Development of a novel method for trace analysis of nanomaterials in water

本研究的目的是开发一种新的方法，该方法是对含有纳米材料的垃圾倾倒产生的城市水中纳米材料痕量分析的理想方法。虽然所有的纳米材料在工业、消费和医疗应用方面都有巨大的前景，但这些产品的处理打开了人类接触的大范围，需要得到很好的控制。一种分析灵敏度高的方法将有助于缓解短期内为加拿大家庭提供安全饮用水、做饭、洗澡和园艺用水的挑战。我们的新方法是在纳米材料上涂上一层厚厚的聚合物，使其以不同的速度变大。由于电泳迁移率的差异，这些生长的纳米材料可以通过毛细管电泳分离，这取决于它们的电子电荷、大小、形状和表面功能。检测灵敏度可以通过厚聚合物涂层的紫外吸收性来提高，并且可以通过吸附高量子产率的化合物来进一步增强激光诱导荧光检测。

The proposed research aims to develop a new method that is ideal for trace analysis of nanomaterials in municipal water from the dumping of waste containing nanomaterials. Although all nanomaterials have enormous prospect in industrial, consumer and medical applications, disposal of these products opens up a wide range of human exposure that needs to be well controlled. A method of high analytical sensitivity will help ameliorate the challenge of providing Canadian households with safe water for drinking, cooking, bathing and gardening in the short term. Our novel approach is based on the controlled coating of nanomaterials with a thick layer of polymer to grow larger, albeit at different rates. These grown nanomaterials can be separated by capillary electrophoresis due to differences in electrophoretic mobility, depending on their electronic charge, size, shape and surface functionality. Detection sensitivity is increased by the UV absorptivity of a thick polymer coating and can be further enhanced by adsorbing a compound of high quantum yield for laser-induced fluorescence detection. Dielectrophoresis will be used to separate nanomaterials that do not carry ionic charges when they are subjected to a non-uniform electric field. Separation depends strongly on permittivity of the medium, electrical properties of the particles, shape and size of the particles, as well as frequency of the electric field. Microfiltration with a membrane filter can be used to remove nanomaterials from the sample by a screening mechanism. The filtrate is expected to generate fewer peaks in the electropherogram to simplify their qualitative identification. Total luminescence spectroscopy can next be performed on the re-suspended nanomaterials, and the total luminescence intensity will represent the quantity of all nanomaterials. The proposed analytical methodology to characterize, detect and determine engineered nanomaterials will have a significant impact on municipal water treatment and study of toxicology due to nanomaterials.