Prof. Yeala Shaked Prof. Daniel Mandler

 

Iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have been widely used in various fields, including environmental remediation, biomedicine, and industrial processes. However, systematic evaluation of the impact of IONPs on microorganisms in the sea is lacking. Further research and new techniques are required to develop appropriate strategies to mitigate any potential risks of IONPs to the marine environment. The Mandler group has developed different approaches for the synthesis and selective detection of well-defined IONPs. The Shaked group has developed radio-labeled-based uptake techniques to study the bioavailability of iron particles (nano to microsized) to marine phytoplankton and bacteria. In this project we combine our complementary chemical and oceanographical tool-kits to synergistically address this timely environmental concern. In this project we plan  to synthesize different well-defined IONPs and study their uptake by different microorganisms as well as their selective detection by a new approach termed Nanoparticles Imprinted Matrices (NAIM).