Nanomaterials for Water Remediation and Valorization at BCMaterials – Merlin & Selfaquasens Projects скачать в хорошем качестве

Nanomaterials for Water Remediation and Valorization at BCMaterials – Merlin & Selfaquasens Projects

BCMaterials researchers are developing new materials able to remove pollution from water (antibiotics, heavy metals…) as well as to extract critical raw materials like rare earths, lithium and cobalt from hydrid resources. Two European projects, called MERLIN and SELFAQUASENS, in which our scientists take part, aim to create membranes/filters based on polymers of natural origin and functionalized with nanomaterials either to absorb the pollutants or to degrade them. In this video, the BCMaterials researchers Maibelín Rosales and Roberto Fernández de Luis, along with the center’s scientific director, Senentxu Lanceros-Méndez, explain the work developed in both projects. The MERLIN project is designing semiconducting materials based on abundant and affordable metal oxydes. These materials are photocatalytic and, at the same time, they generate heat by absorbing solar energy, which accelerates the degradation of pollutants until they turn into H2O. The MERLIN project goal is to help reducing the impact of antimicrobial diseases, caused by the consumption of waters polluted with antibiotics and bacteria resistant to antibiotics. The second focus of the technology developed at BCMaterials is the absorption of contaminants using metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. These materials have gained worldwide recognition following the awarding of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry to their discoverers. In this case, the SELFAQUASENS project aims to integrate these MOFs into membranes capable of capturing heavy metals and simultaneously recovering critical elements for industry, such as rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt, which are present, for example, in all our everyday electronic devices. More info at: https://www.bcmaterials.net/en