Visualisation of Nanoparticles in the Environment

这项研究将确定一种新技术双光子激发显微镜与自体荧光（TPEM-AF），在兰开斯特开创，是否可以用作一种工具，以可视化工程纳米粒子在生命系统中。将对选定的工程纳米颗粒进行分析，以测试该技术的范围和能力及其局限性。我们的目标是看看TPEM-AF是否能帮助我们看到环境样品中可能存在的纳米材料和化学物质。我们计划在植被上测试这项技术，因为我们在使用它来可视化和跟踪叶子和根上和里面的化学物质方面有很多经验。我们还从之前的工作中了解到，该技术可以用于观察叶片上的细颗粒，我们已经看到细颗粒上的化学物质如何通过叶片和根表面释放并扩散到细胞中。我们相信这也将成为追踪非物质的强大工具，特别是因为我们可以用这项技术看到活组织内部。人们对纳米材料是否会被生命系统吸收以及可能覆盖在其上的化学成分会发生什么非常感兴趣。未来，这项新技术将提供一种强大的工具，为了解吸附到纳米颗粒上的化学物质如何转移到陆地介质中提供重要见解，并进一步确定基本的命运过程（积累、降解、运输？）生命系统中的化学物质。

This study will identify whether a new technology Two-photon excitation microscopy coupled with autofluorescence (TPEM-AF), pioneered at Lancaster, can be used as a tool to visualise engineered nanoparticles in living systems. Selected engineered nanoparticles will be analysed, to test the scope and power of the technique, and its limitations. Our objective is to see whether TPEM-AF helps us to see nanomaterials and chemicals which may be on them in environmental samples. We plan to test the technique on vegetation, because we have a lot of experience in using it to visualise and track chemicals on and in leaves and roots. We also know from our previous work that the techniques can be used to see particles at the fine scale, on leaves, and we have seen how chemicals on fine particles can be released and diffuse through leaf and root surfaces into cells. We believe this will be a powerful tool for tracking nonmaterials too, particularly since we can see inside living tissues with the technique. There is considerable interest in whether nanomaterials get absorbed by living systems, and what happens to the chemical components that may be coated on them. In the future this novel technique will provide a powerful tool giving an important insight into how chemicals ,sorbed to nanoparticles, transfer into terrestrial media and futhermore will identify the fundamental fate processes (accumulation, degradedation, transportation?) of the chemicals in living systems.