【Date and Time】9-February-2026 15:00 (Beijing time)

【Venue】Room 526

【Host】Yan Liu (BAQIS)

【Title】 Free radical detection using nanodiamond quantum sensors

【Speaker】 

Qi Lu studied Pharmacy at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China), where he received his Bachelor's degree in Science in June 2018. In April 2020, he joined Prof. Dr. Naoki Komatsu's group at Kyoto University (Japan). He investigated protein corona on RGD modified nanodiamonds and graduated as Master of Science in March 2022. Afterwards, he started with his PhD in April 2022 in the group of Prof. Dr. Tanja Weil at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. He focuses on functionalization of fluorescent nanodiamonds and their application on in-situ nano-sensing.

【Abstract】

Radicals drive essential cellular processes like metabolism, proliferation, and transport, yet their precise, localized detection in living systems remains challenging due to biological complexity and dynamism. Nanodiamonds (NDs), composed of sp3-hybridized carbon and hosting nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers, overcome these hurdles. Their chemical inertness, stable far-red fluorescence, high quantum efficiency, and spin-dependent photoluminescence enable quantitative radical and nuclear spin sensing under ambient conditions, even in complex cellular environments.

My PhD research harnesses ND-based quantum sensors to probe radical dynamics in living cells, bridging quantum physics and biology. We address three pivotal questions: (i) Can radical behavior of endogenous molecules like eumelanin be resolved intracellularly? (ii) Can NDs monitor real-time cellular responses to targeted treatments via dynamic radical profiles? (iii) How do local heating and radical generation modulate immune cell function? Together, these studies highlight the potential of nanodiamond-based quantum sensing to uncover previously inaccessible aspects of radical biology.