Magdalena Diak (UG) in National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba

I have visited National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba (Japan) for 3 months (1.05 – 29.07.2013) within Work Package 2: Carrying out experiments to produce necessary (missing) data for nanoparticles.

The noble metal modified titanium dioxide photocatalysts prepared by water in oil microemulsion and sol-gel method were successively tested. The aim of the study was to evaluate potential health risk and physical properties of the nanomaterials by Specific Suraface Area analysis, Atomic Force Microscope, X-ray diffraction and toxicity measurements (carried out by dr. Ewa Mulkiewicz ). XRD patterns showed that calcination in the 400 °C results in anatase formation, which is the most required crystallographic form in the industry. Correlation between preparation method, amount of various noble metal (Ag, Pt, Au), type of crystal structure and their influence on cells respond has been created.

I also had the opportunity to listen to the lecture presented by dr. Yuta Hayashi from Aarhus University in Denmark: “Earthworms and humans in vitro: characterizing evolutionarily conserved stress and immune responses to silver nanoparticles”. As the German poet Karl Julius Weber once wrote, “Travel is the best path to self development”. The NanoBridges project gave me the possibility to enrich culturally.