Soutenance de thèse : Alvaro DIAZ MENDOZA

Conception of a fibrous composite material for the retention of heavy metals

Doctorant : Alvaro DIAZ MENDOZA 

Laboratoire INSA : MAP

Ecole doctorale :  EDA 341 : Évolution, Écosystème, Microbiologie, Modélisation

Heavy metal contamination is a current problem which affects the ecosystems and their constituent organisms. This problem has been worldwide recognized as one of the biggest challenges of our time. Since the middle of the last century, innovations in the material science field have developed new methods to confront this risk, with techniques such as chemical precipitation or flotation. However, there is still significant room for improvement in this field. Furthermore, recent research has explored how to combine biomolecules such as proteins with materials like polymers. This thesis work seeks to create a prototype hybrid biosorbent material capable to capture specifically the divalent metal ions Ni(II), Cd(II) and Pb(II) thanks to the presence of a synthetic metalloprotein in its structure.
To address this objective, this work focuses on the development of a synthetic metalloprotein capable to specifically capture the three target metal ions, from the in silico conception to its in vivo synthesis. On the other hand, the biosorbent material support is processed with the electrospinning technique that consists of a fibrous membrane material, being optimized to host the synthetic metalloprotein in its structure. This material has been characterized to evaluate its capacity to absorb the three metal ions of interest, providing some trends of the future perspectives for further development to create more efficient materials for the industry.

Keywords: Metal ion, biosorbent material, synthetic metalloprotein, electrospinning, grafting route.