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Are you passionate about tackling one of the most critical environmental challenges of our time? Do you want to contribute to cutting-edge research bridging science, sustainability, and innovation?

We are offering a unique Master Thesis opportunity at the University of Bern on "Synthesis and characterization of engineered, environmentally state-of-the-art nanoplastics for quantification studies in complex cellular and aquatic environments"

Motivation

Plastic waste is an ever-growing global problem and one of the most important environmental challenges of this generation. Fragmentation of plastic materials can create nanoplastics (pieces or particles less than 1µm in diameter), that due to their small size may be taken up by single cells, engendering a new dimension of potential harm to the environment and human health. Studies have already revealed nanoplastics in ocean water and their possible uptake by aquatic animals and the root system of plants. The risk and understanding of human exposure to nanoplastics has increased in the last few years, where for example, studies have revealed that nanoplastics may be found in human blood and that about 200’000 PET nanoplastic particles can be found per bottle of drinking water. 

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However, as described in several studies on the detection of nanoplastics in complex matrices, the lack of environmentally-relevant, comparable and reproducible study materials that take into consideration the omnipresence of additives, particle size, and shape, is a key issue that limits rapid advances within the field with regard to their detection, quantification, distribution, and environmental behavior. For many different study types, well-defined reference materials or mimics are thus necessary.

Thesis Topic and Approach

Therefore, this project aims to fill this knowledge gap and to produce with a single methodology (for the first time) an array of new, engineered, environmentally-relevant, comparable, and reproducible study materials that mimic real nanoplastics that can be detected and quantified in complex biological matrices such as sea and freshwater samples, human cells, and plants. To do so, the world’s first nanoplastics of sizes less than 200 nm with incorporated tracer molecules for improved detectability and quantifiability will be fabricated using Confined Impinging Jet Mixing. The sources of plastic for the nanoplastics will include, e.g., plastic food containers and cups, PET bottles, plastic bags, fishing nets and clothing fibers. In addition, the nanoplastics will be exposed to different complex cellular (human cell and plants) and aquatic environments (ocean and freshwater) to investigate detection, quantification and possible cellular responses. The outcome of this study will lay the foundation for a spectrum of future studies within the field, allowing us to assess the possible effects of nanoplastics in many more complex biological environments.

You will learn

  • How to plan, perform, and summarize a scientific project in a team

  • How to synthesize state-of-the-art nanoplastic particles at sizes < 100nm

  • How to perform dynamic light scattering (DLS) electron microscopy (SEM) measurement to determine particle size

  • How to measure particle charge (Zeta potential measurements)

  • How to dope the nanoplastics with different cargo molecules (fluorophores, metals) for further detection in complex medias

  • How to expose the nanoplastics at different concentrations to different complex medias (e.g.plants, human cells, and freshwater and seawater samples.)

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You bring

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