Welcome to the PRIORITY Training School "Recent Trends in Microplastic Research" hosted by the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology in Jena, Germany - Day 1 -
Over 60 participants from 26 countries can establish new connections and explore current trends and technologies for micro and nanoplastic research! ...
A big THANK YOU to all our STSM grantees for sharing their experiences (and experiments) with us all during this Instagram Takeover! We are truly inspired by your dedication and hard work. As the next STSM period begins on June 1st, we look forward to new and exciting insights into the life as a visiting researcher. Stay tuned for more! And remember: if you are interested in applying for an STSM you can find more info on our website: https://ca-priority.eu/ under Grants —> STSM ...
Hi everyone! Day 5️⃣ of Takeover.
I couldn't finish this Takeover without showing you a photo of the amazing people that is teaching and helping me during my STSM. I'm very grateful to all of them by the share of knowledge, expertise and good moments during these weeks at Pisa!
I would like to introduce them to you (from the left to the right): Greta Biale, Marco Mattonai, Prof. Ilaria Degano, Lúcia Santos, Julia Gambetta Vianna, and Tommaso Nacci. Unfortunately, Prof. Francesca Modugno and Jacopo La Nasa couldn't be here today for the photo, because they are in a conference.
And that's it... I will continue working on microplastics analysis by pyrolysis-GC/MS for 10 days more here in the University of Pisa, but my Takeover arrives to the end.
See you! And good luck to all 🙂🍀
#costaction #priority #microplastics #Science ...
Hi everyone! Day 4️⃣ of Takeover!
Because STSM is not only lab work, today I'm sharing a photo of a seminar that I gave last week for the PhD students of DSCM - Doctoral School in Chemistry and Material Science of the University of Pisa. 👩🎓
Since microplastics not are alone in the world 😄, in this seminar I shared some of my research results on the "Interaction of pharmaceuticals and microplastics: implications to the environment and human health". 💊🌍🤒
It was very good to share and discuss my results with the scientific community of the University of Pisa. 😊
#costaction #priority #microplastics #Science ...
Hi everyone! Day 3️⃣ of Takeover!
Today I'm going to show how I analyzed my greywater samples filters by pyrolysis-GC/MS.
I started by punching two rows of each filter and transferred them to a cup pyrolysis. Then, I added the internal standard. And that's it! It's quite simple 🙂
The next step was to put all the samples in the autosampler of the Pyrolysis-GC/MS and we are ready to start the analysis.⏳🥼🔎
Tomorrow the pyrograms will be ready to start data treatment and discover what plastic polymers we can find in greywater 🤔
#costaction #priority #microplastics #pyrolysis ...
Hi everyone! Day 2️⃣ of Takeover!
For my STSM activities, I'm analyzing greywater from the sinks/showers of a hotel and laundry greywater to characterize the presence of microplastics and plastic additives. I started by preparing the greywater samples at ICRA. I filtered the greywater samples and now I am analyzing the filters at Pisa.
My first activity here at DCCI was to do a preliminary screening of the greywater sample filters using an optical microscope. 🔬
Take a look how many #microfibers I found in the samples!
#cost #priority #microplastics ...
Greetings from the sunny Pisa! 🌞
I'm Lúcia Santos, a postdoc researcher from the Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) in Girona (Spain) and I'm enjoying a STSM grant of the COST Action PRIORITY in the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa (Italy).
I'm working on the analysis of microplastics and associated plastic additives in greywater, using pyrolysis-GC/MS, which is a very promising analytical technique for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of microplastics.
During the next week I will share with you the steps to do pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis.
Stay tuned 🙂👩🔬
#priority #costaction #microplastics #Science ...
Hi everyone!
Today is my last day of the takeover and one week away from leaving the VITO and Mol city.
First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to Milica Velimirovic who hosted me with the warmest way and supported me during this period, while my thanks to Javier Delgado Gallardo for our fruitful collaboration and guidance couldn’t be omitted. Many thanks also to Xiaoyu Zhang, Matthias Vandermeiren, Carlos Adelantado Sánchez and Nicole De Bruker (all presented in the first two photos) for their valuable help, and of course to all the members of GOAL team, MAN building at VITO, for the excellent hospitality & assistance. Last but not least, I acknowledge the PRIORITY Cost Action for this unique experience that I had the chance to have.
*I couldn’t skip the photos I captured during my stay at Mol, enjoying 🌿🦆🌾
Good luck to all!🍀
#priority #cost #costactions #VITO #AUTh #microplastics #nanoplastics #environmental #analysis #science ...
🕗 “Are you ready for pyrolysis?”
Hello all,
Today is the turn of the pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Pyr-GC/MS) analysis. For those who are not familiar with, Pyr-GC/MS constitutes a powerful tool for the analysis of MPs since it can deliver valuable information about the composition and sources of these pollutants in the 🌍.
▫️How does it work? This coupled technique involves heating the sample to high temperatures in an inert atmosphere, causing the MPs’ thermally-induced degradation into smaller molecules. The formed vapors are then separated by GC and analyzed by MS, allowing the identification and quantification of the various components present in the sample, through polymer-based m/z libraries and the available literature.
◽️And what about the sample prep? We just weigh a very small amount of our sample, add it in appropriate cups and insert them onto the instrument.
In our case, we’ve tried to reach the aspect of weathering by two sites: the 1️⃣st including the investigation of the polymers’ physicochemical properties after aging through the identification of newly formed products, and the 2️⃣nd involving the examination of the nature of the plastic leachates being present in the water after weathering.
Stay tuned for my tomorrow’s last take-over day!
#priority #cost #costactions #VITO #AUTh #microplastics #nanoplastics #environmental #analysis #science ...
Hi there,
It’s @ninamaria_ainali again.
Wednesday’s update:
📚As all of us more or less know, MPs/NPs are formed, among others, after the degradation of single-use plastic products, by UV light exposure ☀️ and/or mechanical stresses. There is also the potential for particles to be released directly, without the need for material fragmentation, as research has shown that materials (such as 😷) can have a significant amount of loosely attached plastic particles🫧.
During my STSM journey, we’ll try to investigate what is actually released from single-use plastics into the water, after extensive weathering conditions. The plastic leachates are examined with several characterization and analytical techniques.
🔬Today is the turn of dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements. DLS has been extensively used for the measurement of NPs and of particles within the size range 800 nm-5 µm.
Herein, the several prepared aqueous samples containing plastic leachates were analyzed by DLS to examine the size of the released particles after weathering.
Are you interested on learning what’s next?
#priority #cost #costactions #VITO #AUTh #microplastics #nanoplastics #environmental #analysis #science ...
Hi everyone! 😊
▫️I’m Nina Maria Ainali, a PhD student from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece) and I’m very lucky enjoying an STSM at VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) Institute in Belgium, within the framework of PRIORITY COST Action.
◽️ Throughout this week, I’ll be taking over this account and share with you my experience.
🔎Actually, my research interests include the characterisation and analysis of MPs/NPs in aqueous environmental samples, and the investigation of their formation pathways after aging processes.
💬Feel free to ask whatever you’re curious about and I’ll be replying to you during this week :))
#priority #cost #costactions #VITO #AUTh #microplastics #nanoplastics #environmental #analysis #science ...
Hi everyone!
I’m Alexia again ( @b.lexia ). Today is my last day here in the Faculty of Technology Novi Sad (Serbia). We examined a lot of samples this week.
Here is the Fourier Transform Infrared Analyser (FTIR). As I said yesterday we can use it to determine the chemical composition of microplastics.
But how it’s working?
The FTIR instrument passing infrared radiation, over a range of different frequencies, through a sample and measuring the absorptions made by each type of bond in the compound. 🔬
#costaction #priority #microplastics ...
Hi everyone! 😊
I am Alexia Balla, a PhD student from University of Szeged (Hungary). Currently I am at University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technology Novi Sad (Serbia), within an STSM grant of COST Action PRIORITY.
I am working with a Fourier Transform Infrared Analyser (FTIR) to determine the chemical composition of the microplastics.
Come with me and see how it works! 🔬
#costaction #priority #microplastics #ftir ...
Hello everyone,
This is my last day of the takeover.
I am so grateful for the wonderful people I had the chance to work with, Prof. Raffealla Signorini and PhD student Veronica Zani, who made me have an unforgettable experience here.
I had the opportunity to visit some places here in Padua, so I would like to show you a little bit of what this beautiful city full of history and culture has to offer.
Palazzo del Bo, the historic headquarters of the University of Padua since 1493. This is the location where Galileo Galilei taught for 18 years (1592-1610) having his lessons in the Great Hall where you can also find the Galileo’s podium which was set up by his students. Palazzo Bo also houses the oldest permanent anatomy theatre in the world.
Palazzo della Ragione - the ancient seat of the city courts of Padua, is one of the largest suspended courtrooms in Europe.
La Specola Museum – Astronomical Observatory of Padua
The Padua Botanical Garden is the world’s oldest university garden of its kind. Here you can find the Goethe’s Palm that inspired the German poet Goethe to write the theories on nature in his Metamorphosis of Plants.
Caffè Pedrocchi, one of the most important European cafés and one of the few survivors among the ancient Italian cafés, stands right in the very central square.
#cost #costaction #priority #padua ...
Hi there, it's me @ioana.marica
For my final activity proposed for this STSM, today I used another Raman equipment to perform SERS analyses on commercial homogeneous dispersion nanoplastics.
I prepared a diluted suspension of polystyrene nanoparticles and then a small droplet of the suspension was deposited on a substrate. After drying, the substrate was placed under the microscope to be optically scanned followed by the acquisition of Raman spectra. We have successfully acquired the Raman signal of polystyrene nanoparticles dispersed on the substrates. Even so, more experiments need to be done in the coming weeks.
#cost #eucost #priority #microplastics #nanoplastics ...
Hello again 🧑🔬
As I promised, today I am showing you what substrates characterization is all about. The equipment available here is a custom built Raman setup equipped with a cw Ti:sapphire laser tunable in the near-infrared and infrared (NIR-IR) range. Using this equipment, I’m performing wavelength-scanned SERS measurements on our substrates, thereby allowing for precise substrate optimization:
The steps followed for a substrate characterization:
🔬 Place the substrate on a glass slide under the microscope and focus the laser on the substrate.
📌 Choose the right parameters for the Raman spectrum acquisition and start the acquisition, also make sure the microscope is isolated from any exterior light source.
📉 Collect Raman spectra from different positions on the sample.
📊 Analyze and interpret the acquired Raman data.
Once the substrates characterization is done, I will be ready to use the SERS substrates for nanoplastic detection.
#cost #costaction #priority #microplastics #nanoplastics ...
Hi there,
As Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) technique involves the use of noble-metal nanostructures, a first step of my STSM was the preparation of gold nanostructured substrates. Why are the nanostructured substrates so important for SERS analysis? By having the nanoplastics in contact with these substrates, the unique Raman signal of nanoplastics will be greatly enhanced, thus making much easier their detection.
After a lot of optimizations along the substrate fabrication process, we got it through and we obtained SERS substrates with very impressive optical properties due to their nanostructure, as you can see in the image.
As we succeeded in preparing the SERS substrates, we have functionalized them with a molecule that now allows us to study their potential as SERS substrates and we are ready for the next step.
So, tomorrow I will be able to characterize these substrates with a technique available here at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova. Do you want to find out what it’s all about?
#cost #costaction #priority #nanoplastics ...
Hi everyone!
I am Ioana Marica, a PhD student from Babes-Bolyai University (Romania) and research assistant at the National Institute for Research and Development of Isotopic and Molecular Technologies (Romania). Currently I am at the Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy, within an STSM grant of COST Action PRIORITY.
I am working on a way to detect nanoplastics and microplastics by using a reliable spectroscopic technique called Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), which is one of the promising methods for detecting micro- and nanoplastic. Detection of nanoplastics is a really challenging task due to their small size (<1 μm).
If you are interested in finding more about the SERS analysis in nanoplastic detection, stick around because during this week I will be sharing with you some insights of my work 🧑🔬♻️
Feel free to ask any questions along this week.
#priority #costaction #cost #microplastics #nanoplastics ...
Hi everyone! This is my last day of the takeover and also my last day at AAU. I spent great time here. Time flies when you are super busy.
Special thanks to Alvise Vianello, Laura Simon Sanchez and Claudia Lorenz for the last weeks of intense work and for the results we achieved. Many thanks also to the group of Urban Pollution, Division of Civil and Environmental Engineering of AAU BUILD for the amazing hospitality and to COST Action PRIORITY for this experience. ...
Hi! Let's see if we have microplastics. It’s time to scan with FPA-µFTIR Imaging to quantify and characterize polymers with automatic MP detection (siMPle).
We deposited sample aliquots on many windows and let the machine do the job. In 4 hours, we can get more than 3.2 millions of spectra combined in the IR image.
It’s a lot of data to process…likely we can use siMPle, a freeware software for automatic MP analysis. After hard work, we see some results. ...
COST is an EU funding programme that enables researchers to set up their interdisciplinary research networks in Europe and beyond. We provide funds for organising conferences, meetings, training schools, short scientific exchanges or other networking activities in a wide range of scientific topics. By creating open spaces where people and ideas can grow, we unlock the full potential of science.
PRIORITY stands for ‘Plastics monitoRIng detectiOn RemedIaTion recoverY’. PRIORITY is a science and technology research network focused on developing, implementing, and consolidating strategies to tackle the global challenges of micro- and nanoplastics in the environment.
MoU – 041/21
CSO Approval date – 25/05/2021
Start date – 19/10/2021
End date – 18/10/2025
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