Welcome to our March newsletter. We want to keep you informed of developments within Izon and elsewhere in related research fields.

Firstly I wish to acknowledge all the people affected by the recent earthquake in Christchurch, our hometown, and all those who showed remarkable courage and fortitude assisting in the aftermath. It is New Zealand’s worst natural disaster in living memory. Izon’s operations and staff escaped relatively lightly and we chose to return to work quickly. The local economy has been shredded so our aim is to keep our customers, suppliers and employees all working. I need to thank our staff in Christchurch for the way they responded to the crisis with the result that we shipped 4 instruments to customers in the UK, Singapore and Australia in the week following the earthquake.

Our core nano-measurement system is evolving rapidly, with size measurement now much more accurate and precise than laser based technologies, and accurate particle concentration easy to obtain. We are due to release charge measurement as a software upgrade at the beginning of April. As is our practice, these software upgrades are free to existing users.

I would like to welcome Particular Sciences in Dublin to our growing family of distributors, and to welcome many recent customers from Asia including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Singapore. These countries’ have a commitment to science and research as a means to transform their economies. We are very pleased to be able to be a small part of that. A number of these researchers have come to our laboratory for training and collaboration and despite the earthquake, we expect that to continue.

Hans van der Voorn

Accuracy of measurement of nanoparticles is a fundamental requirement for research involving smart particles for drug delivery.

Professor Mark Grinstaff and members of his group, Aaron Colby and Kimberley Zubris, in the Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry at Boston University, have been researching the use of ‘expansile’ nanoparticles and hydrophilic triggers for targeted drug delivery. Specifically, new nanoparticle compositions are being developed that are pH responsive, which swell and release their contents once inside cancer cells.

Nanoparticles have been prepared using mini-emulsion polymerization chemistry, combining high-energy emulsification and free radical photopolymerization of an acrylate monomer. The effect of varying pH solutions on the size of these smart particles is then measured, by comparing particle-by-particle size and concentration details of the mixture at each pH level. Accurate measurement of particles both before and after the pH change is a crucial aspect in assessing the physical properties, reaction kinetics and drug efficacy.

Izon’s qNano is being used by the research group to measure various parameters (size, surface charge and concentration) of the synthesized nanoparticles before, during and after each phase change at varying pH conditions. Earlier measurements obtained using DLS did not provide the degree of accuracy and reliability required, and Izon’s nanopore technology is now being used to provide particle-by-particle measurement for a much higher degree of detail and precision.

Investigation into the flexibility and deformability of the particles is a further aspect enabled by Izon’s qNano by gating of the smart particles with the tunable nanopore.

Below: Prof Mark Grinstaff (centre) and Aaron Colby (left) at the recent AMN-5 conference
 

AMN-5 conference showcases latest nano-research Edit this content Click here to delete this text Move up

The Fifth International Conference on Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology (AMN-5), organized by The MacDiarmid Institute, was held in Wellington from 7th-11th February 2011. As gold sponsors, we were pleased to play an active role in the running of this event, which represented the largest gathering of international material physicists, chemists and engineers to assemble in New Zealand.

The conference featured keynote presentations from Nobel laureates Sir Anthony J. Leggett and Sir Richard H. Friend. Plenary session speakers included Izon science advisors Prof. David Deamer (UC Santa Cruz) and Prof. David Williams (University of Auckland).

AMN-5 included a dedicated Nanopore Session, which featured contributions from Izon collaborators and customers, and marks a milestone for Izon as the biggest gathering of users to date. The work being done showcases the broad application of Izon’s nanoparticle analysis platform to aid research in a number of different areas – including virology, drug delivery, magnetic materials and particle-derived diagnostics.

Contributors included: Prof. Mark Grinstaff & Aaron Colby (Boston Univeristy), Junhoi Kim (Seoul National Univeristy), Dr. Geoff Willmott (IRL and the MacDiarmid Institute), Dr. Clement Roux (The University of Canterbury), Will Anderson (The University of Queensland), Dr. Vladimir Gubala (on behalf of Dr. Christy Charlton O’Mahony, Dublin City University), Dr. Sam Yu (Izon Science). Videos of some of these presentations are available on our website . Several other Izon users also spoke at the conference,including Dr Thomas Nann (Ian Wark Institute).

The Izon Nanopore Lounge featured as a place for delegates to access free wireless internet and stock up on tea and coffee. The Lounge also served as the venue for the Nanopore Networking evening, where delegates had the chance to mingle and discuss similar interests while enjoying an Izon cocktail. Photos can be found here.