Particle surface properties and their understanding - a trend also among young scientists

Three candidates nominated for the LUM Science Prize YSA in June 2024

17-Apr-2024 - On June 10th and 11th, 2024, LUM GmbH will be hosting the 11th International Conference on Dispersion Analysis and Material Testing (ICDAMT 2024) in Berlin. Prof. Dr. Dr. Lerche, Chairman of the Scientific Committee and LUM Managing Director: “Since 2014, we have been advertising the Young ...

Bottled water can contain hundreds of thousands of previously uncounted tiny plastic bits

A new microscopic technique zeroes in on the poorly explored world of nanoplastics, which can pass into blood, cells and your brain

11-Jan-2024 - In recent years, there has been rising concern that tiny particles known as microplastics are showing up basically everywhere on Earth, from polar ice to soil, drinking water and food. Formed when plastics break down into progressively smaller bits, these particles are being consumed by humans ...

Observing nanoparticles with unprecedented precision

Illuminated: Researchers investigate new physical phenomena on the nanoscale with microstructured fibers

15-Sep-2023 - Researchers at Leibniz IPHT have succeeded in contributing to significant advances in deciphering tiny nanoobjects: Using special optical fibers, they identified a new optical mode that enables uniform illumination along the entire length of the fiber, and determined the resolution limit of ...

Tracing invisible particles

Automated analysis of microplastics

28-Jul-2023 - How high are concentrations of microplastics in the environment, in our drinking water or in foods? Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed an automated analysis method for the identification and quantification of particles. Microplastics are everywhere in the ...

Detecting nanoplastics – in fractions of a second

Basis for new measurement devices

19-Jul-2023 - Tiny plastic particles are an environmental problem. They can even penetrate living cells. A method has now been developed at TU Wien to detect such particles quickly and with high sensitivity. It is well known that microplastics are a problem: They are tiny, barely visible plastic particles that ...

European project investigates sustainability of the material of the future graphene

New characterisation methods to enable an accurate assessment and prediction of the effects on humans and the environment

10-May-2023 - A new EU research project in which the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) is playing a leading role is investigating the safe and sustainable use of the versatile nanomaterial graphene. BAM is developing new characterisation methods in its competence centre nano@BAM to enable ...

First comparative study on automated analysis methods of large data sets in microplastics research

27-Mar-2023 - The lack of uniform analytical standards currently prevents the comparability of data on microplastics in the environment. Researchers from the University of Bayreuth and the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have now, for the first time, compared two ...

Highest precision: Microstructured fiber measures the size of nanoparticles

Better research into environmental and bioanalytical issues in the future

08-Dec-2022 - Researchers at Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology (Leibniz IPHT) developed a new glass fiber design that enables exceptionally long observations of a large number of individual, freely moving nanoparticles in a liquid. This allows the size distribution of nano-objects in a sample to be ...

Detecting nanoplastics in the air

“Nanoplastics are a major concern if they’re in the air that you breathe, getting into your lungs and potentially causing health problems”

29-Aug-2022 - Large pieces of plastic can break down into nanosized particles that often find their way into the soil and water. Perhaps less well known is that they can also float in the air. It’s unclear how nanoplastics impact human health, but animal studies suggest they’re potentially harmful. As a step ...

Exposing what’s in tattoo ink

Ingredient lists often aren’t accurate

29-Aug-2022 - From life-like faces to elaborate nature scenes, tattoos are a true art form. Although people have decorated their bodies for millennia for ceremonial and religious reasons, many people today adorn themselves with these images as a form of self-expression. But the inks used for tattoos are ...