Doctoral Themes

Exploring bioinspired metal and metal oxide nanoparticles in biomedical use of CO₂

Supervisors

Marta Alves, martamalves@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Ana Paula Ribeiro, apribeiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Herminio Diogo, hdiogo@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Registration Institution

Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa

Project description

Acceleration of skin wound healing is an important aspect of wound treatment. The use of carbon dioxide (CO₂) has been recognized as one of the most effective ways to improve microcirculation and to benefit wound healing, while the need of the specialized equipment and the uncontrollable delivery of gas CO₂ might restrict such strategy in wide applications. Owing to their unique physicochemical, biological, and electronic properties, bioinspired metal oxide nanoparticles are used in the biomedical field. The green synthesis of metal oxide nanoparticle structures as smart nanomaterials utilized in wound healing for improving human health, is still a challenge.

In this work, green principles will be applied for producing metal and metal oxides in nanosize and their application in CO₂ reduction reaction with a Metal–Oxide Interface. This methodology will be a promising approach to convert CO₂ for medical purposes. The most challenging objective of this proposal is to explore the connection between the two topics in wound-healing applications. This PhD projects will include an intership in the University of Padova.

Keywords

Metal-based nanoparticles; CO₂; Reduction; Biomedical applications