Doctoral themes 2023

Magnetic core-shell nanostructures for contaminants removal from aqueous solutions: environmental remediation 

Supervisors

Maria Clara Gonçalves, clara.goncalves@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Carlos Monteiro, carlos.e.monteiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Registration Institution

Instituto Superior Técnico

Project description

Structured nanoparticles (NPs) may comprise a magnetic core and an inorganic shell. Among them, superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as core and inorganic and/or hybrid silica (ORMOSIL) as shell have shown great potential both in biomedicine and environmental applications. Although, the interactions of these nanostructures with contaminated water are still an open issue. This doctoral project aims at exploring the sorption/desorption features of core-shell SPIONs-silica/ORMOSIL by specifically designing the ORMOSIL coating, to evaluate their use in environmental remediation. The project will tackle the design, preparation and characterization of functionalized/decorated core-shell NPs to study their physicochemical properties using TEM, FTIR, XRD, Mössbauer Spectroscopy, NMR, magnetization measurements, among others. The stability and aggregation of core-shell NPs under relevant environmental conditions, and the efficacy of core-shell NPs sorption towards both organic and inorganic contaminants (e.g., priority pollutants), will be evaluated through batch exposure experiments in aqueous matrices to monitor interactions with other elements, types of solutions, temperature, pH, and exposure period. 

Saturated core-shell NPs will then be separated from liquid solutions by external magnetic fields and/or pressure driven membrane processes, and the purified solution collected as permeate. After the assessment of the best material performances, the designed core-shell NPs will be used with real samples (e.g., dialysates, waste- and estuarine waters) to further investigate their applicability in water cleaning technologies, contributing to the solution of biomedical and environmental issues.

Keywords

Engineered materials

NPs decoration/functionalization

Separation processes

Emerging water technologies

Environmental remediation