Dr Margalida Artigues has received one of the extraordinary doctorate awards for the best Doctoral Theses for the 2019-2020 academic year, given by the Universitat Ramon Llull (URL)
Dr Margalida Artigues has received one of the extraordinary doctorate awards for the best Doctoral Theses for the 2019-2020 academic year, given by the Universitat Ramon Llull (URL). The Rector of the URL, Dr Josep María Garrell, and the General Secretary, Dr Anna Berga, presented Dr Artigues with the extraordinary doctorate award at the opening ceremony for the academic year, which was held on 6 October.
Dr Artigues received the award for her thesis on the development of amperometric enzyme biosensors that she defended in March 2020, which received support from URL-2017 research. Advised by IQS School of Engineering professors Dr Jordi Abellà and Dr Sergi Colominas, the thesis studies glucose oxidase (GOx) with the aim of creating biosensors with different applications that are suitable for determining glucose levels.
The electrochemical biosensors developed are characterized by the immobilization of oxidases on an electrochemical interface formed by titanium (IV) oxide nanotubes, a semiconductor related to the properties of enzymes, in an "enzyme friendly" support in which they also do not lose their catalytic properties. This nanotube architecture provides a high specific surface area for the biosensor.
Finally, the thesis verified the efficiency of the developed biosensors, determining the glucose content of food samples. The results obtained with the electrochemical biosensors were compared with those carried out using conventional analytical techniques, all of which were of the same order. This opens the door to the potential exit from the use of biosensors as a control instrument in the food industry.
Ramon Tremosa, the Government of Catalonia's Business Minister, was present at the opening ceremony for the academic year and offered a few words to the educational community, in which he highlighted "the role that universities play in upward mobility." The minister also spoke of the "gift of belonging to Europe" and wished the URL community a great start to the academic year.
The event was preceded by the inaugural lecture, "Reflecting on the density of the present: COVID-19 and Schopenhauer's porcupines," by Dr Francesc Torralba, philosopher and ETHOS Chair of Applied Ethics at the Universitat Ramon Llull.