Nanotechnology is reigning supreme all over the world. Researchers across countless laboratories are working on how this technology can make human life easier.
One such research centre is the Bio and Nanotechnology Research Laboratory at Rajshahi University (RU). Here, students produce various types of metal oxides and nanoparticles (tiny particles ranging from 1–100 nanometers in size, used in bacterial destruction, medicine, and agriculture).
Many students working in this lab have gone on to pursue higher education abroad with full scholarships.
Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan, a teacher at RU’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, founded the lab in 2021.
He said, “I completed my PhD from a university in Japan in 2013. At that time, I thought that if my students or I could get the same facilities and opportunities in our own country as much as I had in Japan’s labs, it would be very good. This lab was set up from that idea. We try to address problems in healthcare, the environment, and agriculture in Bangladesh, using nanotechnology.”
Establishing a lab in Bangladesh is quiet costly. Professor Anwarul Kabir took out a corporate loan — specifically designated for teachers — from Agrani Bank to open the lab within his own department.
However, its beginning was not easy. One of the big challenges was convincing students that nanotechnology would dominate the future.
Besides, acquiring the right brand of chemicals from accurate sources, the post-Covid scarcity of reagents (substances used to cause chemical reactions), and the lack of infrastructure to analyse the properties of nanoparticles after they are procured— these are limitations they are facing now.
Although the lab has the necessary equipment to produce nanoparticles, it lacks facilities to study their practical applications or usefulness to humans.
To determine whether a nanoparticle can help in medicine or destroy disease-causing germs (antimicrobial effect), researchers need to see how it reacts to bacteria.
For this, they collaborate with other departments that have bacteria in their labs — such as Molecular Biology Lab in Genetic Engineering Department. Researches had also been carried out with Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) for long to analyse nanoparticle properties.
In addition, they have collaborative ties with three foreign labs at Coppin State University in the USA, King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, and Kyushu Institute of Technology in Japan.
The lab focuses on specific areas within the vast field of nanotechnology. A meeting is held every Wednesday to discuss each student’s progress, challenges, and research developments. Currently, a team of 15 people is conducting research in the lab.
Since its establishment in 2021, a total of eight students who worked at the lab have gone abroad with four of them receiving Erasmus Mundus scholarships.
The lab supports students on everything from recommendation letters to the publication of research papers, thus, making it easier for students to obtain scholarships.
Regarding this, Professor Anwarul Kabir Bhuiyan said, “I tell every student who joins the lab to make a passport first. Having a passport mentally prepares them to study abroad. It is also essential for taking the IELTS or other English proficiency tests.”
Currently, the lab is working on the application of nanoparticles as nutrients or fertilisers.