Research Themes: Bioengineering and Human Factors, Materials and Surface Engineering

The properties of nanomaterials are strongly dependent on size and shape. For instance, metal nanoparticles (NPs) including gold and silver NPs exhibit strong absorbance in the visible spectrum. Consequently, silver nanoprisms embedded in polymeric matrix have recently been demonstrated for effective coatings on glasses to absorb the infrared light while still let a sufficient amount of visible light transmit through. This can greatly contribute to reducing the energy burden on vehicles/buildings, as it is estimated that about 30% of heat transfer and energy loss from buildings is through inefficient windows.

However, it is challenging to synthesise such NPs with desired size and shape in a controllable and reproducible format. Using advanced microfluidic technology, we have recently synthesised silver nanoprisms by using a microreactor system, coupled with UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy for real-time monitoring of optical properties of the produced nanoprisms [1, 2].

Recently an alternative way of synthesising metallic NPs has also been investigated by using living organisms such as bacteria, fungi and plants. The aim of the proposed research is to explore the use of biological approaches to synthesise silver nanoprisms with controllable properties including size and shape. The objectives are: (1) to evaluate and select suitable silver-resistant bacteria that can accumulate silver either intracellularly or extracellularly within the bacterial matrix, for NP production; (2) to optimise the growth conditions including pH, temperature, incubation time, composition of the culture medium, and/or the flow for tuning NP properties; and (3) to develop a novel bioreactor for controlling and monitoring the process for large-scale NPs production.

[1] Carboni, M., et al., Microfluidics-based continuous flow formation of triangular silver nanoprisms with tunable surface plasmon resonance. Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 1, 7540-7546 (2013).

[2] Zmijan, R., et al., In situ microspectroscopic monitoring within a microfluidic reactor. RSC Advances,4, 14569-14572 (2014).

If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Xunli Zhang, Bioengineering research group, Email: XL.Zhang<στο>soton.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 2380 59 5099.