Universitat Rovira i Virgili - Chemical Engineering | · PDF file · 2015-12-04opens the door to significantly advance our understanding of their behavior, ... methods for the analysis

URV - 1 -

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Department of Chemical Engineering (http://www.etseq.urv.es/9deq/en)

Department of Mechanical Engineering (http://www.etseq.urv.es/9dem/en)

Department of Analytical and Organic Chemistry (http://www.quimica.urv.cat/quimio/nanosensors)

Project Proposals for the

NEU-URV Student Exchange

April-July 2015

Department of Chemical Engineering - URV - 2 -

PROJECT #1

Title: Understanding complex systems using big data

Supervisors: Roger Guimerà Manrique & Marta Sales-Pardo

Contact: [email protected] / [email protected]

Research Group: Science and Engineering of Emerging Systems, SEES:lab (http://seeslab.info)

Description:

Technological advances during the last fifteen years have boosted our capacity to generate and store data in many areas of science and business. Indeed, 90% of the world’s stored data has been generated in the last two years, and the availability of such large quantities of data (for example time-resolved geo-location of mobile devices or usage data of social networks) is changing the way we think about crisis response, social mobilization, marketing, and intelligence.

Big data is a particularly relevant opportunity for the study of complex systems such as cells, ecosystems or economies. In complex systems, non-linear interactions among the many components that comprise the system give rise to macroscopic behaviors that cannot be explained by looking at individual components alone. Traditionally, the analysis of complex systems was constrained by the limited information available from the different components (and layers of components) comprising the system (for example, metabolites and proteins in cells, species in ecosystems, and people and institutions in economies). The availability of unprecedented highly detailed data on these systems opens the door to significantly advance our understanding of their behavior, and of how this behavior evolves in time. With large amounts of data we now have the possibility to uncover correlations and patterns that will enable us to build predictive models of these systems.

The goal of our research is to contribute, from the perspective of statistical mechanics, new tools and methods for the analysis and modeling of large-scale datasets.

This project will involve computational work, thus students selecting this project should have an interest in programming.

Positions: 2


PROJECT #2

Title: Self-assembling polymers for novel proton transport membranes

Supervisors: Marta Giamberini

Contact: [email protected]

Research Group: METEOR (http://www.urv.cat/recerca_innovacio/en_meteor.html)

Description:

In the last 40 years, there has been a growing interest toward the "hydrogen economy", that is a system where hydrogen is in charge of energy delivery and acts as an energy carrier (like electricity) and not as a primary energy source (like coal or oil)1. This could be a possible solution to the huge energy problems caused by the disappearance of fossil fuels. On the other hand, hydrogen needs to be produced by an energy consuming method, stored and finally used as fuel in a fuel cell to deliver electric energy when needed.

As far as hydrogen production is concerned, the idea of using solar energy to perform water splitting, according to the reaction:

2H2O → 2H2 + O2

is currently under development2. The energy required for this reaction can be supplied by sunlight, but requires the use of a dye-sensitized solar cell, as water does not absorb the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the sun to promote water splitting in a kinetically facile way. This process can be combined with the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrates, and is generally referred to as "artificial photosynthesis". As presented in the international conference “TOWARDS GLOBAL ARTIFICIAL PHOTOSYNTHESIS. Energy, Nanochemistry & Governance”, the artificial photosynthesis project has the category of a global research project comparing or even overtaking the Human Genoma project. The two red-ox half-reactions involved in water splitting must take place in two different compartments so that hydrogen and oxygen gases can be stored in different containers. For this reason, a water-splitting device has to include in a single cell the following components: a light harvesting device, a water-oxidation catalyst, a proton-reduction catalyst and a proton-exchange membrane (PEM). The separation of the anodic and cathodic compartments through a PEM is crucial in order to separate efficiently H2 and O2 as well as to prevent short-circuiting of the cell. Moreover, in such a device the PEM should be capable of resisting quite severe conditions of pH and red-ox potentials.

Fuel cells are a kind of electrochemical device that converts chemical energy directly into electrical energy. They can be divided into five major categories: alkaline, phosphoric acid, solid oxide, molten carbonate and proton exchange membrane. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) work at relatively low temperature (about 80 ºC), have high power density, can vary their output quickly to meet shifts in power demand and are suitable for automobile applications. In PEMFCs the electrolyte is constituted by a polymer membrane, able to conduct protons, which is sandwiched between two electrodes. They, in turn, contain Pt-based catalysts that allow the oxidation and reduction reactions to take place. Among PEMFCs, we can find hydrogen fuel cells and direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC).

In DMFCs, the fuel is directly methanol; this entails several advantages over fuel cell systems based on hydrogen and compressed natural gas3, as methanol can be simply transported and applied under room temperature and atmospheric pressure by pumping from existing gasoline infrastructures without an external compressor or refrigeration equipment. This makes the volume of DMFCs as small as possible.

Furthermore, methanol has the highest hydrogen-to-carbon ratio among alcohols, thus giving the highest energy generation and the least carbon dioxide emissions; in addition, methanol is miscible with water: as a consequence, DMFCs can be fueled with different concentrations of a methanol aqueous solution. Besides, methanol can be obtained through biomass and is more environmentally friendly than gasoline since it breaks down quickly in the environment. The ideal membrane to be used in a DMFC should resist to relatively high temperatures, transport protons efficiently, be an insulator to electrons, act as barrier between the anode and cathode, possess good mechanical strength and be inexpensive.


The membranes currently used as PEM are far away to be considered optima with regard to their performance; therefore, the development of new proton exchange membranes is a topic of permanent interest. In this project we tackle this problem by preparing membranes based on self-assembling columnar side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers which lead to the formation of biomimetic ionic channels. These channels contain basic atoms (oxygen or nitrogen) to interact with protons thus allowing their transport across the membrane.

N.A. Kelly, T.L. Gibson, M. Cai, J.A. Spearot, D.B. Ouwerkerk, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 35, 892-899 (2010).

T.L. Gibson, N.A. Kelly, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 35, 900-911 (2010).

K. Kordesch, G. Simader, Fuel Cells and their Applications, Weinheim, Germany (ISBN 3-527-28579-2), p. 2-8 (1996).

Positions: 2

1. The first one deals with the synthesis and characterization of columnar side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers. This internship is addressed to students with an Organic Chemistry background. We offer the possibility of working with the classical methodology of the organic chemistry synthesis, as well as with techniques such as 1H and 13C NMR, Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR), polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small and wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD).

2. The second one is focused on the preparation and assessment of PEMs based on columnar side-chain liquid-crystalline polymers. In this case, the internship is addresses to students with Applied Chemistry or Chemical Engineering background. The student will have the possibility to work with membrane preparation techniques, microscopic techniques (environmental and conventional scanning electron microscopy -E-SEM, SEM, confocal microscopy-CM, atomic force microscopy-AFM) and contact angle measurements, as well as with XRD and POM; moreover, permeability tests will be eventually performed.


PROJECT #3

Title: Molecular simulation of the self-assembly of micellar systems

Supervisors: Allan Mackie


Research Group: Molecular Simulation (I. Complex Systems) (http://www.etseq.urv.es/ms/)

Description:

Many of the new applications in biomedicine and nanotechnology, such as the design of miniaturised chemical processes and new functional products, are based on the possibility of controlling the formation of structures and dynamic processes at the mesoscale and processes at the micro- and even nanoscale. The understanding and control of the mechanisms that relate the functionality and supramolecular structure with the microscopic composition of the constituents is the cornerstone for developing new intelligent materials having a strong impact in, for instance, biomedical applications, selective drug delivery, tissue repair, molecular recognition, and many others. The development of new industries in Europe and the USA, oriented to the production and application of products with high added value based on cutting edge R+D, is key to maintaining the competitiveness of our industries on an increasingly competitive global stage.

To be able to deliver the products and processes previously portrayed requires the development of fast predictive tools capable of exploring the capacities of molecules in the formation of superstructures and functionality at the nanoscopic scale, and which avoids the need for slow and costly empirical research in a vast universe of compounds and different thermodynamic conditions. Molecular simulation allows this virtual exploration to be undertaken in a fast and cheap way, and should serve as a guide for the indispensable experimental exploration in a final stage.

In this project, the student is asked to participate in one of our ongoing projects where we are seeking to understand and control the mechanisms that make micelles choose a particular size and shape. Micelles form when surfactants are found under conditions that make the aggregates of several tens or even hundreds of surfactants spontaneously self-assemble. Even though such systems are widely used in many industries, models which are able to quantitatively link the surfactant molecular structure to the final micellar solution properties are lacking. We propose to use both Monte Carlo molecular simulation as well as a Self Consistent Single Chain Mean Field Theory in order to explore and better understand these systems.

Positions: 1


PROJECT #4

Title: Simulation of bioethanol production plants

Supervisors: Laureano Jiménez Esteller & Gonzalo Guillén Gosálbez


Research Group: Sustainable Computer Aided Process Engineering, SUSCAPE (http://www.etseq.urv.es/suscape/)

Description:

This offer deals with the development of realistic process simulation models in order to compare the potential economical and environmental impact of some process design alternatives for bioethanol production processes.

The analysis is based on the combined use of process simulation tools (i.e. SuperPro Designer and Aspen Hysys), optimization software (i.e. Matlab, GAMS) and enviromental impact assessment. The aim of the method is provide an optimal process design of different biofuels production plants that simultaneously accounts for the maximization of the Net Present Value (NPV) and the minimization of the environmental impact (EI).

The specific objectives of the project are:

1. Development of a realistic model for the production of bioethanol.

2. Search for alternatives processes in order to improve performance.

3. Search for data for environmental and economic assessment of the plant.

It is recommendable the student to be familiar with modelling tools (Aspen Hysys, SuperPro…).

Positions: 1


PROJECT #5

Title: Cost-benefit analysis of energy efficiency measures in buildings

Supervisors: Dieter Boer & Laureano Jiménez Esteller


Research Group: Sustainable Computer Aided Process Engineering, SUSCAPE (http://www.etseq.urv.es/suscape/)

Description:

The energy consumption of buildings has an important contribution on the total energy demand. Thus, improving their energy efficiency is necessary for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. It is among the priorities established in the energetic plans established by national governments and the EC.

In this context the integration of energy storage in different forms shows a significant potential. In order to evaluate the effect of different materials and technologies it is necessary to establish models which represent the thermal behavior of different types of buildings and storage. In the frame of this work we will review the most important types of materials used. This includes both classical insulation materials, but also phase change materials, which may increase the thermal inertia of buildings. In order to evaluate the cost-benefit of them it is necessary to gather data on their environmental impact and their economic cost. This work forms part of a research project on the improvement of energy efficiencies in buildings.

The specific objectives of the project are:

1. Review of most relevant insulation and phase change materials for building application.

2. Review the life cycle assessment for the case study of a cubicle with different materials.

3. Evaluate the cost of different design alternatives for the case study of a cubicle with different materials.

It is recommendable the student to be familiar with modelling tools (Engineering Equation Solver, Excel, GAMS …).

Positions: 1


Project #6

Title: Methodology approach using effect-based monitoring tools to link water quality and pollutants in river basins

Supervisor: Dr. Marta Schuhmacher & Dr. Neus Roig


Research Group: Environmental Analysis and Management Group (AGA) (http://www.etseq.urv.es/aga/Equipo/equipo.php)

Description:

Water Framework Directive (WFD) is the main legislative piece of EU in relation to water quality. According to this Directive, the assessment of water status is based on the link between chemical and ecological status, although in some cases are not in coherence. To resolve this problem, ecotoxicity tests have been proposed as useful tools. Moreover, the use of effect-based monitoring tools has been mentioned in the context on the Common Implementation Strategy (CSI) 19, 25 and 27. Current chemical monitoring is focused on regulated substances which involves that many substances are not considered and their contributions to toxicity are lacking. Among these substances, pharmaceuticals due to their pseudo persistence and chronic inputs represent a risk for environment. Due to sediment is able to integrate stream pollution for a long time and may act as both sink and source of contaminants for the water column, it has advantage over other environmental compartments to assess the environmental quality. This approach has been employed in the Ebro river to evaluate water surface quality although the relative contributions of different pollutants for the whole toxicity was not assessed. The aim of this project will be to develop a general methodology allowing to identify the main pollutants and to evaluate the relative contribution of them to the toxicity in order to share these results with managers and stakeholders to improve management tools.

The specific aims of the project will be:

(1) to compare the effectiveness and viability of different ecotoxicity tests performed with freshwater sediments from Ebro river (directly and with pore water) taking as target organisms different aquatic species,

(2) to evaluate the relationship between ecological status, pollutant concentrations (organic chemicals and trace metals), their bioavailability, and water and sediment ecotoxicity,

(3) to design a new methodology to evaluate the status of river basins based on the incorporation of the ecotoxicological quality in the current chemical and ecologycal quality.

(4) to elaborate a decision support system able to optimize the current river monitoring programs, useful for the different water agencies.

References

Roig N., Nadal M., Sierra J., Ginebreda A., Schuhmacher M., Domingo J.L. (2011). Novel approach for assessing heavy metal pollution and ecotoxicological status of rivers by means of passive sampling methods. Environment International, 37: 671-677.

Roig N., Sierra J., Ortiz J.D., Merseburger G., Schuhmacher M., Domingo J.L., Nadal M. (2013). Integrated study of metal behavior in Mediterranean stream ecosystems: A case-study. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 263: 122-130.

Roig N., Sierra J., Nadal M., Moreno-Garrido I., Niteo E., Hampel M., Perez Gallego E., Schuhmacher M., Blasco J. (2014). Science of the Total Environment (in press)

Positions: 1


Project #7

Title: D-lactic acid production from lignocellulosic biomass: microwave treatment followed by microbial fermentation

Supervisors: Dr. Francesc Medina & Dr. Magda Constantí


Research Group: Heterogeneous Catalysis Group, CATHETER (http://www.etseq.urv.es/catalisi/) and Bioengineering & Bioelectrochemistry Group, BBG (http://www.etseq.urv.es/BBG/)

Description:

Nowadays the main industrial use of lignocellulose is direct combustion. Its usage as feedstock for value added compounds has a great potential for replacing petrochemical resources in industry. The chemical structure of lignocellulose obstructs its cleavage into profitable products. Lignocellulose is made of lignin, hemicellulose and cellulose. Its proportion depends on the concrete biomass source, nonetheless cellulose use to be the most abundant one. Thus, finding a successful process to hydrolyze cellulose would lead to a satisfactory usage of biomass as a feedstock to any industrial process. Enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is the most common treatment found on bibliography. However, in this work, a new process of hydrolyzing cellulose and taking benefit of it is followed to replace the expensive enzymatic process. Sulfuric acid is tested on dilute acid pretreatment of cellulose assisted by microwave, and characterized with TOC (total organic carbon), HPLC (high performance liquid chromatography) and XRD (X-ray diffraction). Then the hydrolyzed carbohydrates are used in fermentative processes, verifying their aptness for microbial feedstock. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are used in order to obtain optically pure lactic acid; extremely appreciate starting product for polylactic acid (PLA) production, a highly consumed bioplastic. Microwave pretreatment converted 80 % of cellulose, then bacterial fermentation by Lactobacillus delbrueckii delbrueckii produces D-lactic acid 97% optically pure. The growing demand of PLA together with the capability of explode cellulose potential, places this work as a potential industrial application.

The student will work on the fractionation and characterization of lignocellulose and/or cellulose materials for their application in microbiological processes.

Positions: 1


Project #8

Title: Encapsulation of bioactive compounds using dynamic membranes

Supervisors: Dr. C. Güell; Dr. M. Ferrando; Dr. S. de Lamo

Contact: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Research Group: Food Innovation & Engineering (FoodIE)

Description: Food industry is increasingly interested in producing healthy foods with good sensory properties. One of the most common trends is to enrich the food products using bioactive compounds or probiotics. Encapsulation technology enables to protect the bioactive compounds, providing the industry with the ingredients required to optimize food formulations and to meet market needs. Production of emulsions and solid microcapsules have evolved as main strategies to encapsulate. Membrane Emulsification (ME), in which droplets are formed (direct ME) or broke up (premix ME) by means of a porous medium, has some advantages compared to conventional homogenizers, that is, lower energy requirements and production of emulsions with a narrow droplet size distribution. ME drawbacks encompass low productivity and membrane fouling, especially during ME of food applications.

The project will focus on applying a new type of porous system in premix ME: dynamic membranes. Dynamic membranes are packed bed systems of silica microbeads that enable: i) to design the porous system for a particular emulsion formulation, improving the process efficiency and productivity, and ii) to re-use the porous material, which improves the process sustainability compared to conventional ME. Emulsification with dynamic membranes is an interesting alternative to reduce process costs and promote industrial application. The target compounds to encapsulate are examples of the ones typically used by the food industry: phenolic extracts, as example of bioactive compounds, and lactic bacteria as example of probiotics. These compounds will be encapsulated in double emulsions and solid microcapsules using protein polysaccharide complexes as stabilizers of the oil-water interphase. The project will study the impact of process parameters (flux, pressure, height of the bed, size of the silica microbeads, among others) in the encapsulation efficiency of the compounds.

Positions: 1


Project #9

Title: An electrifying jet set

Supervisors: Dr. Joan Rosell-Llompart & Dr. Jordi Grifoll


Research Group: DEW Lab – Droplets, intErfaces, and floWs (www.etseq.urv.cat/dew)

Description:

We study the formation of nanofibers and nanodroplets that form when a strong electrical field is applied to a liquid drop (i.e. liquid-gas interface). The basic fluid-dynamic phenomenon is illustrated in Figure 1. A liquid is supplied through a capillary tube (shown on left) from left to right. The tube is held at a high electrical potential relative to its surroundings (at a few kilovolts, typically). The electrical stresses pull the liquid into a conical shape, from whose apex a liquid micro-jet is emitted. The jet width is microscopic (Figure 2), and either breaks up into droplets (when using a “normal” liquid), or stretches to form a long continuous fiber (when the liquid is “gooey”, usually a polymeric solution). The first scenario leads to an electrostatically charged spray, called “electrospray” (Figure 3), the second to the formation of nanofibers, or “electrospinning” (Figure 4). We are interested in the development of electrospray and electrospinning processes and systems. The applications of these systems are numerous. By collaboration with specialized teams, we apply these methods to build novel micro- and nano-structures (such as particles, fibers, coatings, films) for use in optics, catalysis, energy, etc.

The main goal of this activity will be to engage the student in the research of DEW’s PhD students and faculty. A main current aim is to engineer multiplexed systems, in which electrostatic interference between nozzles is prevented, and to develop fundamental understanding of such systems. This involves a combination of experimental, theoretical, and computer modeling approaches. Our web site contains further information:

Join us for an electrifying experience!

Fig.1. Electrospray emitter. A conical liquid meniscus (Taylor cone) forms on a 0.3 mm diameter tube; a micro-jet (invisible) breaks up forming a spray (right) which fans out.

Fig. 2. Close up view of the microjet formed at the Taylor cone apex.

Fig. 3. Electrospray plume generated from an electrified capillary tube (shown at top).

Fig. 4. Electrospinning in action, showing a fiber undergoing characteristic whipping motion.

Positions: 1


Project #10

Title: Fuel cells research

Supervisors: Dr. Ricard Garcia-Valls


Research Group: METEOR-grup

Description:

The student will assist the PhD students already at METEOR in the existing funded project for the application of membranes in energy systems. He or she will learn about the preparation of the membranes, their characterization, and its inclusion in membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). The MEA’s will be included within real fuel cells and tested for the generation of electricity. As possible last step, the student would contribute to the construction of real demo units based on our membrane technology.

Positions: 2


Project #11

Title: Recovery of ionic liquids from aqueous solutions

Supervisors: Dr. Josep Font & Dr. Christophe Bengoa


Research Group: Chemical Reaction Engineering & Process Intensification Group (http://webgrec.urv.es/webpages/personal/ang/000004_jose.font.urv.cat.html)

Description:

The global continuous growth of energy demand poses urgent problem due to the fossil fuels' depletion, as they currently represent about 75% of all energy consumed worldwide [1]. One of the most promising renewable fuels proposed as an alternative is biodiesel that can be directly used with current engine and refuelling technology. However, the competitive potential of biodiesel is currently limited by the price of the common lipid feedstocks, which constitutes 70–85% of the overall biodiesel production cost, thus strongly influencing the final price of this biofuel and raising the concerns of food shortage versus fuel crisis.

In turn, municipal sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is gaining more attention nowadays as a lipid feedstock for the production of biodiesel as the dry sludge can contain up to 30 wt.% of lipids. In fact, sewage sludge is a waste that needs specific treatment before disposal and represents a major cost in the WWTP operation. The main challenge to be faced by biodiesel production from waste sludge is an efficient lipid extraction from water, as water can account for up to 95-98 wt.%, so dewatering and drying constitute more than 50% of total biodiesel production cost.

Our research group has developed and new efficient route for lipid recovery using water soluble ionic liquids avoiding the costly sludge dewatering. In this alternative, water is eliminated in a final stage, after extraction and decantation of the lipid fraction. This final step could be conducted through a combination of membrane processes; however, the critical factor is the ionic liquid concentration from a diluted aqueous stream applying nanofiltration (NF), which should be able to reject the ionic liquid and permeate the excess water content. This project aims at characterising (flux, recovery, rejection, fouling) the NF performance of an ionic liquid-water system in a broad range of operation (feed flowrate, transmembrane pressure) conditions.

References

Olkiewicz M., Caporgno M.P., Fortuny A., Stüber F., Fabregat A., Font J., Bengoa C. (2014). Direct liquid–liquid extraction of lipid from municipal sewage sludge for biodiesel production. Fuel Processing Technology 128: 331-338.

Olkiewicz M., Caporgno M., Plechkova N.V., Legrand J., Pruvost J., Lepine O., Bengoa C. (2014). Extraction of Lipid form Microalgae Biomass using Phosphonium based Ionic Liquid: Comparison Study with Standard Methods. Alg’n’ Chem 2014, 31 March - 3 April 2014, Montpellier (France).

Siddiquee M.N., Rohani S. (2011). Lipid extraction and biodiesel production from municipal sewage sludges: A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15: 1067-1072.

Kim Y.-H., Choi Y.-K., Park J., Lee S., Yang Y.-H., Kim H.J., Park T.-J., Kim Y.-H., Lee S.H. (2012). Ionic liquid-mediated extraction of lipids from algal biomass. Bioresource Technology 109: 312–315.

Fernández J.F., Bartel R., Bottin-Weber U., Stolte S., Thöming J. (2011). Recovery of Ionic Liquids from Wastewater by Nanofiltration. Journal of Membrane Science & Technology, S:4.

Positions: 1

Department of Mechanical Engineering - URV - 14 -

PROJECT #12

Title: Modeling silo flow by means of granular Navier-Stokes equations

Supervisors: Clara Salueña


Research Group: Experiments, Computation and Modelization in Fluid Mechanics and Turbulence (http://ecommfit.urv.es)

Description:

Conceptually, granular fluids are systems constituted by solid particles which interact via inelastic forces. Numerical simulation of particulate systems has given enormous insight on the transport processes ruling their motion; traditionally, molecular dynamics codes have been used to describe particle flow in diverse applications like shear flow, milling processes, gravity flow, etc. From particle positions and velocities hydrodynamic fields can be reconstructed by means of averaging procedures [1].

From a different point of view, interest has been growing in the hydrodynamic simulation of complex granular flows, with the aim of understanding the details of transport in the continuum limit. Similarly to molecular fluids, the large-scale behavior of a granular gas may be well described by hydrodynamic equations. Still however, an important difference between these systems exists: being isolated, molecular fluids keep their energy constant and stay uniform; oppositely, particulate systems would permanently cool down due to dissipative collisions, and external energy sources must be permanently supplied to avoid collapse. Not only that, but granular systems also develop complicated self-organized spatio-temporal structures such as clusters and vortices [2] and flow under hypersonic conditions [3-5]. Still, many phenomena found in granular systems have counterparts in molecular fluids, such as Faraday and Kelvin-Helmhotz intabilities [1,4]. The main difference is the poor scale separation of length and time scales and thus the inherent mesoscopic nature of their hydrodynamic description, specially at large packings.

A part from this theoretical focus, a much more applied side contemplates a number of applications: dynamics of deposition processes [5], impinging jet flow, and the subject of the present project, flow through an orifice --which takes place under very different conditions from those implied by Torricelli's law of usual liquids.

The student will learn

• To model particulate flows by means of hydrodynamic equations, describing situations of industrial interest.

• To visualize flow solutions with Paraview.

• To use a proprietary well validated code for dense granular media

With the objective

• To reproduce the behaviour of particulate materials flowing in a geometry typical of real applications, in particular silo flow in dynamic regime.

[1] Carrillo, J. A., Pöschel, T. and Saluena, C.: Granular hydrodynamics and pattern formation

in vertically oscillated granular disk layers. J. Fluid Mech. 597, pp. 119–144 (2008).

[2] Brilliantov, N. V., Saluena, C., Schwager, T. and Pöschel, T.: Transient Structures in a Granular Gas. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93 (13) 134301, (2004).

Department of Mechanical Engineering - URV - 15 -

[3] Salueña, C., Almazán, L. and Brilliantov, N. V.: Mechanisms of Cluster Formation in Force-Free Granular Gases. Math. Model. Nat. Phenom. 6 (4), pp. 175-190 (2011).

[4] Almazán, L., Salueña, C., Garzó, V., Carrillo, J. A. and Pöschel, T.: Role of kinetic transport coefficients for hydrodynamic simulations of granular flow, New J. Phys. 15, 043044, (2013).

[5] Almazán, L., Serero, D., Pöschel, T. and Saluena, C.: Self-organized Shocks in the Sedimentation of a Granular Gas, in press

Positions: 1

Department of Analytical and Organic Chemistry - URV - 16 -

PROJECT #13

Title: Applications of novel optical sensors for clinical diagnostics

Supervisors: Pascal Blondeau & F. Javier Andrade

Contact: [email protected], [email protected]

Research Group: Laboratory of Nanosensors (http://www.quimica.urv.cat/quimio/nanosensors/)

Description:

Membrane‐based electrochemical sensors have been for decades a powerful research tool and the base for many diagnostic devices. One of the best examples is the use of ion selective electrodes, which is still one of the workhorses of the clinical lab. In this approach, a polymeric membrane is used as support for immobilizing the selective receptor for the generation of the analytical signal for the substance of interest. This approach is simple, fast and robust, although show several limitations particularly in terms of sensitivity.

For this reason, a couple of decades ago the principles of detection of these membrane‐based sensors were re‐thought. The use of optical detection –instead of electrochemical methods was proposed in order to introduce several advantages. A chromogenic substance (the “chromoionophor”) is added in order to generate an optical signal. These optical sensors show improved sensitivity and versatility. However, they are also subject to the problems resulting from the use of membranes, i.e. selectivity.

Very recently, an alternative approach was presented using nano‐spheres of polystyrene as a support for the selective receptor and the chromoionophore to selectively monitor the changes in ion concentration in solution was presented. This approach shows great sensitivity and versatility. Nevertheless, since these results are very recent, little is yet known about the actual analytical performance of this approach for different systems and their use in real samples. Therefore, there is significant interest on exploring the use and application of these novel sensors, especially for the development of low cost, decentralized sensing devices for health monitoring.

This work aims to develop, study and validate the analytical performance of sensors for relevant targets in biological fluids for health monitoring. The work aims to explore the potential of these novel sensors for developing sensing mechanisms for biological molecules of interest and its potential to build decentralized analytical systems.

We are looking for a self motivated, curious and hard‐working student, with strong biased towards the

experimental work. Ability to work in teams is essential.

X. Xie, G. A. Crespo, J. Zhai, I. Szilagyi and E. Bakker Chem. Commun., 2014, 50, 4592-4595.

Positions: 1


PROJECT #14

Title: Paper-based biosensors using ZnO nanomaterials and carbon nanotubes

Supervisors: F. Javier Andrade



Description:

The development of decentralized tools for the analysis of biological fluids is becoming an extremly

interesting and growing area. Chemical sensors that can be used everywhere (at home, at a doctor´s

practice, in a pharmacy, outdoors, etc.) are increasingly required. In particular, the spreading and

consolidation of approaches such as telehealth is urgently demanding low-cost, sensitive and simple

to use biochemical sensors. Paper is a very suitable platform for this type of sensors as it is very

cheap, so the resulting sensors are affordable and disposable. Our group has been successfully

working on the development of paper-based sensors for the detection of ions in solution, taking

advantage of the singular properties of carbon nanotubes (CNT). Our work has shown that the use of

conventional papers modified with nanomaterials is a powerful way to build ultra-low-cost and high

performance electrochemical sensors.

The field of paper-based sensors is quickly growing, and our group is willing to expand the frontiers

towards the development of novel bio-sensing devices. In order to do this, other the application of new

nanostructured materials will be explored. Nanomaterials made with Zinc Oxide, for example, have

been recently reported as a substrate to build bionsensors. This opens new avenues for the

development of ultra-low-cost, simple and efficient biosensors.

The aim of this work is the synthesis, characterization and functionalization of nanomaterials in order

to generate biosensing devices. These nanomaterials will be either grown over a CNT-paper or

deposited onto metallic surfaces, where they will be used as transduction elements for the generation

of an electrical signals. Different approaches for the modification and functionalization of these

materials will be explored. Initially, the development of a paper-based potentiometric sensor for the

detection of cholesterol will be explored. The results of the optimization of this sensor will be extended

to the development of a disposable glucose sensor.

This work involves chemistry, biology, nanotechnology and electrochemistry. Therefore, the ideal

candidate is expected to have some basic knowledge in some of these fields and motivation to learn

and explore different areas. Strong experimental bias and basic knowledge on microscopic techniques

would be advantageous. The candidate should be a person with the ability to plan methodically but

also to try new approaches and applications to real problems. Ability to work in teams and strong

sense of commitment to the work are essential.

1. C. Price, Clical Review, 2011, 322, 1285-1288.


2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT1hO7MBlRM

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Positions: 1


PROJECT #15

Title: Immunopotentiometric sensors based on nanostructured materials

Supervisors: Jordi Riu & F. Javier Andrade

Contact: [email protected], [email protected]


Description:

The detection of biocompounds such as proteins is increasingly gaining importance in the current society needs. Nowadays is important to have a rapid, low-cost and reliable method for protein detection. Among the electrochemical techniques, the simplest, most widespread, and most field portable methodologies are based on potentiometry. The current wave of potentiometric solid-state (bio)sensors represents an attractive tool for real-time bioanalysis. The possibility of using antibodies as a highly specific recognition element to build immunopotentiometric sensors would open a massive field of applications, but so far this is a controversial topic of research. We propose the generation of new solid-contact immunopotentiometric sensors based on nanostructured materials such as carbon nanotubes or graphene as electronic transducers and antibodies as selective receptors for the target protein. The initial prototype of the biosensor will be constructed over a classical solid support such as glassy carbon rod, but in a further step we pretend to move to low-cost supports such as paper, rubber or cotton yarns, with the aim to develop miniaturized biosensors that can be converted in fully point-of-care devices.

The expected contribution to the state-of-the-art is a new generation of immunopotentiometric sensors with improved analytical performances for protein detection. Our research group (www.quimica.urv.cat/quimio/nanosensors) has all the facilities and the experience for the construction of biosensors. The experimental work will consist of several multidisciplinary steps involving material science and nanotechnology (construction of the plastic antibody and surface characterization) as well as biotechnology (analyte preparation) and analytical chemistry (characterisation of the analytical performances of the sensor). It is expected that the candidate is a self motivated person with the ability to explore different areas of research. Our group is looking for a student having sound of knowledge of chemistry and biochemistry with high capability of working in team, curiosity and initiative.

Positions: 1

Documents

Universitat Rovira i Virgili - Chemical Engineering | · PDF file · 2015-12-04opens the door to significantly advance our understanding of their behavior, ... methods for the analysis