Why and How Should We Detect Nanoparticles? by Professor Daniel Mandler

This contribution deals with a new area developed by us, which aims at detecting nanoparticles (NPs) selectively. With the benefits that NPs bring due to their unique properties that are a result of their size, they also pose health and environmental threats. Evidently, the toxicity of NPs is a function of not only the materials they are made of but also their size, structure and capping agents. Hence, speciation of NPs, which is still in its infancy, is becoming of utmost importance, and therefore, the detection of NPs requires the development of appropriate tools.

This has led us to develop a new concept for the selective recognition and detection of NPs termed NAnoparticle-Imprinted Matrix (NAIM).1-6 It is analogous to the well-known concept of molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) in which the molecular analyte is imprinted in a polymer by polymerization of proper monomers with which it chemically associates (Fig. 1). The removal of the template forms complementary cavities capable of selective recognition of the analyte. Instead of molecular species, we imprint NPs in various matrices. The NPs are then removed to form nanometric voids that can selectively recognize the originally imprinted NPs.

We will present a few new systems and approaches by which we show how NPs can be imprinted inside a matrix. What are the conditions for their removal and reuptake and what makes the matrix selective and sensitive towards the originally imprinted NPs. For example, we will demonstrate that we can selectively detect identical core NPs that are stabilized by capping agents of different isomers. Approaches for studying the NP-matrix interactions, the imprinting of non-spherical NPs, and the detection of NPs from the gaseous phase, will also be presented and discussed.

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