July 15, 2024

DC12: Cytotoxicity and Safety Assessment of Innovative Heterojunction Photocatalytic Nanomaterials

Project: Cytotoxicity and Safety Assessment of Innovative Heterojunction Photocatalytic Nanomaterials (WP3)

Host institution: NORG

Supervisor(s): Suresh Pillai, Sergey Shaposhnikovn (PhD promoter)

Objectives: To establish a technological platform for the comprehensive cytotoxicity and safety assessment of complex nanomaterials (NMs) designed for photocatalytic degradation of micropollutants.

DC12 will construct a safety assessment framework for novel photocatalytic nanomaterials, critically determining their cytotoxic and genotoxic effects. The assessment involves a series of in vitro assays to measure cell survival and proliferation post-exposure to NMs, using methods such as Trypan Blue and Alamar Blue. The evaluation extends to analyzing redox status and DNA repair capacity, specifically targeting DNA oxidation via the comet assay, which incorporates Fpg enzyme digestion at sites of 8-oxoguanine. This assay will also measure the cell’s ability to repair DNA damage induced by NMs. The ultimate aim is to apply this platform to screen the NMs developed within the consortium, selecting those that demonstrate minimal genotoxicity and ensuring their safe application in wastewater treatment processes. The safety platform developed by DC12 will be integral to the responsible innovation of photocatalytic materials by the project partners, prioritizing human and environmental health in the pursuit of cleaner water.

Expected results: A technological platform for safety assessment of NMs; A set of novel photocatalyst NMs characterized the battery of tests developed in the project.

Planned secondments:

  • BIOTEC (Sup.: A. Falco): M12-15 (4 months): Introduction on integrating NMs in existing full scale water treatment plants.
  • TUD (Sup.: I. Buijnsters): M29-32 (4 months): Design and synthesis of nanostructurized coatings.

Enrolment in Doctoral degree: DN and DN-ID: ATU Doctoral School of bio-engineering sciences

 

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