User:Lelrofai

Background

Lina Elrofaie is a fourth-year undergraduate student in Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Western University in London, Ontario, completing a five-year dual degree. She recently joined the Free Appropriate Sustainability Technology (FAST) group as an Additive Manufacturing Technician under Dr. Joshua Pearce, where she will support research on distributed recycling and additive manufacturing (DRAM). Her main interest is medical device technology, with a focus on low-cost designs that are accessible in under-resourced settings, and she is also interested in nanomaterials for carbon capture and environmental applications. In summer 2025, she carried out research on carbon dots for theranostic applications in Dr. Jin Zhang's Laboratory for Multifunctional Nanocomposites at Western, funded by a Western Engineering Dean's Award, and she is a contributing author on a and she is a contributing author on a published review article, Synthesis, Surface Engineering, and Emerging Applications of Black Phosphorus Nanosheets. Since 2024, she has been a member of the research and development team of Western's Biomedical Engineering Club, where she has contributed to the Low-Cost Intraoral Camera, the Sensor-Integrated Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Knee Brace and the Portable Cardiac Triage System. She also researched nanocomposite materials for a carbon capture device with Western's Green Technology Club.

Research Interests and Work

Low-cost medical devices | Theranostic nanomaterials | Carbon capture | Waste reduction through recycling and reuse

I am interested in medical devices that stay affordable enough to reach people in under-resourced settings, especially diagnostic and rehabilitation tools where cost is the main barrier rather than the engineering itself. In nanomaterials, my interest is in carbon dots and similar materials that carry out imaging and treatment at the same time rather than requiring a separate material for each. My environmental interests cover nanocomposites that capture carbon dioxide directly from ambient air, the recovery of waste materials into usable feedstock through distributed recycling and additive manufacturing, and the chemistry of breaking down organic contaminants in water.

Research Projects

The following projects were completed in Dr. Jin Zhang's Laboratory for Multifunctional Nanocomposites at Western University between May and August 2025, funded by a Western Engineering Dean's Award.

Carbon dots for theranostic applications

The goal of this project was to develop carbon dots suitable for theranostic use, where a single nanomaterial carries out both imaging and treatment, and to establish how their optical properties and surface chemistry varied across synthesis conditions. Carbon dot samples were synthesized in compliance with the lab's standard operating procedures and characterized using photoluminescence and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The spectral data was processed in MATLAB and Excel, with statistical comparisons applied across samples and every dataset kept traceable from the original sample through to the reported result.

Aptamer isolation and characterization

MATLAB Aptamer IR spectral plot

Aptamers were isolated and characterized by FTIR spectroscopy to confirm their composition and structural features. A related gel electrophoresis procedure in the lab was failing to isolate a protein needed by a graduate researcher. The problem was traced to a single step in the protocol and corrected, recovering the protein, and the revised procedure was documented for future runs.

Synthesis, Surface Engineering, and Emerging Applications of Black Phosphorus Nanosheets

This review set out to consolidate the current literature on black phosphorus nanosheets into a single reference, covering how they are synthesized, how their surfaces are modified for stability and function, and where they are being applied. Contributed literature searches and synthesis of findings across sources. Published in a nanomaterials journal, with contributing authorship.

Projects

Low-cost intraoral camera

Access to dental care in low-income communities in Nairobi is limited in part by the cost of diagnostic equipment, and remote consultation is impractical without a way to capture images inside the mouth. This project set out to design an intraoral camera that met a frugal cost target while supporting remote assessment, built around a Raspberry Pi to capture photos and stream live video for review by a dentist. Research covered design requirements and candidate components measured against the cost target, alongside feasibility assessment of design decisions and technical documentation supporting the design approach and its access-focused rationale. Developed through the Frugal Biomedical Innovations Research initiative, September 2024 to March 2025.

Direct air carbon capture device

Small-scale users who need carbon dioxide on site typically rely on delivered cylinders, which adds cost and transport emissions. This project aimed to build a direct air capture device that could supply carbon dioxide locally at low cost. Research focused on nanocomposite materials for environmental applications, comparing how their properties and processing affected capture performance from ambient air, and these findings were presented to the team to inform material selection for the bench-scale prototype. Built with a multidisciplinary team through Western's Green Technology Club for the Carbon Removal Challenge, where the device placed as one of five finalists. September 2023 to April 2024.

Contaminant degradation in continuous stirred-tank and plug flow reactors

Reactor models used in design rarely match how real reactors behave, and the size of that gap determines how much treatment capacity a system actually needs. This study compared ideal and real reactor behaviour by measuring hypochlorite degradation of an organic contaminant in two configurations. A continuous stirred-tank reactor was operated alongside a bench-scale plug flow reactor assembled from tubing and fittings, with the peristaltic pumps and ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometer calibrated before running the test plan across replicate runs at varying flow rates. Raw absorbance outputs were organized into concentration versus time datasets, conversion at steady state was determined, and the deviation from the ideal reactor model was documented in two formal lab reports. Completed for CBE 3315 Reaction Engineering, September to December 2025.