Ana María Rua Ibarz

Nowadays, nanotechnology shows great potential for addressing new societal challenges. Over the last years, this field has gained spectacular attention due to the exponentially growing use of nanomaterials (NMs) in our daily life. Thus, studying the fate, transport, potential toxicity, and health effects originating from the use of NMs has become a need. The main goal of this research proposal is the development of novel analytical methods for the detection and characterization of NMs by using different ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) approaches, specially focusing on the measurement of extremely short transient signals that provide temporally and spatially resolved information. In this context, the potential of single-particle ICP-MS (SP-ICP-MS) and laser ablation (SP)-ICP-MS (LA-(SP-)-ICP-MS) will be extensively evaluated. Furthermore, appropriate sampling and sample preparation procedures will be tested, and new methodologies based on isotopic analysis will be developed. Moreover, such methodologies will be further adapted to target the characterization of micro/nano-plastics, as this emerging field requires novel methodologies to meet societal demands. The results obtained in the context of this project aim at providing a more profound insight into the field of nanotechnology and further knowledge on the occurrence and fate of micro/nano-plastics.

Overview of the WPs and involvement of the collaborators

Co-author of a manuscript focusing on the characterization of microplastics intended for publication in a special issue of the journal Nanomaterials.

Co-author of a poster during the II Scientific Meeting of the (Bio)Analytical Science and Technologies Group (27-28 June 2023, Zaragoza, Spain).

Co-author of presentation at EuroAnalysis 2023 (27-31 August 2023, Geneva, Switzerland),

Co-author of presentation at SCIX 2023 (8-13 October 2023, Sparks, Nevada, USA)

Co-author of presentation at 2024 Winter Conference on Plasma Spectrochemistry (15-21 January 2024, Tucson, Arizona, USA).