News

New nanoparticle-based material could help detect antibiotics in water

The finding also opens up new avenues for next-generation flexible wearables and biosensors
2D-kalvo
Electron microscopy image (inset: photograph of membrane on a glass cover slip) and a schematic representation of nanoparticle membrane. Image: Nonappa / Aalto University

An international team of researchers has developed a new type of strong and elastic two-dimensional (2D) membrane. The invention could prove useful, for instance, in detecting remnants of antibiotics from water.

Two-dimensional materials are ultrathin and composed of either single- or few-layer atoms. Recently, nanoparticle-based 2D materials have gained tremendous interest among researchers and industry due to their mechanical strength, flexibility, and optical and electronic properties which could make them key components, for instance, in emerging optoelectronic devices, sensors, and next-generation computing technologies. So far, though, no commercial applications exist due to problems with both scalability and obtaining uniform products from one batch to another.

A research team led by Nonappa, associate professor at Tampere University and adjunct professor at Aalto University, has now been able to fabricate a  large 2D monolayer membrane using metal nanoparticles that surpasses some of these difficulties.

‘These membranes are mechanically robust and can be transferred on to any substrate of interest for desired applications. Our approach enables the rapid, scalable, and efficient fabrication of large-area ultrathin membranes’, Nonappa says.

Unlike routinely used nanoparticles, the team used silver nanoparticles with a precisely defined molecular structure. The macroscopic membranes were prepared using a self-assembly approach.

‘The membranes show elastic behavior, making them potentially useful, for example, in flexible transistors and memory devices in wearable electronics and displays. The experimental results on their mechanical properties are highly reproducible and reliable,’ describes postdoctoral researcher Alessandra Griffo from Saarland University.

The research team has also explored the suitability of the newly-developed membranes as substrates for detecting antibiotics in water. With the increased use of pharmaceuticals and consequent contamination of surface and groundwater with antibiotics, there is an urgent need for rapid and reliable detection.

‘We can detect extremely low amounts of antibiotics dissolved in water with a high degree of reproducibility,’ postdoctoral researcher Anirban Som from Aalto University explains.

In the future, the team will focus on adapting the membrane fabrication methods to other types of nanoparticles, utilising them as components in, for instance, flexible memory devices and smart e-skin applications.

The findings were published on 2.8.2022 in the journal Small.

The work results from a collaboration between the research groups of Professor Nonappa at Tampere University, Finland, Professor T. Pradeep at IIT Madras, India, Professor Olli Ikkala at Aalto University, Finland and Professor Karin Jacobs of Saarland University, Germany. The research was performed under the framework of the Academy of Finland´s Photonics Research and Innovation (PREIN) flagships and the LIBER Centre of Excellence.

Contact information

Nonappa
Associate Professor, Adjunct Professor
Tampere University, Aalto University
[email protected] 
+358 5047 28897

  • Published:
  • Updated:
Share
URL copied!

Read more news

Acris service break and new features text and red background.
Research & Art Published:

Maintenance break in ACRIS on 30th of September, 2024

Maintenance break in ACRIS on September from 10:00 to 16:00.
Three people squatting down to draw on a large brown piece of paper
Research & Art Published:

Aalto students' public art projects featured at award-winning ANTI-Festival

Last week in Kuopio, a fascinating collection of public art projects was presented by students from Aalto University's Department of Art and Media.
Tekstiiliperhonen, jonka siipiin on punottu valoon reagoivia säikeitä.
Press releases Published:

The butterly effect – bending and turning artificial muscles with light

In the future, the innovation could be used in for example the development of smart textiles, soft robotics and medicine.
Aalto Industrial Internet Campus
Cooperation, Research & Art Published:

The physical and digital worlds of production and internal logistics meet in a multidisciplinary TwinFlow project

Researchers from Aalto University and the University of Tampere are collaborating with companies to accelerate the data-driven business in the manufacturing industry. The joint three-year project is funded by Business Finland.