Building safe nanomaterials from scratch
Engineered nanomaterials are a significant breakthrough in material design and development. The properties emerging from their scale, precise architecture and engineering render them suitable in diverse areas such as medicine, electronics, packaging, food, energy and aerospace. The relationship between their precise design and their behaviour in biological systems and the environment has led to the proposal that nanomaterials can be engineered to be safe-by-design. This concept could largely guide nanomaterial development to maximise their benefit in problem solving and product development and minimise toxicity risks to humans and the environment.
Eliminating the time lag between nanomaterial production and screening
Current nanomaterial approaches typically rely on batch production of nanomaterials and conventional in vivo and in vitro screening. “Batch-wise produced nanomaterials are stored and transported to the place where they will be screened. However, this comes with its own issues. Firstly, the nanomaterial ages with time, and many of its properties may have changed by the time they undergo screening; and, secondly, this approach involves considerable effort, time and resources”, notes Andrew Nelson, coordinator of the EU-funded SABYDOMA project. SABYDOMA has therefore developed an alternative approach to designing safer nanomaterials by establishing high-throughput platforms to manufacture nanomaterials and screen their toxicity directly at the point of production. This means that there is no waiting for nanomaterials to be transported for assessment, thereby streamlining and accelerating both nanomaterial production and safety screening.
Advanced technologies underpinning safe-by-design nanomaterials
“SABYDOMA deals with the potential nanomaterial toxicity issues head-on by coupling an innovative high-throughput screening platform to an online nanomaterial production unit. Our platform uses physicochemical and biological sensor elements, with the resulting signals being used to control the redesign and production of safe yet functional nanomaterials within a feedback loop”, stresses Nelson. “These platforms are underpinned by computer simulations using model predictive control, which makes predictions about the nanomaterial’s future behaviour.” The project team uses different screening platforms to screen the physical, chemical and toxicological parameters in parallel. They are directly connected to the production line and send the screening test results back to it. This offers the opportunity to adjust the parameters of the nanoparticle production line to increase safety. One of the screening modules is a microfluidic platform serving as an inline tool for toxicity screening. It consists of a microfluidic cartridge with a micro hole array chip that has a thin transparent membrane of silicon nitride on top. The mammalian cells of interest are positioned on the silicon nitride membrane that features hundreds of micro holes, and then the test substance is delivered through microfluidic channels to the cells. If there is a biological effect, the cells change their behaviour and structure, which are monitored by different endpoint measurements. Multiple in vitro targets (certain ones developed in the HISENTS project) have also been used in other screening platforms whose response to nanomaterials is combined to give a toxicity score.
Safe-by-design: the ultimate goal of nanotechnology
“Nanomaterial toxicity will always be considered in new nanotechnology applications in the same way that innovative chemicals require routine screening before being used in any procedure or application”, remarks Nelson. “SABYDOMA’s inline approach enables safe-, and also sustainable-by-design nanomaterials and the manufacture of safer chemicals and pharmaceuticals, mitigating the need for subsequent testing. Such an important innovation will not only prevent potential hazards but also speed up the production process, decrease manufacturing costs and minimise waste in the circular economy.”
Keywords
SABYDOMA, nanomaterials, screening, toxicity, safe-by-design, production line, inline, model predictive control
