Magnetic nanoparticles in drinking water treatment
By, Dr. Konstantinos Simeonidis, Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.
Date and Venue: 13th March, 2025 at 11h – Sala Graus Eduard Fontserè (Faculties of Physics and Chemistry UB)
(Chaired by Dr. Carlos Moya, IN²UB and Faculty of Chemistry UB)
Abstract
Recent advances in nanomaterials and increasing concern of consumers regarding drinking water quality, provide a great challenge to develop and implement innovative processes to supply safe drinking water at acceptable cost, minimum waste and energy consumption. Magnetically-responding nanoparticles appear as the most favorable class offering a wide range of possibilities to play the role of low-cost consumables, direct adsorbents or carriers, implemented into simple water purification systems. This presentation is going to summarize up-to-date progress in the development of magnetic nanoparticle destined for environmental remediation, attempting to evaluate the potential of scaling-up in real-world applications and understand aspects related to the sustainability of large-scale production and secondary risks of their use. Particularly, the topics of industrial-scale synthesis, efficient capture of heavy metals and organic micropollutants, design of viable water treatment plants and alternative applications for drinking water quality analysis and monitoring, will be discussed.
About the Author
Konstantinos Simeonidis is currently a research associate at the Analytical Chemistry Laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His research is focused on the development of magnetic nanomaterials and composites optimized to be used in large-scale water treatment units towards removal of inorganic pollutants and pharmaceuticals. In this frame, his work involves efforts to adopt green nanoparticle synthesis into low-cost continuous-flow production units and address their life cycle considering the sustainability goals for viable practices.