KINGSTON \u2013 July 18, 2022 — The College of Engineering hosted a workshop recently for researchers and industry leaders that showcased the advanced capabilities of its core research facilities that can be used for plastic characterization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irene Andreu, an adjunct professor of chemical engineering and the director of Operations for the Rhode Island Consortium for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, organized the event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe key thing about this workshop was that it [focused] on the type of material \u2014 so when I say polymers and plastics, I\u2019m saying that very deliberately because if you\u2019re a company that makes plastics, or if you\u2019re doing pharmaceutical research, you refer to them as polymers,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe public associates plastics now as a bad thing because of micro plastics, so if you\u2019re doing research on micro plastics, you talk to them about plastics,\u201d she said, \u201cbut the thing is that the characterization techniques are the same for microplastics and manufactured polymers. So what I [wanted] to do with this workshop is bring people together that are looking at the exact same material, but from two different points of view.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Andreu invited experts from Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (the manufacturer of most of the equipment in the core facilities), the American branch of the Japanese Shimadzu Corporation, to the event to speak about how others in the field are using these instruments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The presenters from Shimadzu and their topics were: Alan Owens, the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for microplastic research; Gilbert Vial, the use of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy microscopy for plastic identification; Evan Moreira, the mechanical testing of composite materials; Meagan Moore, the use of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for polymer additives in the food industry; and Laura Mohanty, the thermal analysis of polymers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a great relationship with the people at Shimadzu, so I\u2019m very glad they came in-person,\u201d Andreu said. It was the first time she had met many of them in-person, and it was the first time they had been able to see the facilities in-person as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey were happy that the instruments have found a nice new home,\u201d she said, \u201cand they seem to be happy with the way that the facilities are managed and how the instruments are maintained.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of Andreu\u2019s goals is to provide access to the facilities for students, researchers, a variety of industries, other academic institutions and government agencies to work on important issues like plastic and other types of pollution; pharmaceutical development, food testing, forensic toxicology, live cell imaging, fracture and stress analysis, among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to the team from Shimadzu, there were three presenters from äçÐÄvlogÃâ·ÑBÕ¾: Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, a professor and associate dean of research for the Department of Civil and Environmental engineering, who gave the opening remarks; Tania Silva de Oliveria, a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering who does research in nanotechnology and colloidal science, who discussed atomic force microscopy to test the interaction of microplastics with bacteria; and Ph.D. candidate Sarah Davis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Davis, who began her Ph.D. studies in biological and environmental sciences on the ecology and ecosystem sciences track last fall, explained how her team uses Raman spectroscopy for its research on environmental microplastics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe focus of my research is investigating the presence, movement and impacts of microplastics in Rhode Island\u2019s waterways, primarily in Narragansett Bay,\u201d she said. \u201c[We look at] pollutant transport in the bay, so waters like rivers and watershed areas surrounding the bay, and isolated freshwater areas as well. So just kind of getting a baseline understanding of what\u2019s in the water, and on top of that, doing work to understand how it\u2019s impacting the organisms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To get the samples that they use in the Raman microscope, Davis and her team take a 330-micron net which is about a third of a millimeter \u2013 or about a third of the size of the tip of a sharpened pencil \u2013 into the Bay and scrape the surface of the water. They then take the particles and put them under a high-resolution microscope to get a better view of what they look like, and then take a hot needle and poke them to see if they melt. If they do, then the sample is likely plastic, as opposed to other human-made products like spun cotton, or natural particles like rocks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After looking at the samples, the team takes a random sample of 20% of them to the Raman microscope. The researchers put the sample under the microscope and they can view it on a computer screen. Once it\u2019s focused, the machine shines a laser on the object and produces a spectrum readout. Based on that readout, they\u2019re able to identify the specific plastic in the sample.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In total, 55 people attended the event, including four from outside of the University, Andreu said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One attendee, Ire Asojo, is a rising sophomore in the Brown University\/Rhode Island School of Design dual degree program. Asojo, who is studying the effect of input materials (different clays and burnout ratio) on ceramic water filters’ performance (strength and bacteria filtration), was interested in the event because she wanted to learn more about scientist’s work concerning microplastics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat interested me was knowing more about microplastics and the different ways of working<\/p>\n\n\n\n
with and testing them.\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like I learned a lot. It\u2019s very helpful to see what other people are working on, the different ways to analyze microplastics, and what applications these analyses have depending on what field you\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was really cool,\u201d Davis said, \u201cit was neat to hear the different applications for the types of machines that are in the core facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Davis also was glad for the opportunity to see how these machines can be applied to other fields, such as polymer manufacturing, and how that could be applied to her field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s neat to hear what has already been done with those machines and how we might be able to sneak in our environmental stuff as well, in particular there\u2019s the LC-MS (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry), and we heard how they were testing for additives in wines and beers and different alcohols,\u201d she said. \u201cMy mind was just asking \u2018can we put some seawater in this? Can we do that with sea water samples?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDuring the breaks people were chatting with each other and discussing their projects with researchers that they would not have met otherwise,\u201d Andreu said, \u201cI\u2019m hoping that we get some new collaborations happening because of this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople told me that they liked to see all of these techniques in context, and they got some ideas on doing things or using instruments that they hadn\u2019t thought could be used for their research,\u201d she said. \u201cI think based on the feedback, we\u2019ll try to host something like this again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The facilities are open to researchers and the general public both within and outside of the University, Andreu said, and she shared that she\u2019d love to speak with people who are interested in learning more about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf anybody ever wants to come and see the lab, whether it\u2019s in the context of plastics or something else, or if people are just curious about the core facilities, they can contact me or come to the College of Engineering,\u201d she said, \u201cI\u2019d be happy to show anybody around and talk about microscopes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n