Mojtaba Mohseni
Both my bachelor and master programs were fulfilled at the best technical university of Iran, called Sharif University of Technology. “Simulation and Optimization of Dry air in a Membrane Humidifier” and “Evaluation of Highly Concentrated Phenolic Wastewater Treatment in a Membrane Biological Reactor (MBR)” were my bachelor and master thesis subjects, respectively. I managed to acquire and develop skills both in the theoretical and experimental dimensions of my field of expertise
Micro-pollutants (MPs), meaning organic chemicals at trace concentration, have introduced themselves as a new emerging challenge. Pharmaceuticals are the main group of MPs and appear persistent to biological treatment, and conventional wastewater treatment methods are unable to remove them properly. Therefore, the necessity of a highly effective physicochemical method that is adaptable to conventional systems is imperative. Regarding this target, Electro-Fenton (EF) process—a synergy of electrical energy and chemical reactions—is occurring to mind as a strong oxidative method by forming the brutal hydroxyl radicals. However high efficiency at acidic pH (around 3) and produced iron sludge have made it impractical for real-life condition and should be addressed.
Therefore, the main objective of this PhD project is to develop an innovative process that is economically justifiable, efficiently effective, practically hybridizable, and environmentally friendly.
Status PhD
- PhD successfully defended
- Supervisors / promoters: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Wessling, Dr.-Ing. Süleyman Yüce, Prof. Dr.ir. Kristof Demeestere, Prof. Dr.ir. Gijs Du Laing
- Final title of the PhD thesis: Novel Freestanding Carbons for Micropollutants Removal through Sustainable Processes
- Place and date of PhD defense: RWTH, Aachen, 31.03.2022
- PhD degree awarding institutions: RWTH Aachen and Ghent University
Publications arising from the PhD
- Mohseni, M., Postacchini, P., Demeestere, K., Du Laing, G., Yüce, S., & Wessling, M. (2020). Freestanding PAC/CNT microtubes remove sulfamethoxazole from water through a temperature-assisted cyclic process. Journal of hazardous materials, 392. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.122133)
- Mohseni, M., Demeestere, K., Du Laing, G., Yüce, S., Keller, R. G., & Wessling, M. (2021). CNT Microtubes with Entrapped Fe3O4 Nanoparticles Remove Micropollutants through a Heterogeneous Electro‐Fenton Process at Neutral pH. Advanced Sustainable Systems, 5(4), 2100001. (https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202100001)
- Mohseni, M., Utsch, N., Marcks, C., Demeestere, K., Du Laing, G., Yüce, S., ... & Wessling, M. (2021). Freestanding Nitrogen‐Doped Carbons with Hierarchical Porosity for Environmental Applications: A Green Templating Route with Bio‐Based Precursors. Global Challenges, 5(11), 2100062. (https://doi.org/10.1002/gch2.202100062)
- Mohseni, M., Zängler, W., Demeestere, K., Du Laing, G., Bhandari, S., Mechler, A. K., ... & Wessling, M. (2022). One-pot synthesized, Fe-incorporated self-standing carbons with a hierarchical porosity remove carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole through heterogeneous electro-Fenton. Chemical Engineering Journal, 137006. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137006 Open Access Link: https://engrxiv.org/preprint/view/2479
Link to PhD thesis
https://publications.rwth-aachen.de/record/847266 (DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2022-05200)
Short abstract/summary
Nowadays, the occurrence of organic micropollutants (OMPs), especially pharmaceuticals, in water bodies has caused widespread concerns due to their negative impacts, e.g., bioaccumulating in living organisms and developing antibiotic-resistant bacteria and genes. On the other hand, conventional wastewater treatment plants, including a main biological step, fail to remove highly mobile and recalcitrant pharmaceuticals efficiently, posing new challenges for the clean water supply. This thesis introduces novel freestanding carbons that can serve an adsorbent, an electrode, or both to remove OMPs via adsorption, (electro-) Fenton-based oxidation or a combination of them in a so-called cyclic process. Such self-standing carbon materials can facilely incorporate different catalysts nanoparticles inside their structure.
Two self-standing carbon microtubes were synthesized using carbon nanotubes (CNT) as the main constituent, mixed with powdered activated carbons (PAC) and Fe3O4 nanoparticles to serve as a micro-and mesoporous adsorbent (PAC/CNT microtube) and a Fe-incorporated carbon electrode (Fe3O4/CNT microtube), respectively. The addition of PAC to the CNT matrix increased the specific surface area by introducing micropores as high energy centers for OMPs removal, especially at low equilibrium concentrations. A temperature-assisted Fenton oxidation was proposed to regenerate the SMX-saturated PAC/CNT microtube and reuse it for 12 consecutive cycles. Compared to the room temperature oxidation, the temperature-assisted Fenton showed an enhanced regenerated capacity in each cycle and extended durability of the adsorbent by mitigating the adsorption of undesired compounds during the Fenton process. Fe3O4/CNT microtubes proved to degrade CBZ as an efficient cathode for heterogeneous electro-Fenton (HEF) with good reusability and minimal catalysts leaching in acidic environments. Moreover, as a green alternative to CNT-based carbons, a novel synthesis method to fabricate monolithic carbons was introduced using chitosan and sucrose as bio-based precursors. Final monolithic carbons possess high specific surface areas (up to 703 m2g−1), a hierarchical porosity, and nitrogen and oxygen as heteroatoms. Monolithic carbons served as an adsorbent with adequate separation properties to adsorb SMX, being comparable to commercial granular carbons despite having 50% less specific surface area. Furthermore, cylindrical and tubular carbons were deployed directly as electrodes and gas diffusion electrodes (GDE), respectively. Next, successful incorporation of Fe3O4 into bio-based carbons was carried out, and final Fe-containing carbons were used as electrodes and GDEs and proved to remove both SMX and CBZ and a mixture of them effectively at pH 3 and 7.
This thesis emphasizes the advantages of self-standing carbons, with scaling-up perspectives, to develop efficient, more sustainable, and cost-effective processes for clean water supply and pave the way for implementing tangible (micro) tubular reactors.
