Carbon nanotube detection in plants through microwave-induced heating

1133250 greennsf颁发的纳米技术环境健康与安全项目的奖项，支持德克萨斯理工大学的Micah Green、Jaclyn Cañas和Mohammad Saed教授开发检测农作物中碳纳米管存在的新方法。碳纳米管是应用最广泛的碳基纳米材料之一，纳米管的一个潜在用途是用于农业生产的改进和效益，例如农药和其他化学品的智能输送系统。研究纳米管在农作物根部的吸收是一个紧迫的问题；这一点在利用纳米管用于农业农药和其他可能在土壤中沉积纳米管的产品的工业利益方面尤其正确。然而，检测作物中微量纳米管的常用方法是有限的。德克萨斯理工大学的研究小组将率先采用一种新技术，通过低功率微波照射来检测农作物中的这些物质。虽然这种不寻常的特性已经被发现了一段时间，但它从未被用于解决环境毒理学领域的科学挑战。纳米管受到微波的快速加热，其加热水平远高于其他普通材料。德克萨斯理工大学的研究小组将测试一种假设，即微波暴露会显示出含有纳米管和没有纳米管的农业样本之间的显著差异。基于微波的表征方法是一种新颖而实用的方法，因为它解决了纳米毒理学领域的一个重大科学问题。这一概念是通过PI和co-PI在各自的纳米材料、毒理学和微波物理领域的专业知识的独特合作组合实现的。微波加热CNTs之前从未用于检测，也从未应用于纳米技术这一关键问题。对环境和农业的影响。因此，该项目有可能对美国基于纳米材料的农产品的安全性和测试协议产生广泛的影响。该项目的推广和多样性努力将特别强调从代表性不足的群体中招募本科研究人员，并将这些学生及其跨学科研究成果纳入教育推广项目。这些活动将扩大和进一步传播成功的K-12教育项目，这些项目是由PI和合作PI在之前的NSF奖励下发起的。

1133250GreenThis NSF award by the Environmental Health and Safety of Nanotechnology program supports work by Professors Micah Green, Jaclyn Cañas, and Mohammad Saed of Texas Tech University to develop new methods to detect the presence of carbon nanotubes in agricultural crops. Carbon nanotubes are among the most widely used carbon-based nanomaterials, and one area of potential use for nanotubes is for the improvement and benefit of agricultural production, such as smart delivery systems for pesticides and other chemicals. The study of nanotube uptake into the roots of agricultural crops is a pressing issue; this is particularly true in regard to the industrial interest in utilizing nanotubes in agricultural pesticides and other products that might deposit nanotubes in soil. However, common methods of detecting trace amounts of nanotubes in crops are limited. The Texas Tech team will pioneer a new technique to detect these materials in crops by using low-power microwave exposure. Although this unusual property has been known for some time, it has never been utilized to solve scientific challenges in the area of environmental toxicology. Nanotubes undergo rapid heating in response to microwaves at levels much higher than other common materials. The Texas Tech team will test the hypothesis that microwave exposure will show a marked difference between nanotube-laden and nanotube-free agricultural samples. The microwave-based characterization method is both novel and useful, as it addresses a major scientific problem in the field of nanotoxicology. This concept is enabled by the uniquely collaborative combination of expertise fielded by the PI and co-PIs in their respective areas of nanomaterials, toxicology, and microwave physics. Microwave heating of CNTs has never been used for detection before and has never been applied to the critical issue of nanotechnology?s environmental and agricultural effects. Thus, this program has the potential to have widespread impacts on safety and testing protocols for nanomaterial-based agricultural products in the U.S. The outreach and diversity efforts of the program will place a particular emphasis on recruiting undergraduate researchers from underrepresented groups and incorporating these students and their interdisciplinary research findings into educational outreach programs. These activities will augment and further disseminate successful K-12 educational programs initiated by the PI and co-PIs under prior NSF awards.