Study on the Behaviour and Toxicology of Nanomaterials by Synchrotron Radiation Technology

Abstract

Synchrotron radiation (SR)-based technologies have advantages for chemical analysis with high sensitivity and high resolution and can serve as tools for elemental identification, chemical form and coordination information, as well as chemical imaging. In this chapter, we introduce SR-based analytical methods and their powerful roles in nanotoxicity studies. With these state-of-the-art technologies, we show their use in characterizing nanomaterials, quantitatively analysing the interaction of macromolecules (proteins or phospholipids) at the nano–bio interface, capturing the chemical behaviour of nanomaterials in bio-microenvironments, cells, tissues and organisms, and visualizing the spatial distribution and accumulation of nanomaterials and determining their chemical transformation in situ. These established methods significantly improve the knowledge and understanding of nano–bio interactions from the physical and chemical aspects and help to reveal the physicochemical mechanism for nanotoxicity.