Mentor(s)

Daniel Roxbury, Devleena Chowdhury, Chemical Engineering, University of Rhode Island

Project Location

University of Rhode Island – Kingston

Project Description

Our lab has recently developed smart sensing textiles with encapsulated near-infrared nanosensors. In initial work, the textiles were designed to specifically detect hydrogen peroxide. It is hypothesized that the textiles can be redesigned to detect heavy metal contaminants, including arsenic and cadmium using a previously demonstrated nanosensor with selectivity towards these ionic species. The heavy metal detecting nanosensors will be encapsulated into a textile via an electrospinning process. The textiles will then be characterized, using various imaging and spectroscopic analyses, and examined for sensitivity towards target ions.

This project involves lab work

Required/Preferred skills

General wet lab skills (weighing and pipetting chemicals, mixing solutions, general safety, etc.); UV-Vis spectrophotometry; microscopy

Will the project require transportation to field sites? No

Is this project open to Surf Flex? No

In which core facilities might student conduct research? RI Center for Nanoscience & Nanotechnology

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