Nanotechnology for Environmental Engineering - Call for Papers

Microtechnologies and Nanotechnologies for Detection at the Nanoscale 

Nanoscale target detection has been an important area of research in the fields of point of care diagnostics and point of need detection. The recent outbreak of the SARS-COV-2 virus has resulted in a wider and more serious attempt among researchers in microfluidics and nanofluidics to develop devices for preparing concentrated samples containing nanoscale biomarkers. Significant progress has also been made in developing detection technologies for such nanomaterials. Point-of-care detection of infectious diseases and point of need detection of environmental pathogens are necessary to ensure rapid and adequate surveillance, health, and safety in all areas, and target interventions and treatments to where they are needed most. The proposed issue is aiming to capture such advancements in the field. 

To control COVID-19 and other airborne viral diseases, rapid diagnosis and environmental surveillance methods are key. There is still a lack of effective testing method for COVID-19 in remote areas because most current, PCR-based, tests must be sent to a centralized laboratory for analysis. These labs usually only exist in cities and transporting, and processing samples can take days. Performing tests directly on inexpensive and portable microfluidic and nanofluidic devices could be a good alternative. These devices could also be integrated with air, water, and body fluid samplers, to detect viruses in places where high SARS-CoV-2 load is a concern.  Being able to measure virus (and in general, biomarker) concentration directly from various samples could allow the strictest restrictions to be placed where they are most needed, and to facilitate the distribution of future treatments and vaccines. 

This issue will consolidate knowledge of emerging sample preparation, diagnostic, and detection technologies that focus on nanoscale targets, from molecules such as DNA and proteins to whole biosystems like viruses, in various fluidic samples such as air, water, wastewater, and bodily fluids. Studies on both point-of-care diagnostics and point-of-need detection will be welcomed. For environmental monitoring, studies pairing fluid samplers with micro- and nano-devices for direct analysis are preferred. Research involving the detection and monitoring of COVID-19 will be prioritized, but studies on other viruses and disease biomarkers will be accepted. The special issue will give infectious disease specialists a strong understanding of how microfluidics and nanofluidics are useful in their sector and may encourage some to use the technology in their own research and practice. It will also allow microsystem, nanosystem, and bio engineers and corporations to adapt their production to achieve specific goals- for example, by pointing out new features and analysis methods that support more accurate diagnostics. 
 

Guest Editors
Associate Professor Pouya Rezai
Mechanical Engineering Department, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
Email:prezai@yorku.ca (this opens in a new tab)
Email:pouya.rezai@gmail.com (this opens in a new tab)

Associate Professor Majid Ebrahimi Warkiani
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), School of Biomedical Engineering, Sydney, Australia
Email:Majid.Warkiani@uts.edu.au (this opens in a new tab)
Email:m.ebrahimi.w@gmail.com (this opens in a new tab)