Surface modification and functionalisation of adsorbent materials
Surface modification and functionalisation of adsorbent materials
Host institution
Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (TMF), Belgrade, Serbia
Double doctorate degree
1. Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (TMF), Belgrade, Serbia
2. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FSB) , Zagreb, Croatia
Brief description of individual research project
Nano-engineered adsorbents offer great potential for water innovations, in particular for decentralized treatment systems, point-of-use (POU) and point-of-entry (POE) devices and for removing non-degradable contaminants. This ESR project will study processes for surface modification and functionalisation of inorganic (natural zeolites) and carbon based (graphene oxide (GO) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) adsorbents aimed to improve their sorptive characteristic and applicability in wastewater treatment. Sorbent surface will be modified to improve adsorptive efficiency and surface polarity using two approaches: 1) impregnation by different oxides (using thermal and mechano-chemical treatments) and biopolymers (wet impregnation of chitin, alginate) and 2) use of environmental friendly non-equilibrium plasmas operating at atmospheric and low pressures for enhanced performance of the adsorbents. Plasma–surface interactions will tune physical, chemical, and morphological properties of adsorbents.
Mobility
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FSB) , Zagreb, Croatia – 8 months