Discipline: Chemistry and Chemical Sciences
Subcategory: Nanoscience
Sam Merlus - Tuskegee University
Co-Author(s): Bo Zhi, Sadhana Mishra, Christy Haynes, and Uwe Kortshagen, Univeristy of Minnesota
Recent discoveries of high yield synthesis by Kortshagen et al. producing doped silicon nanocrystals (DSNCs) via nonthermal plasma reactor have sparked great research interest. DSNCs are semiconducting materials that enable various applications from biosensing, bioimaging, optoelectronics, nanoelectronics, spectroscopy enhancement, and subwavelength microscopy. This versatile semiconducting material has yet to interact with the environment where living organism are found, so the environmental implications remain unknown. Hence, the proposed research entails the exploration of evaluating the nanotoxicity of DSNCs in model organism, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (S.oneidensis). The drop plate assay was the method used to assess the toxicity of DSNCs. TEM, XPS, and hyperspectral imaging were used to characterize DSNCs. After experimentation, results regarding the potential toxicity of DSNC were inconclusive.
abstract_updated.pdfFunder Acknowledgement(s): NSF
Faculty Advisor: Uwe Kortshagen, kortshagen@umn.edu
Role: The part of the research I conducted was preparing cells, preparing exposure solution, conducting drop plate assay, counting bacterial colonies, and characterization with graduate mentor.