Agriculture nanotechnology Internship Projects

Project duration options:

• AIBN Research Internship Program (6 - 12 weeks)
• BE/ME Industry Placement (12 - 24 weeks)
• Canadian QES Co-Op Placements (16 weeks)
• Honours Project (39 weeks)
• Masters Coursework Project (26 weeks)

Website: http://www.uq.edu.au/polymer-chemistry/

Project key words: Solid lipid nanoparticles, oral delivery, drug delivery

AIBN Research Pillars: Advanced Materials; Industrial Biotechnology

Description: The oral route is one of the most preferred routes of drug administration as it is more convenient, cost effective, and ease of administration lead to high level of patient compliance. However, low tolerance to an acidic stomach environment with proteolytic enzymes and bile salts and low levels of drug absorption and bioavailability in oral administration limited its application. This project aims to develop functional solid lipid nanoparticles for oral drug delivery.

Learning Objectives: Several techniques including Zetasizer for particle size distribution and charge measurement, UV-vis, FT-IR and microscopy, etc.

Expected outcomes and deliverables: This project involves synthesis and characterization of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) developed in our lab. Through this project, the students can master various preparation methods and characterization techniques such as XRD, DLS, TG-DSC, FT-IR and Uv-vis. You will gain the excellent experience in material preparation and knowledge on nanotechnology and nanomaterials in drug delivery. It has capacity to grow into an PhD project and has a publication potential.

Applicant requirements: This project is suitable for the students with Chemistry, Science, Biomedical Science, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry and Biotechnology.

Primary supervisor: Dr Li Li and Prof. Zhi Ping Xu Email: l.li2@uq.edu.au and gordonxu@uq.edu.au