We forge the researchers and developers of the future. Our PhD students have high academic ambitions and deliver high-quality results for both the private and the public sectors. Our primary focus is on applied research, and we have strong collaboration with industry, because we listen to the core questions from industry regarding biotechnology and chemical engineering, and we develop solutions.
On this page, you can meet some of our PhD student and read about their projects.
Kristina Wedege, PhD and MSc in Engineering, received the 2019 Aarhus University Research Foundation PhD Award. Kristina is happy that others can see the value of her work on developing greener solutions for renewable energy storage technologies.
If Denmark is to run on renewable energy in 2050 as planned, we need to be able to store solar and wind energy. This is why one of the hottest topics today is to find suitable technological solutions to this challenge, and this is precisely what chemical engineer Kristina Wedege set out to do in her PhD project for which she will now receive the prestigious Aarhus University Research Foundation PhD Award.
The instability and low solubility of ozone (O3) molecule in liquid phase limit the effective contact between micropollutants and O3/hydroxyl radicals (•OH) in water. Thus, the uncompleted utilization of ozone molecule is largely prevalent in O3-based advanced oxidation processes (AOPs). This project hopes to promote O3 utilization by extending the O3 retention time in the liquid phase and enhancing the contact between micropollutants and oxidants. In particular, we will synthesize a uniquely hydrophobic adsorbent with pine-needle-like hierarchical nanostructures that can simultaneously capture O3 molecules and micropollutants. We will later load a catalyst on the surface of pre-prepared adsorbent to realize the efficient oxidative degradation of micropollutants on the surface of this composite. To investigate the performance of the prepared material, we will select herbicide glyphosate (Gly, N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) as a model micropollutant and study the degradation pathway.
Project title: Novel adsorptive composite materials for catalytic ozonation of micropollutants in water
PhD student: Xingaoyuan Xiong
Project start: October 2020
Main supervisor: Zongsu Wei
Co-supervisor(s): Alberto Scoma
Microbial electrosynthesis is a novel biotechnological process for the conversion of electricity and CO2 into biofuels or other organic compounds. Microbial electrosynthesis could in the future contribute to the desired lowering of CO2 emissions, while at the same time storing excess renewable energy and producing sustainable biochemicals.
Microbial electrosynthesis is carried out by acetogenic bacteria (e.g. Sporomusa ovata), which are capable of reducing CO2 to organic compounds, using an electrode as the electron donor. One of the major obstacles that limits the rate of microbial electrosynthesis, and hence its upscaling beyond lab-scale, is the low number of cells that attach to the electrode. Currently, very little is known about attachment and biofilm formation by S. ovata. The goal of this project is to increase the cell numbers of S. ovata on the electrode, using two different strategies. First, natural biofilm formation will be stimulated and investigated. Second, artificial biofilms will be created by immobilizing cells in polymeric matrices. The different types of biofilm will be characterized using state-of-the art techniques (microsensors, confocal microscopy, etc.) and the effect of increased cell numbers on the electrode on microbial electrosynthesis rates will be investigated.
Project title: Exploring natural and artificial biofilms of acetogenic bacteria to improve microbial electrosynthesis rates
PhD student: Louise Vinther Grøn
Contact: louise.groen@eng.au.dk
Project start: May 2020
Main supervisor: Assistant Professor Jo Philips
Co-‐supervisor(s): Assistant Professor Klaus Koren and Associate Professor Alberto Scoma
