Cycle/Years
39th cycle [2023-2026]
Contacts
Supervisors
Prof. Fabio Di Francesco and Dr. Tommaso Lomonaco
Title of the PhD project
MOTHER-SCENT: Maternal Odor - THin film microExtraction and Reliable Sampling for ChEmical Noninvasive Testing
Abstract of the PhD project
Body odours have a great importance in chemical communication. It is widely known that breastfeeding women emit olfactive signals that elicit a response of newborns influencing their behaviour. This project aims to develop reliable and non-invasive analytical protocols for the chemical characterisation of body odour emitted from the breast area during the whole period of pregnancy. We have chosen to test a passive sampling technique called Thin Film Microextraction (TFME). This technique involves carbon mesh sheet impregnated with one or more sorptive phases capable of passively collecting a wide range of volatile and semi-volatile analytes due to high porosity and use of a combination of sorbent materials. Instrumental analysis will be mainly performed by thermal desorption coupled with a comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS), one of the most powerful separation and identification tools for non-targeted analysis and suspect screening of VOCs.
Academic Fields and Disciplines (SSD), main and secondary
CHIM01
Publications
• F.M. Vivaldi, S. Reale, S. Ghimenti, D. Biagini, A. Lenzi, T. Lomonaco, and F. Di Francesco. 2023. “A Low-Cost Internal Standard Loader for Solid-Phase Sorbing Tools.” Journal of Breath Research 17 (4): 46008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1752-7163/acef4b
Poster communications at conferences
• S. Reale, P. Simone, F.M. Vivaldi, M. Ripszam, T. Bruderer, A. Lenzi, S. Ghimenti, D. Biagini, T. Lomonaco, F. Di Francesco, Comparison of thin film microextraction devices to sample human skin volatilome, Chemistry for the Future 2023, Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Pisa (Italy), 28-30 June 2023.
