The disposal of millions of tons of short-lived products, such as packaging and disposable plastic items, has generated a significant amount of solid wastes. It results in a wide variety of environmental and economic problems for society. Also, toxic industrial wastes are also a significant challenge to be overcome in scientific and technological terms.
Many synthetic routes of chemical industries, whenever possible, should be replaced by green methods, which is the challenge of the economic viability of these processes a related concern. In this sense, science, and particularly nanoscience, has contributed both to the development of new sustainable products involving green routes and advances in methods for treatment of solid wastes and effluents. Another major challenge is the distribution of potable water, free of microorganisms and emerging contaminants, to residents of regions without access to treated water.
In the present research project, researchers will focus on the development of advanced materials and new processes, involving nanoparticles (metallic, magnetic, and biopolymeric) linked to functionalized organic compounds. These nanoparticles will be associated with essential oils (oxidizing agents, among others), promoting the elimination of different contaminants, such as microorganisms or chemical compounds (heavy metals, organic, dyes, etc.). These developed materials will be intended for application in filtration systems, gels, polymer membranes, active agents in bioremediation / bioaugimentation processes and other applications with environmentally friendly characteristics.
The members of the research group and its foreign collaborators have expertise in using a high diversity of advanced techniques in the preparation, characterization, and application of the systems to be studied. The project presented here is focused on environmental studies with strong interrelationship with the research areas of materials, biopolymer membranes with nanocellulose and other oxidants, photochemistry, ionizing radiation, chemistry, biology, and health.
We expect the proposal will directly contribute to Brazil’s technological advance and social development, and to the formation of human resources.
Coordinator: Prof. Dr. Derval dos Santos Rosa
E-mail: derval.rosa@ufabc.edu.br
Coordinator’s Curriculum Lattes (research projects, publications and academic info)
Coordinator’s research grants, scholarships and main publications (FAPESP)