Projects
Light from the Orient / Light on the Orient Ghent University
The title refers to form and content of this exhibition of a unique photocollection of the Ghent professor Franz Cumont (1868-1947), accumulated on his travels and excavations in Turkey, the Lebanon and Syria. Cumont was a specialist of ancient mysterycults like Mithras, Adonis and Syrian Ba’als, popular in the Roman Empire. He traveled extensively and made purchases for musea in Brussels and Mariemont. His archives in Ghent and Rome contain ...
N-heterocyclic carbent ligands for catalysis in ionic solvents Ghent University
Recovery of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides from bauxite residue using solvent extraction with ionic liquids. KU Leuven
Secondary resources are essential to maintain the supply of critical metals in our fast-developing society. Recovery of metals from waste materials is not only important to meet the increasing demand, but also in view of a sustainable future for our planet. The rare-earth elements are listed as critical metals by the European Commission because of their essential role in, amongst others, permanent magnets for many high-tech and green ...
Intensified SOlvent extraction for critical MEtal Recovery (ISOMER) KU Leuven
This project deals with the intensification of solvent (liquid-liquid) extraction technology for small-volume, but high-value streams containing critical metals. To that end, research is performed on 1) the chemical development and optimisation of solvent extraction systems in milliflow devices using ionic liquids, 2) the improvement of contacting and separation efficiency by the application of ultrasound in these milliflow devices, and 3) ...
Safe and efficient dehydration of organic solvents for synthesis purposes by means of a ‘Solvent Purification System’ Ghent University
The use of anhydrous solvents is a daily reality in laboratories for organic synthesis, and a system for ‘drying’ organic solvents is thus to be considered as basic research equipment for such a lab. This project aims at replacing the old and extremely dangerous distillation equipment (distillation over metallic sodium) in the SynBioC group by an efficient and safe system based on purification columns, as is the case in all leading synthesis ...
Functionalised ceramic membranes for solvent filtration. University of Antwerp
Role of solvent effects on the propagation kinetics in free radical polymerization reations Ghent University
Gas phase predictions lead to reaction rate coefficients being 3 orders of magnitude smaller than the experimental values if polymerization takes place in solvent. Implicit and explicit salvations models have to be employed to take into account the solvent effects. The project also investigates the role of monomers and type of solvent molecules on the reaction rate.
Solvent based recycling of plastic waste Ghent University
The goal is to selectively dissolve waste plastics in suitable solvents towards recycling. When the plastic is liquefied, it should be cleaned. The goal of this PhD is to assess technologies to clean the dissolved polymers from contaminations and additives, for example by filtration and centrifugation. For this purpose, physicochemical parameters such as solubility and viscosity are crucial.