Archives: Research topics

Motivation – shift from linear production economy to circular economy for waste processing and recycling, combined with efficient recovery of valuable elements from primary resources, including high- and low-grade and complex ores. Focused on: Various municipal and industrial wastes, metal-bearing wastes, and mine tailings, Recovery of metals and rare earth elements from various types of…

Motivation – understanding the environmental behavior of waste and secondary resources requires analytical approaches tailored to complex matrices, with a focus on assessing contaminant leaching and mobility into the surrounding environment to enable safe and informed treatment, recovery, and reuse. Focused on: Development of analytical approaches for complex and heterogeneous waste matrices, Assessment of contaminant…

Motivation –  improving the efficiency and performance of recycling and treatment technologies. Focused on: Flow analysis of process main streams, Troubleshooting of the operational process plant to increase grade and recovery, as well as energy efficiency, Optimization of process operating parameters, Thermochemical fuel conversion and flue gas treatment, Treatment of primary process waste or waste…

Motivation – waste classification and hazardous properties evaluation based on environmental properties and risk assessment ensuring safe handling, regulatory compliance, environmental protection, and suitability for recycling, recovery, or reuse. Focused on: Environmental characterization of waste, industrial residues, and secondary resources, Assessment of contaminant release, mobility, and long-term behavior under environmentally relevant conditions, Environmental characterization tests…

Motivation – bridging research with real-world implementation and decision-making, with a focus on solving real-world problems and improving industrial processes in cooperation with industry, policy, and public administration. Focused on: Contribution to the legal framework and policy, Support for process development and optimization, Cooperation with industrial partners and research institutions, Implementation of circular economy strategies,…

Self-sufficiency of human crews during long-term space missions is one of the current challenges of space research. A key element in addressing this issue lies in bioregenerative life support systems, which employ photosynthetic organisms (such as plants, microalgae, or cyanobacteria) to recycle crew waste products, produce oxygen and food, and absorb carbon dioxide—thus forming the…

We focus on the development, testing, and characterization of highly functional thin films on the basis of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for visible light-induced pollutant degradation and water splitting. The goal is to obtain highly active and durable photocatalytic films with application-tailored properties such as thickness, porosity, and photocatalytic activity. The cost-effective and reproducible method…

Batch-to-continuous transformation of phase-transfer catalyzed N-alkylation reactions for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. This case study of N-alkylation of lysergic acid derivatives represents a fast, exothermic reaction occurring on the interface among aqueous and organic phases. Current state-of-the-art preparation includes batch process with yields of only about 80% and the use of toxic alkylation agents. Intensification…

With the development of additive manufacturing technologies (3D printing), the Periodic Open Cellular Structures (POCS) are emerging as a suitable alternative to random particle beds, that represent the most utilized packed bed fillings for trickle bed catalytic reactors.  POCS structures have a high potential for improving transport characteristics such as pressure drop, mass, and heat…

Micro- and mesoscale (below 1 μm) phenomena play a dominant role in the resulting macroscopic properties for a wide variety of material types, e.g., soft matter, biological matter, complex fluids, composite materials or additively-manufactured materials.  Predictive modelling and simulation of materials response requires multiscale modelling at length and time scales ranging from atomistic to continuum. …