NEWS

New Laboratory Inaugurated as part of the ERA|ARE Project

September 27, 2024

On September 20, an new laboratory was officially inaugurated as part of the project ERA|ARE - A New ERA for Environmental Risk Assessment: Chirality as a Tool to Promote Environmentally Safe Drugs. The project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC) and led by Rita Lado, a Principal Investigator from LSRE-LCM/ALiCE.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by notable figures, including Rui Calçada, Director of FEUP, Fernando Pereira, Director of DEQ, Arminda Alves, Coordinator of AliCE, Joaquim Faria, Coordinator of LSRE-LCM, as well as national members of the ERA|ARE Advisory Board.

The inauguration was also attended by the dedicated project team, who were instrumental in setting up the laboratory from scratch.

The ERA-ARE project aims to revolutionize environmental risk assessment by leveraging chirality to ensure the development of environmentally safe pharmaceuticals. The research line, led by Ana Rita Lado, focuses on understanding the role of enantioselective environmental processes in the behaviour of chiral antibiotics present in residual amounts in the environment. The results of this project will help to prevent the development of antibiotic resistance by providing innovative guidelines for assessing the environmental risk of chiral antibiotics and encouraging the pharmaceutical industry to research drugs that are safer for the environment.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

PUBLICATIONS

Almeida C.F., Manrique Y.A., Lopes J.C.B., Martins F.G., Dias M.M.. Recovery of ergosterol from Agaricus bisporus mushrooms via supercritical fluid extraction: A response surface methodology optimisation. Heliyon, 10, e21943, 2024
Lopes J.C., Albero J., Sampaio M.J., Silva C.G., García H., Faria J.L.. Selective oxidative coupling of amines through light-activated bismuth halide perovskites. ChemCatChem, 16, e202301432, 2024
Corrêa I., Faria R.P.V., Rodrigues A.E.. Enhanced simulated moving bed reactor performance for the synthesis of solketal by implementing the ModiCon strategy. Adsorption, 30, 79 - 93, 2024
Paulista L.O., Ferreira A.F.P., Castanheira B., Ðolić M.B., Martins R.J.E., Boaventura R.A.R., Vilar V.J.P., Silva T.F.C.V.. Solar-driven thermo-photocatalytic CO2 methanation over a structured RuO2:TiO2/SBA-15 nanocomposite at low temperature. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 340, 123232, 2024
Fdez-Sanromán A., Torres-Pinto A., Rosales E., Silva C.G., Faria J.L., Pazos M., Silva A.M.T.. Optimisation of a photoelectrochemical system for the removal of pharmaceuticals in water using graphitic carbon nitride. Catalysis Today, 432, 114578, 2024

APPROVED PROJECTS

SWMOF - Water capture from atmospheric humidity using ecological MOFs and integration with intelligent water distribution systems. Reference: Water4All/0003/2022. Funded by: FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Water4All - Water4All Partnership (co-funded by Horizon Europe). Starting Date: 2024/04/01. Duration: 36 months.
ReWateR - Recovery of Wastewater Resources in Agriculture. Reference: 82343. Funded by: “La Caixa” Foundation, INCF - Incoming Fellowship 2023. Starting Date: 2024/04/01. Duration: 36 months.
ERA-ARE - A new ERA for Environmental Risk Assessment: Chirality as a tool towards environmentally safe pharmaceuticals. Reference: ERC - 101039270. Funded by: European Comission, Horizon Europe | ERC | STARTING GRANTS. Starting Date: 2023/12/31. Duration: 60 months.
NEWater - Unconventional, natural and low-energy solutions for managing water sources. Reference: Water4All/0002/2022. Funded by: FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Water4All - Water4All Partnership (co-funded by Horizon Europe). Starting Date: 2023/12/01. Duration: 36 months.
RESURGENCE - Industrial Water Circularity: Reuse, resource recovery and energy efficiency for greener digitised EU process. Reference: 101138097. Funded by: European Comission, Horizonte Europa | Cluster 4: Digital, Industry and Space. Starting Date: 2023/12/01. Duration: 48 months.

THESIS DEFENSES

Vinicius Viena Santana
Cyber-physical oriented chemical process for green and sustainable production
André Tiago Torres Pinto
Optimised 2D Carbon Materials Activated by Artificial Light and Electrical Current for Catalytic Water and Wastewater Treatment
Larissa Oliveira Paulista
Solar-Driven Thermo-Photocatalytic CO2 Valorisation into Value-Added Fuels
Isabel Sousa Fernandes
Multiphase Flow in NETmix: mixing studies and applications
Rute Agostinha Gomes Seabra
Separation of light hydrocarbons by Simulated Moving Bed
Rafael Gomes Morais
Noble-metal free carbon-based materials for energy conversion