New measurement technique offers unprecedented insight into nanomaterials
Sara Bals secures European funding to analyse the smallest particles in detail
The importance of nanoparticles in science and industry continues to grow. Professor Sara Bals and her colleagues at UAntwerp have developed a new technique to analyse these tiny particles. The project has been granted financial support from the European Research Council.
Nanomaterials – materials thousands of times smaller than a human hair – are playing an increasingly important role in technologies such as catalysts, batteries, sensors and medical applications. Their properties are strongly determined by their size and three-dimensional shape. Accurately and efficiently mapping this shape has so far proved to be a major challenge.
At the EMAT laboratory of the University of Antwerp, Sara Bals and Jo Verbeeck, together with colleagues, have developed a new measurement method that can address this challenge. The technique makes it possible to analyse nanoparticles more quickly, in a more user-friendly way and in the smallest detail.
A smart extension to existing microscopes
Nanomaterials are traditionally studied using advanced electron microscopes. While these techniques produce powerful images, they also have significant limitations: some methods are slow or complex to use, making them difficult to deploy in industrial research in particular.
The major advantage of the new technique is that it works via a special add-on: a smart piece of hardware that can be used as an extension to existing electron microscopes. ‘It’s as if you add a new superpower to a device that’s already present in many laboratories,’ the research team explains. Initial reactions from both academia and industry have been very positive.
From research to application
The team is now working on a second generation of the add-on, fully tailored for intensive use. This involves close collaboration with other research groups in Europe and with manufacturers of electron microscopes. The aim is to prepare the technology for broad application, both in academic research and in industrial R&D environments.
According to Professor Sara Bals, an internationally recognised expert in nanomaterials and electron microscopy, the new measurement method perfectly matches the needs of modern nanoscience. ‘Researchers want to measure quickly, reliably and in 3D, without complicated procedures. With our new add-on, we’re taking an important step in that direction.’
With this project, EMAT’s research once again demonstrates how fundamental nanoscience can evolve into concrete technology with societal and industrial impact. This is also the purpose of the Proof of Concept Grants of the European Research Council (ERC): to translate scientific results into practical applications or early-stage commercial use. Sara Bals’ team is receiving 150 000 euros for this project.