PhD Topic Announcement
Title: Grafén kompozit nanostruktúrák szintézise, jellemzése és funkcionalizálása
vízszennyeződések adszorpciós eltávolításához
Synthesis, characterization and functionalization of graphene composite nanostructure
for adsorptive remediation of water pollutants
Research field: chemical and environmental engineering
Name of Doctoral School: Doctoral School of Chem. Eng. and Material Sciences
Institute:
University of Pannonia, Institute of Environmental Engineering
Thesis supervisor: Prof. Dr Ákos Rédey and Dr. Tatjána Juzsakova
email: redey.akos@gmail.com
Location of studies:
Homepage:
Institute of Environmental Engineering, University of Pannonia, Veszprém
Description of the research topic: (max 1500 characters)
A kutatási téma ismertetése:
Pollution of air, water and soil is a worldwide issue for the eco-environment and human
society. Removal of various pollutants including inorganic and organic compounds from the
environment is a big challenge. Adsorption techniques are usually simple and work
effectively. However, the adsorption capacities of materials depend on their porous structure
and surface properties. Graphene oxide (GO) and graphene are new carbonaceous
nanomaterials. Graphene is a two-dimensional carbon nanomaterial with single layer of sp 2 hybridized carbon atoms arranged in six-membered rings. Graphene and graphene oxide has
functional groups, indicating their potential for the adsorption processes. In the past few
years, many investigations have been focused on the applications of graphene or composites
in removal of pollutants from water. Graphene oxide possesses several functional groups and
strong acidity, exhibiting high adsorption for basic compounds and cations while graphene
shows hydrophobic surface and presents high adsorption to chemicals due to strong π-π
interaction. Modification of graphene oxide or graphene with metal oxides or organics can
produce various nanocomposites, enhancing adsorption capacity and separation efficiency.
Activation of graphene into porous carbonaceous material will be a promising way to further
enhance adsorption capacity. Moreover, water pollution is considered to be a major
environmental problem worldwide, and among the various water pollutants, heavy metals
require special attention because of their toxic effect on humans and the environment. Heavy
metals are considered to be the most important pollutant in source and treated water. The
increased use of heavy metals industrially resulted in an increase in the availability of
metallic substances in natural source water. Moreover, heavy metals form a very dangerous
category due to their toxic and carcinogenic nature, non-biodegradable and hence, tend to
accumulate in the environment for long time. Some of these toxic elements are cadmium,
lead, mercury, nickel, chromium and zinc. Several studies have addressed nanoparticles,
mainly metal oxides, as effective and efficient adsorbents in the cleanup of environmental
contaminants, mainly because nanoparticles can penetrate into the contamination zone where
microparticles cannot. Among the conventional techniques the adsorption is the most
effective technique. Various adsorbents such as activated carbon, silica gel, and graphite
oxide can be used in the purification of water. Historically, graphite oxide and other carbon
based nanomaterials have been used as adsorbent for environmental purification and water
treatment applications for the removal of inorganic and organic pollutants. Graphene oxide as
new material and its composites offers utility in several applications due to its unique twodimensional nature , associated band structure and large surface area and presence of surface
functional groups .
A comparative study is suggested within the PhD research between different nanostructure materials
to investigate their ability in removal of some heavy metals from waters. Nanostructured graphene
oxide, Fe2O3/graphene oxide composites, graphene oxide functionalized with nitrogen and hydrogen
composite and graphene nanoparticles were suggested as an adsorbents for the removal of the heavy
metal ions from aqueous solutions by a batch and continuous adsorption method and modelled using
classical Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms. Metals like nickel, zinc, lead, cadmium and
chromium will be used in certain concentration as pollutants and as a targetted components for
removal by adsorption in this work.
Required language skills: English
Further requirements: ( MSc in Chemical Engineering or Environmental Engineering or Chemistry)