouping, prioritization for further development and suitable applications, control of stability in biological environments, and also investigation of molecular mechanisms of nanotoxicity. The high-throughput setting is ideal for simultaneous testing under various experimental conditions (e.g. different nanoforms, cell lines, exposure times and concentrations). Multiplexing of primary antibodies and fluorescent probes enables multiparametric analyses of several markers in the same cells. In this lecture, fluorescence inverted confocal spinning disk microscope Olympus SpinSR10 will be introduced. Basic technical details of transmission light microscopy, super-resolution confocal imaging, and an environmental control system allowing long-term live-cell imaging will be presented, with examples of potential applications within the fields of nanotoxicology, nanosafety, and nanomedicine. Benefit of the HCI will be presented on preliminary data of NMDA-induced excitotoxicity experiments in N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors with pathogenic mutations within the M3 domain of the GluN1 subunit. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the MEYS CR (Project No. LM2018124).
PAN-based nanofiber membranes were prepared by a) needleless (wire) = NanospiderTM and b) needle-based electrospinning techniques. These methods differ in the design of the experiment and especially in the form of the electrodes. These differences are further reflected in the structure and morphology, properties of the resulting nanofiber membrane and the dependence of these properties on the parameters that affect electrospinning. Due to the large number of these parameters, process optimization is a necessary part of the work, ie the selection of the most suitable parameters to achieve the desired properties of the nanofiber membrane. Thanks to the large specific surface, nanofiber membranes have the potential to capture a variety of particles and molecules. Their properties, especially sorption, can be further modified and improved by modification, while the modification was performed in a so-called one-step = by adding a modifier to the spinning solution and amines and MOFs (metal organic frameworks) were used as modifiers for CO2 molecule capture potential. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Research Infrastructure NanoEnviCz, supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic under Project No. LM2018124.