NanoMassCreator. Nanoparticle live synthesis: understanding of particle nucleation and growth by in-situ mass photometry

纳米粒子(NPs)是纳米技术的关键组成部分，由于其具有块状材料无法达到的显著特性，在催化、液晶显示、太阳能电池板、治疗和生物医学成像等领域得到了广泛的应用。因此，即使是NP合成的轻微改进，从而NP的性质，也可以在研究和工业中产生巨大的影响。这个涉及物理、化学和生物学的多学科项目旨在通过开发一种新的方法来表征NP的合成，从而改变NP的研究、生产和应用--原位合成，并具有前所未有的分辨率。我的目标是通过应用质量光度法-基于干涉散射的生物物理学的最新突破-以亚纳米分辨率可视化单个NP的生长，以了解NP合成过程中涉及的物理化学过程。目前用于表征核子核的方法往往缺乏单一粒子的精确度、分辨率、速度和可负担性，或者它们不适合于现场监测。提出的用质量光度法监测NP合成的方法将揭示隐藏在平均信号背后的过程，这些过程是由标准方法产生的。结合模拟NP散射特性，它将使明亮散射和荧光NPs的开发能够根据光学和生物功能化特性进行精确定制。我将在大量光度学发明家Philipp Kukura教授的监督下，在牛津大学进行这项研究，通过使用我在斯坦福大学借调期间为在活细胞中进行高速跟踪而开发的NPs来展示这项研究的影响。项目目标的实现依赖于将大量光度测量与纳米材料生产联系起来--这是我在博士学习期间获得的重要专业知识。该项目将使我能够拓宽我关于NP合成和纳米材料在分子成像中的应用的知识，同时极大地改进NP合成。

Nanoparticles (NPs) are key building blocks in nanotechnology and, thanks to their remarkable properties unreachable for bulk materials, are extensively applied in catalysis, LCDs, solar panels, therapeutics, and biomedical imaging. Therefore, even a slight improvement in NP synthesis, and thereby NP properties, can have an enormous impact in research and industry. This multidisciplinary project, which borders physics, chemistry, and biology, aims to transform NP research, production, and application by developing a new way to characterise NP synthesis - in situ and with unprecedented resolution. My goal is to understand the physicochemical processes involved in NP synthesis by applying mass photometry - a recent breakthrough in biophysics based on interferometric scattering - to visualize single-NP growth at sub-nanometre resolution. Current methodologies used to characterize NPs often lack single-particle precision, resolution, speed, and affordability, or they are ill-suited to in-situ monitoring. The proposed approach to monitor NP synthesis by mass photometry will reveal the processes hidden behind the averaged signal that results from standard methods. Together with modeling NP scattering properties, it will allow the development of bright scattering and fluorescent NPs to be precisely tailored in terms of optical and bio-functionalization properties. I will demonstrate the impact of this research, which I will conduct at Oxford University under the supervision of mass photometry inventor Prof. Philipp Kukura, by using the NPs I develop for high-speed tracking in living cells during a secondment at Stanford University. The fulfillment of the project aim relies on connecting mass photometry with nanomaterial production - an area where I gained significant expertise during my doctoral studies. The project will allow me to broaden my knowledge about NP synthesis and nanomaterial applications in molecular imaging while dramatically improving NP synthesis.