Host: NanoMyP; Supervisor: Jorge F. Fernandez-Sánchez
Objectives
The overall objective of this PD ER is the development of new materials (polymeric and hybrid) for the development of miniaturized bioreactor (MBR) system which will be tested and used by other partners (DTU/TUG/UOULU and UNICZ) in WP6, WP7 and WP8. The ER will be involved in the covalent immobilisation of enzymes in polymeric and hybrid (magnetic) nano and microparticles to be used by UL and iX-factory in WP6. Furthermore, the ER will be involved in the development and implementation of nanofiber mats produced by electrospinning into MBRs to be used by DTU, UCL and TUG in WP7 and also in the development of core-shell nanofiber mats for integrated sensors to be used by TUG, DTU and UOULU in WP8.
Tasks and methodology
The development of new materials which can immobilise biomolecules and/or encapsulate sensing dyes is a key factor for the development of MBRs. Thus, ER4 will focus on the design and development of novel materials with immobilising properties. Firstly (Yr 1), ER4 will work on the synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles which can be implemented in the magnetic-field supported MBR to be developed in WP6 and afterwards, in the optimisation of the covalent immobilisation of enzymes in these magnetic particles and their chemical modification to adapt their properties to the requirements of the microdevices (WP7). During Yr 1, ER4 will also carry out the development of polymeric nanofiber mats produced by electrospinning to encapsulate luminescent dyes for obtaining pH and/or oxygen-sensitive nanofiber mats (WP8).
During Yr 2, the ER4 will work on the development of nanofibre mats produced by electrospinning functional polymers with high capacity for immobilising biomolecules and their implementation into MBR (WP7). The results obtained with the nanofiber mats will be compared with those obtained using magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, co-electrospinning will be used for developing core-shell nanofibre mats in which the core is formed by the pH and/or oxygen-sensitive nanofibres developed during year 1 and the shell is composed by the functional polymers with high capacity for immobilising biomolecules. Finally, these core-shell nanofibre mats will be evaluated in collaboration with TUG in the development of enzymatic glucose sensors with optical transduction.
Results
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Development, integration and testing of smaller sensor spots (WP8) to analyse oxygen transfer with greater spatial resolution.
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Microfluidic platform for chemical and enzymatic reactions, amenable for different immobilization methods.
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Nanosensor particles for monitoring biocatalytic screening toolbox (WP6) and biocatalysis (WP7)
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Magnetic nano sensor particles for biocatalytic screening toolbox (WP6) and biocatalysis (WP7)
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Microbioreactors with integrated sensors tested in cultivation and biocatalysis.
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Nano-sensor particles tested in cultivation (WP6) and biocatalysis (WP7)
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Magnetic nano-sensor particles tested in cultivation (WP6) and biocatalysis (WP7)