Katherine Chio

Self-assembly of Nanoparticles for Sensor Applications

The research interests in nanotechnology have increased dramatically in the past two decades, as materials in nano-scale exhibit distinct physical, chemical, biological and optical properties from the bulk. Understanding the interfacial localisation of nanoparticles enables a wide range of novel technological applications such as sensors, catalysis and opto-electronic devices.

My research aim is to investigate the localisation of functionalised core-shell gold nanoparticles adsorbed at liquid-liquid interface in the presence of electric field by both experiments and computer simulations, in order to design a controllable self-assembly of gold nanoparticles for analyte detection. This project involves core-shell gold nanoparticles synthesis, analyte preparation and characterisation using surface-enhance Raman spectroscopy, as well as molecular dynamics simulations to determine the contact angle and adsorption energies at the liquid-liquid interface.

Mini Bio

• MRes in Nanomaterials, Imperial College London, 2015-2016, Supervisors: Dr Joshua Edel and Prof Fernanodo Bresme
• BEng in Materials Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, 2012-2015