Miguel Gomez Gonzalez

Miguel Gomez-Gonzalez is a Beamline Scientist working on beamline I14 - hard X-ray nanoprobe - at Diamond Light Source synchrotron (UK). Miguel joined Diamond in 2019, after 3 years of postdoctoral research at the Materials Department from Imperial College London (UK).

He obtained a BS and MSc in Chemistry from the University of Zaragoza (Spain), and completed his PhD at the National Museum of Natural Sciences (Spanish Council for Scientific Research, Madrid, Spain) in 2016. During his PhD, Miguel tried to bridge the difficult gap between soil contamination and its mobilization through water resources as colloidal micro- and nanoparticles.

More recently, Miguel focused his research on: i) investigating the fate, behaviour, and dissolution kinetics of engineered nanomaterials in freshwater solutions, ii) studying how the microplastics can act as transportation vectors of co-existing nano pollutants, with an interest on their subsequent incorporation to microorganisms and biota, and iii) synthesising isotopically labelled ZnO nanomaterials, among others.

Miguel has extensive experience in the development of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and phase-contrast imaging techniques, as well as X-ray adsorption spectroscopy near edge structure (XANES) for molecular-level speciation of elements, including the spatially resolved (in situ) transformation of nanomaterials.

For more information about the author, please visit the website: https://www.diamond.ac.uk/Instruments/Imaging-and-Microscopy/I14/Staff/Gomez-Gonzalez.html

- Transformation of engineered nanomaterials in environmental samples

Engineered nanomaterials can undergo a range of chemical and morphological changes in the environment, and the transformed species may present different properties and toxicity than their pristine counterparts. Developing spatially-resolved methodologies able to provide information about these transformations and mechanisms is key to evaluate their fate and behaviour in environmental samples.

- Potential association of engineered nanomaterials to micro(nano)plastics

Plastic pollution accounts to roughly 2400 to 8600 tonnes of plastic every year due to their non-biodegradable nature. UV-exposure and mechanical abrasion could delaminate and degrade specific plastics, triggering their fragmentation into small plastic-debris and micro- and nano-plastics. While these microplastics may be cytotoxic to (micro)organisms, they can also sorb hazardous chemicals and materials, enhancing their potential toxicity. This gap in the literature leaves open the question of whether these potential complexes should be considered as nanoscale pollutants, since their uncontrolled introduction into the environment may have a significant impact on ecosystems, even at relatively low concentrations.

- Ptychography and phase contrast imaging

Scanning coherent diffractive imaging, such as X-ray ptychography, is recently attracting a vast interest in the synchrotron community. Developing methods for hyperspectral detection and fast ptychography imaging/reconstruction for a range of experimental samples is one of our main concerns at I14.

- In situ sample environments

Only a few spatially resolved techniques are capable of probing dissolution kinetics and subsequent transformations of individual nano-microparticles over relative short-timescales. In situ X-ray fluorescence microscopy at hard X-ray nanoprobes offers a unique capability to monitor morphology and surface chemistry changes of the nanoparticles within relevant environments, with energy and spatial resolutions of 0.5 eV and 50 nm respectively.
The morphological and chemical transformations of nanomaterials can be assessed at I14 within hydrated environments. This capability is crucial to evaluate whether these transformations also affects their associated ecotoxicology to (micro)organisms in aquatic media.
 

If you feel your research area could match any of the above, please contact me to discuss potential beamtime applications

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Silva-Ferreira, T. Da, Clark, N., Clough, R., Quinn, P.D., Parker, J.E., 2023. Toward Understanding the Environmental Risks of Combined Microplastics/Nanomaterials Exposures: Unveiling ZnO Transformations after Adsorption onto Polystyrene Microplastics in Environmental Solutions. Glob. Challenges 2300036. https://doi.org/10.1002/GCH2.202300036.

Byrnes, I., Rossbach, L.M., Jaroszewicz, J., Grolimund, D., Ferreira Sanchez, D., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Nuyts, G., Reinoso-Maset, E., Janssens, K., Salbu, B., Brede, D.A., Lind, O.C., 2022. Synchrotron XRF and Histological Analyses Identify Damage to Digestive Tract of Uranium NP-Exposed Daphnia magna. Environ. Sci. Technol. 57, 1071–1079. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.2c07174.

Dinsley, J.M., Davies, H.S., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Robinson, C.H., Pittman, J.K., 2022. The value of synchrotron radiation X-ray techniques to explore microscale chemistry for ecology and evolution research. Ecosphere 13, e4312. https://doi.org/10.1002/ECS2.4312.

Quinn, P.D., Cacho-Nerin, F., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Parker, J.E., Poon, T., Walker, J.M., 2022. Differential phase contrast for quantitative imaging and spectro-microscopy at a nanoprobe beamline. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 30, 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577522010633.

Bandekar, M., Abdolahpur Monikh, F., Kekäläinen, J., Tahvanainen, T., Kortet, R., Zhang, P., Guo, Z., Akkanen, J., Leskinen, J.T.T., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Krishna Darbha, G., Grossart, H.-P., Valsami-Jones, E., Kukkonen, J.V.K., 2022. Submicron Plastic Adsorption by Peat, Accumulation in Sphagnum Mosses and Influence on Bacterial Communities in Peatland Ecosystems. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 15661–15671. https://doi.org/10.1021/ACS.EST.2C04892.

Kelly, J., Male, A., Rubies, N., Mahoney, D., Walker, J.M., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Wilkin, G., Parker, J.E., Quinn, P.D., 2022. The Delta Robot – A long travel nano-positioning stage for scanning x-ray microscopy. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 93, 043712. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0084806.

Parker, J.E., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Van Lishout, Y., Islam, H., Duran Martin, D., Ozkaya, D., Quinn, P.D., Schuster, M.E., IUCr, 2022. A cell design for correlative hard X-ray nanoprobe and electron microscopy studies of catalysts under in situ conditions. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 29, 29. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577521013576.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Rehkämper, M., Han, Z., Ryan, M.P., Laycock, A., Porter, A.E., 2022. ZnO Nanomaterials and Ionic Zn Partition within Wastewater Sludge Investigated by Isotopic Labeling. Glob. Challenges 2100091, 2100091. https://doi.org/10.1002/GCH2.202100091.

Chevrier, D.M., Cerdá-Doñate, E., Park, Y., Cacho-Nerin, F., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Uebe, R., Faivre, D., 2021. Synchrotron-Based Nano-X-Ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure Revealing Intracellular Heterogeneity of Iron Species in Magnetotactic Bacteria. Small Sci. 2100089. https://doi.org/10.1002/SMSC.202100089.

Quinn, P.D., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Cacho-Nerin, F., Parker, J.E., 2021. Beam and sample movement compensation for robust spectro-microscopy measurements on a hard X-ray nanoprobe. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 28, 1528–1534. https://doi.org/10.1107/S1600577521007736.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Koronfel, M.A., Pullin, H., Parker, J.E., Quinn, P.D., Inverno, M.D., Scott, T.B., Xie, F., Voulvoulis, N., Yallop, M.L., Ryan, M.P., Porter, A.E., 2021. Nanoscale Chemical Imaging of Nanoparticles under Real-World Wastewater Treatment Conditions. Adv. Sustain. Syst. 2100023. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202100023.

Quinn, P.D., Alianelli, L., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Mahoney, D., Cacho-Nerin, F., Peach, A., Parker, J.E., 2021. The Hard X-ray Nanoprobe beamline at Diamond Light Source. J. Synchrotron Radiat. 28, 1006–1013. https://doi.org/10.1107/s1600577521002502.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Koronfel, M.A., Goode, A.E., Al-Ejji, M., Voulvoulis, N., Parker, J.E., Quinn, P.D., Scott, T.B., Xie, F., Yallop, M.L., Porter, A.E., Ryan, M.P., 2019. Spatially Resolved Dissolution and Speciation Changes of ZnO Nanorods during Short-Term in Situ Incubation in a Simulated Wastewater Environment. ACS Nano 13, 11049–11061. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.9b02866.

Koronfel, M.A., Goode, A.E., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Weker, J.N., Simoes, T.A., Brydson, R., Quinn, P., Toney, M.F., Hart, A., Porter, A.E., Ryan, M.P., 2019. Chemical Evolution of CoCrMo Wear Particles: An in Situ Characterization Study. J. Phys. Chem. C 123, 9894–9901. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b00745.

Rubio-Garcia, J., Kucernak, A., Zhao, D., Li, D., Fahy, K., Yufit, V., Brandon, N., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., 2018. Hydrogen/manganese hybrid redox flow battery. J. Phys. Energy 1, 15006. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7655/aaee17

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Villalobos, M., Marco, J.F., Garcia-Guinea, J., Bolea, E., Laborda, F., Garrido, F., 2018. Iron oxide - clay composite vectors on long-distance transport of arsenic and toxic metals in mining-affected areas. Chemosphere 197, 759–767. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.01.100.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Voegelin, A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Bolea, E., Laborda, F., Garrido, F., 2016. Colloidal mobilization of arsenic from mining-affected soils by surface runoff. Chemosphere 144, 1123–1131. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2015.09.090.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Bolea, E., O’Day, P.A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Garrido, F., Laborda, F., 2016. Combining single-particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to evaluate the release of colloidal arsenic from environmental samples. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 408, 5125–5135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-016-9331-4.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Laborda, F., Garrido, F., 2015. Thallium occurrence and partitioning in soils and sediments affected by mining activities in Madrid province (Spain). Sci. Total Environ. 536, 268–278. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.07.033.

Serrano, S., Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., O’Day, P.A., Laborda, F., Bolea, E., Garrido, F., 2015. Arsenic speciation in the dispersible colloidal fraction of soils from a mine-impacted creek. J. Hazard. Mater. 286, 30–40. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.12.025.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Garcia-Guinea, J., Garrido, F., Townsend, P.D., Marco, J.-F., 2015. Thallium and manganese complexes involved in the luminescence emission of potassium-bearing aluminosilicates. J. Lumin. 159, 197–206. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2014.11.011.

Gomez-Gonzalez, M.A., Serrano, S., Laborda, F., Garrido, F., 2014. Spread and partitioning of arsenic in soils from a mine waste site in Madrid province (Spain). Sci. Total Environ. 500–501, 23–33. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.081.