New MSc Imaging Engineering at Maastricht University

Would you like to revolutionise how scientists view the world and everything in it? Start a master in imaging engineering!

This new interdisciplinary master integrates (bio)chemistry, physics, mathematics and engineering to train students in theoretical, technical and practical aspects of high-end imaging research and instrumentation engineering.

With Imaging Engineering, you will drive advances in areas such as medicine, chemical engineering, surface and process chemistry, biotechnology, cell biology, and imaging equipment design. Our programme turns science graduates into interdisciplinary imaging professionals, putting you on track for an exciting career in this growing field. Your future work could have a powerful impact in academia or industry – solving crimes, improving medical scans, developing self-driving cars, boosting green food production, and more.

Admissions are already open, and the programme will officially start on 01 September.

For more information check out the website

NEMI Platform colloquium: Marijn van Huis

Join us for the next NEMI platform meeting in which Marijn van Huis give a colloquium.

Date: April 19th
Registration: link

Abstract

Advances in Liquid Phase Electron Microscopy: Imaging Strategies for Soft Materials and Controlled Motion of Nanoparticles 

In-situ cells developed for the transmission electron microscope (TEM) allow performing experiments on nanoscale materials in liquids and gases, even while heating or under application of electric fields, while imaging them at near-atomic resolution. Of these two, in particular liquid cell TEM (LC-TEM) imaging is particularly sensitive to e-beam effects [1]. In this seminar I will discuss recent progress made at Utrecht University in the imaging of induced transitions. The first model system is p-NIPAM, a thermoresponsive biocompatible polymer that reversibly compresses when heated from room temperature to a temperature of 40 °C and vice versa. When immersed in water and thus swollen, the density of p-NIPAM is almost the same as that of water, while it is extremely sensitive to e-beam irradiation. Eventually a suitable approach was found and the thermoresponsive response was successfully imaged [2]. The second model system is a ‘rattle particle’ consisting of a mobile core particle inside a larger silica shell where the porous shells are filled with liquid. Depending on the salt concentration in the liquid, the potentials between the core and shell could be adapted to confine the core particle at the center of the shell, or be adapted in such a way that the core particle could explore nearly the entire volume of the spherical cavity [3]. Finally, preliminary results on the application of an AC electric field on the rattles show that the direction of the motion of the cores, either parallel or orthogonal to the field, could be controlled depending on the frequency of the applied field. 

[1] T.A.J. Welling, S. Sadighikia, K. Watanabe, A. Grau-Carbonell, M. Bransen, D. Nagao, A. van Blaaderen, M.A. van Huis, ‘Observation of undamped 3D Brownian motion of nanoparticles using liquid-cell scanning transmission electron microscopy’, Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 37 (2020), 202000003, pp 1-10. DOI: 10.1002/ppsc.202000003. 

[2] A. Grau-Carbonell, F. Hagemans, M. Bransen, N. Elbers, R. J. A. van Dijk-Moes, S. Sadighikia, T. A. J. Welling, A. van Blaaderen, M. A. van Huis, ‘Direct in-situ characterization of the thermoresponsive and cononsolvent behavior of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels and shells with nanometer resolution’, in preparation. 

[3] T.A.J. Welling, K. Watanabe, A. Grau-Carbonell, J. de Graaf, D. Nagao, A. Imhof, M.A. van Huis, A. van Blaaderen, ‘Tunability of Interactions between the Core and Shell in Rattle-Type Particles Studied with Liquid-Cell Electron Microscopy’, ACS Nano 15 (2021) 11137-11149. DOI: 0.1021/acsnano.1c03140

NEMI day 2022 – photo impression

Thanks to all speakers, sponsors and participants that made the 2022 NEMI day a success!

Please find below a photo impression of the NEMI day 2022. Pictures by René Scriwanek (UMC Utrecht).