News

01/10/2024

Dr. Emmanuel Umejuru started a new position as Postdoctoral researcher in our research team. He will work in the frame of the PRG2115 team grant on the haeavy metal ions extraction from polluted water. Welcome in the team Emmanuel!

19/09/2024

Our research team attended the E-MRS conference 2024 in Warsaw. It was a good opportunity for the PhD students and the postdoc to present their research outcomes. A total of 6 contributions have been presented there (2 oral presentations and 4 poster presentations). It was a nice experience and stay for Priyanka, Sadaf, Keshav, Patrico and Reynald.

26/08/2024

Congratulations to our PhD student Keshav Nagpal who successfully defended his PhD thesis on ZnO nanostructures applied to photodiode at EMÜ, in Tartu, Estonia. He enjoyed the fruitful discussion with his two opponents Prof. Ola Nilsen and Prof. Bertrand Vilquin. We thank them for the very constructive questions and discussion.

Polymer encapsulation of zinc oxide nanostructures for photodiode for LED applications
Congratulation Keshav!

07/06/2024

Keshav Nagpal who is PhD student and will soon defend his thesis, just published his fifth research paper on the study of hybrid UV photodiodes based on ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure in Applied Physics Letters Materials (AIP). Congratulations Keshav!

Fabrication and evaluation of figures of merit of ZnO polymer-based hybrid UV photodiodes

24/05/2024

Our PhD students received the award of the best presentation during the Ph.D. students’ Days of the Faculty of Food Engineering, Tourism and Environmental Protection of “Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad. Congratulations Patricio (1st place) and Reynald (2nd place)!

21/05/2024

We recently published a manuscript that describe a new methodology to assess the antimicrobial properties of metallic nanoparticles, in International Journal of Molecular Science (MDPI).

Use of Aloe Vera Gel as Media to Assess Antimicrobial Activity and Development of Antimicrobial Nanocomposites

20/04/2024

Our team presented our research project and activities at Maamess! We discussed with the public and explain the problem of water contamination and how the technology we are working on can offer a solution. We had very interesting discussions, and we could feel a real need for an affordable technology that can enable the safe use of well water for every purposes.

16/04/2024

This is big news for the whole team! Our Thematic research and development programs from Estonian Ministry of Research (TEM-TA144) got funded! The Estonian Ministry of Research and Education and Sihtasutus Eesti Teadusagentuur (ETAg) will support our research activities related to Development of nano-additives to optimize jet fuel combustion and reduce carbon footprint.

15/04/2024

Reynald Ponte who is PhD student just published his first research paper on the synthesis of SnO2 nanoparticles in Journal of Material Science (Springer). Congratulations Reynald!

Surface-defect tailoring in SnO2 (CNT) nanomaterials via sol-gel routes and its influence on the cycling stability

08/01/2024

This is great news for the whole team! Our Team Grant research funding application PRG2115 got funded! Sihtasutus Eesti Teadusagentuur(ETAg) will support our research activities related to water remediation (extraction of heavy metal ions, dye removal and removing bacteria).

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All The research Team wish you a Happy and Successful New Year 2024

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2023

01/12/2023

Dr. Priyanka Panchal received a Mobilitas+ Postdoctoral grant to join our team and work in the frame of the carbon-based nanomaterials applied to water cleaning and hydrogen production under the supervision of Prof. Erwan Rauwel and Protima Rauwel. Congratulations and welcome Priyanka!

 

24/11/2023

We are happy to announce that our Special Issue in MDPI Nanomaterials has been converted into a book “Functional Nanomaterials for Optoelectronics and Photocatalysis”. We thank all the authors who have contributed to its success.

01/11/2023

Dr. Sadaf Alibhai Jethva received a Mobilitas+ Postdoctoral grant to join our team and work in the frame of the nanomaterials-based applied to dye degradation and green electricity production in aqueous media under the supervision of Prof. Protima Rauwel. Congratulations and welcome Sadaf!

25/09/2023

Congratulations to our 3 PhD students Keshav Nagpal, Patricio Paredes and Reynald Ponté who attended the E-MRS Warsaw and had very interesting and fruitful discussions with other attendees. They presented their research outcomes through 3 poster presentations.

01/09/2023

Congratulations to Prof. Protima Rauwel for her IAAM Scientist Medal in recognition for her contribution to “Nanomaterials & Nanotechnology” at the 55th Assembly of Advanced Materials Congress in August 2023, Sweden.

 

31/08/2023

Keshav Nagpal who is PhD student just published his fourth research paper on the synthesis of ZnO nanorod hierarchical structure in Nanotechnology (IOP). Congratulations Keshav!

Relevance of alcoholic solvents in the growth of ZnO nanoparticles and ZnO hierarchical nanorod structures on their optical and opto-electrical properties

03/07/2023

Our former postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Yuri Hendrix published the results of his research activities in our group Nanomaterials MDPI Open Access journal. Congratulations Yuri!

Revealing the Dependency of Dye Adsorption and Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO Nanoparticles on Their Morphology and Defect States” 

12/06/2023

We are glad to inform that our PhD student Mr. Reynald Ponte just published his first review paper in the field of SnO2 nanomaterials applied to Energy Storage in Materials MDPI Open Access journal. Congratulations Reynald!

Tailoring SnO2 Defect States and Structure: Reviewing Bottom-Up Approaches to Control Size, Morphology, Electronic and Electrochemical Properties for Application in Batteries

10/04/2023

We are glad to inform that our PhD student Mr. Patrico Paredes just published his first research paper in the field of nanomaterials applied to photocatalysis in Nanomaterials MDPI Open Access journal. Congratulations Patricio!

Sunlight-Driven Photocatalytic Degradation of Methylene Blue with Facile One-Step Synthesized Cu-Cu2O-Cu3N Nanoparticle Mixtures

28/03/2023

The first manuscript reporting the extraction of heavy metal ions from water using cobalt-based nanocomposite is now available in Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. The study is the first of its kind and other results will follow. ” Nanocobalt based (Co@Co(OH)2) sand nanocomposite applied to manganese extraction from contaminated water

 

ARCHIVES

2022

01/11/2022

Dr. Yuri Hendrix started a new position as . Congratulations on this new opportunity Yuri! We wish you all the success.

11/10/2022

We are happy to inform that our PhD student Keshav Nagpal just published his second research paper in Nanomaterials MDPI Open Access journal. Congratulations Keshav!

Significance of Hydroxyl Groups on the Optical Properties of ZnO Nanoparticles Combined with CNT and PEDOT:PSS

04/10/2022

Our book chapter entitled “Antimicrobial nanoparticles: Synthesis, mechanism of actions” is now published in “Antimicrobial Activity of Nanoparticles, Applications in Wound Healing and Infection Treatment” Edited by Dr. Grégory Guisbiers, Elsevier

01/09/2022

Mr. Reynald Ponte joined our research team as PhD student. He will work in the field Tin-based nanomaterials as electrode materials for lithium ion batteries. Welcome Reynald!

Dr. Siim Küünal who is Lecturer at the Estonian University of Life Science just joined our research team as researcher. Welcome back Siim!

19/08/2022

We developed a new method to measure Arsenic content in water using portable Lovibond photometer.

A colorimetric method of As3+ ion detection and quantification using hand-held Lovibond photometer

29/06/2022

We are happy to inform that our PhD student Mr. Patrico Paredes published is first paper on:

Surveying the Synthesis, Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Activity of Cu3N Nanomaterials

We wish you a pleasant and informative reading, and we hope that this OPEN ACCESS review will serve as a valuable support for researchers  and PhD students in the field of copper nitride nanomaterials.

01/05/2022

We are happy to announce that our Special Issue in MDPI Materials has been converted into a book “Metal Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications”. We thank all the authors who have contributed to its success.

15/03/2022

Dr. Yuri Hendrix just joined our research team as postdoctoral researcher. He will work in the frame of the nanomaterials-based photocatalytic textile dye degradation. Welcome Yuri!

18/02/2022

Our PhD student Keshav Nagpal just published his first research paper in OpenAccess journal SAGE. It is an important step for a Phd student, congratulations Keshav!

The role of CNT in surface defect passivation and UV emission intensification of ZnO nanoparticles

28/01/2022

Congratulations to Dr. Siim Küünal who successully defended his thesis entitled, “Plant Mediated Synthesis of Silver-Based Nanoparticles and Their Use as Antimicrobial Agent in Environmentally-Friendly Applications”

Supervisor: Prof. Erwan Rauwel, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Technology, Chair of Biosystems Engineering, Estonia

Co-supervisors:

  • Prof. Protima Rauwel, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Technology, Head of Chair of Energy Application Engineering, Estonia
  • Prof. Irina Hussainova, Tallinn University of Technology, School of Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Estonia

Opponents:

  • Dr. Gregory Guisbiers, Asisstant Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA
  • Dr. Nemeshwaree Behary, Associate Professor, ENSAIT, France

01/01/2022

All the team wis you a Happy New Year 2022.

We are glad to inform that Mr. Siim Küünal will defend his PhD on 28th January.

2021

01/10/2021

Mr. Patricio Paredes joined our research team as PhD student. He will work in the frame of the development of new nanomaterials for optoelectronic and energy applications. Welcome Patricio!

05/11/2021

Our research group received the Best cooperation award 2021 at EMÜ. This cooperation between the Institute of Technology and the Veterinary Institute is in the frame of the “Antimicrobial coating development” project. Thank you to all the team members from both Institute for their hard work.

Best cooperation award 2021

28/09/2021

We are glad to inform that 2 review papers have been published on:

Assessment of the optical and electrical properties of light-emitting diodes containing carbon-based nanostructures and plasmonic nanoparticles

Nanoadsorbants for the Removal of Heavy Metals from Contaminated Water: Current Scenario and Future Directions “

We wish you a pleasant and informative reading, and we hope that these OPEN ACCESS reviews will serve as a valuable support for researchers  and PhD students in the field.

07/04/2021

We are glad to inform that our Special Issue “Metal Oxide Thin Films: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications” published in Materials is now closed. The last two decades have witnessed the development of new technologies for thin-film deposition and coating.  This issue compiles works on vapor-phase deposition processes including ALD and mist-chemical-vapor deposition to the stabilization of metastable phases and the effect of growth conditions.  It also includes liquid-phase coatings like sol-gel,  solution immersion, micro-arc oxidation, Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation Processing and single pulse anodization. The last paper reports on a new metal oxide thin film characterization method that can extract the majority charge carriers’ type, their concentration, and mobility and is extendable to the study of other wide-bandgap semiconductors. We hope that this special issue will serve as a valuable support for researchers in the field of metal oxide thin-film deposition and characterization and we wish you a pleasant read.

10/02/2021

Our recent investigations on ZnO–CNT Hybrid Nanostructures combined with silver nanoparticles (3 nm) have been published in Nanomaterials. We highlighted an enhanced UV Emission through the Surface Plasmon Resonance of Ag Nanoparticles. We wish you a pleasant reading. Enhancing the UV emission in ZnO-CNT hybrid nanostructures via the surface plasmon resonance of Ag nanoparticles

2020

28/09/2020

Our application (COVSG-9) to develop new nanocomposites to prevent and limit both rapid contamination of Covid-19 is funded by the Estonian Research Council (ETAg) . This research project will be done at Eesti Maaülikool at the Institute of Technology and the Veterinary Institute and in collaboration with the LBN (Montpellier, France).

“The COVID-19 outbreak requires urgent effective antiviral treatment as well as mitigation of its proliferation. Since 2004, nanomaterials have been investigated towards the development of the so-called ‘nano-antimicrobials,’. Now with COVID-19 pandemic, nanoantivirals have been the focus of investigations. Nanomaterials in antiviral applications and nanotechnology can offer a great support in the design of contamination-safe equipment through metal-loaded nanocomposites. Polymer nanocomposites combining cobalt, copper and silver in polymer matrix will be studied to develop antiviral additives for plastic items production and coatings to protect surfaces (door handles, protective visors, panels…). The technological transfer for industrial production will be done with Estonian Companies. The well-known antiviral properties of various formulations and nanostructures will be studied and exploited to fight COVID-19 and prevent and limit both rapid contamination leading to contagion.”