Rui S. Ribeiro, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM |December 17, 2020 – 14H30 | Online.

Carbon materials possess useful properties for several applications, such as: (i) stability in acidic/basic media; (ii) possibility to control, to some extent, the porosity and the surface chemistry; (iii) structural stability at high temperatures; and (iv) easy recovery of expensive metals (by burning away the support). Due to the high specific surface area, activated carbons have been traditionally used as adsorbents or as supports for metal catalysts; whereas graphitic materials having high conductivity can be used as […]

Ricardo Santos, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM |December 03, 2020 – 14H30 | Online.

The general perception of chemical reactors is generally associated with two main embodiments: a tank with a stirrer or a pipe. These reactors are still the workhorses of the chemical industry, with particular focus on stirred tanks. The chemical industry in Europe is one of the sectors performing better in terms of reducing its footprint. The energy intensity of this industry was halved in 26 years. One of the main areas of optimization is on mixing operations, particularly those […]

Dânia Constantino, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | November 19, 2020 – 14H30 | Online

Process Intensification (PI) is a very important stage to reach feasible chemical processes towards large-scale implementation. PI implies the development of new devices or engineering methods able to improve yield and selectivity attained in the conventional route. Usually, PI strategies comprise safer, cleaner, and smaller plants promoting higher energy efficiency by reducing equipment and/or steps required to achieve the desired product.

Novel photoreactors design promoting better contact between the photocatalyst and reactants, and different irradiation systems allowing higher […]

João Restivo, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | March 5 – 16h45 | FEUP Room B035

New findings in water quality have triggered an interest in the development of efficient technologies that can address rising concerns. These include the understanding of the ubiquitous presence of organic micropollutants previously thought absent from water and wastewater, and their harmful properties even at very low concentrations. The pressure of the climate emergency in the management of water for human consumption also creates opportunities for development of safe technologies to facilitate the use or re-use of previously unavailable water […]

F.J. Galindo-Rosales, Transport Phenomena Research Center, CEFT | December, 5 – 17h00 | FEUP Sala B020

Smart fluids are complex fluids that exhibit a change in their rheological properties upon the application of an external stimulus, which can be light, heat, electric field or magnetic field. Among them, electrorheological fluids and magnetorheological fluids are at the forefront of advance applications, such as soft robotics, fluidic valves, clutches, cleaning oil spills, etc. The success of these applications will rely fundamentally on the precise knowledge of the rheological properties of the smart fluids. However, […]

Sara S Pereira, LEPABE | December 5, 2019 – 16h30 | FEUP Sala B020

Student Seminar in Chemical Engineering (DEQ-FEUP)

Treatment of septicaemia is threatened by the bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Nucleic acid mimics (NAMs) able to inhibit bacterial genes are emerging as an alternative to traditional antibiotics. However, NAMs cannot passively permeate the multi-layered bacterial envelope. Therefore, liposomes were considered as possible carriers to facilitate the internalization of NAMs in bacteria. Locked nucleic acids (LNA) and 2´-OMethylRNA (2´OMe) were evaluated as model NAMs and formulated into DOTAP-DOPE liposomes, forming lipoplexes. To improve the colloidal stability of the lipoplexes,  EGylated lipids […]

Yaidelin Manrique, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | November 28, 2019 – 17h00 | FEUP Sala B020 The supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has an enormous interest; in this region, the physical properties promote the separation, the density is similar to the liquid, and the viscosity is in the same order of magnitude of that of gases. The supercritical fluid is widely used to extract solutes from the interior of solid matrices, and also for counter-current extraction of a liquid stream.

Cork corresponds to the bark of the cork oak (Quercus Suber L.), a hundred percent natural plant tissue, that is composed, in […]

Elena Gómez Costas, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | November 21, 2019 – 17h00 | FEUP Sala B020 Flavonoids are components present on fruits and vegetables, which have several pharmacological properties, including anti-tumor, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, among others. The extraction and separation of flavonoids from natural products is, therefore, important to their future applications.

The conventional processes used in the extraction of flavonoids include techniques as solid-liquid, liquid-liquid or supercritical fluid extraction, the main process to obtain flavonoids for biotechnological applications is hydroalcoholic extraction, using different solvents such as methanol or ethanol, being the yield and purity low, and the consumption of solvents […]

Isabel Maria Martins, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | November 07, 2019 – 16h30 | FEUP Sala B024 The use of emergent technologies, such as microencapsulation, adds important gains and introduces new features and innovative properties in the products. The use of this methodology provides an important tool for several industries, enabling protection and controlled release of several active ingredients. The encapsulation of essential oils in a core-shell material or matrix has been investigated for various reasons, such as, protection from oxidative decomposition, evaporation or simply to support them. A large number of methods have been suggested for microcapsule’s production, in […]

Inmaculada Velo Gala, Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM | October 17, 2019 – 17h00 | FEUP Sala B024 Water is one crucial natural resource since life on our planet depends on it. The transmission of serious diseases through pathogenic microorganisms in water is extremely common in the developing world and the antimicrobial resistance has increased globally. At the same time, pollutants can be found in ground and surface waters, even in tap water. In all cases all of them have to be removed to protect our water resources and to achieve drinking water quality. Therefore, the photocatalytic system has been […]