The main goal of this project is the development of new polymeric catalysts and new catalytic membranes, designed to carry out high-end chemical oxidation in aqueous streams. Catalytic membranes are means to perform chemical transformation at the solid/ fluid interface and they are ideal interfacial reactors and contactors, simultaneously catalyzing and directing the heterogeneous phase reaction between substrates and oxidant agents. These systems have a key role in the future process industry and in water treatment since they enable oxidation reactions whilst reducing reagents and waste. Current systems employ inorganic and often high-value catalysts, which are generally of high cost, and prone to leaching causing loss of performance in time. I propose the first fully polymeric catalytic membrane made exclusively of bio-inspired iron coordination polymers. This research will lead to key scientific breakthroughs by: i) creating new non-heme catalytic polymers that mimic the activity of biological enzymes and that can be efficiently deployed to cast membranes for heterogeneous reaction; ii) designing and fabricating polymeric membranes consisting of the catalytic macromolecules and with suitable surface and morphological properties to precisely guide and enhance the contact among the reagents and with the catalyst; iii) successfully applying these systems maintaining high catalytic rate and yield and to understand the mechanisms and pathways of transformation of compounds, especially water micropollutants. These innovations will enable membrane robustness, long-term efficiency, and low cost. In particular, the potential of the new catalysts, membranes, and membrane reactors will be exemplified in the purification of contaminated streams to produce safe water. Thus, this new system represents a platform for a plethora of further advances in the field of oxidation processes applied to chemistry, engineering, and the environment.

The presence of biogenic amines (BA) (histamine, putrescine, cadaverine, etc) is usual in fermented beverages such as wine. Due to the toxicity of these BA, some countries have established recommendations concerning the maximum levels allowed in wines. Taking account the difficulty of controlling the production of BA during winemaking, the removal of them from finished wines avoiding the modification of the chemical composition related with the wine quality is a great challenge considering the complexity of the wine chemical composition and its organoleptic characteristics. This multidisciplinary project (AMINE_REMOVAL) presents an innovative approach based on the design of functionalized mesoporous materials (according with the size of biogenic amines) with specific functional groups on the surface to remove selectively biogenic amines from wine with a minimum effect on its organoleptic characteristics. This project includes the synthesis of materials, a deep study of the effects of the materials in synthetic and real wines at chemical and sensorial level, and the application to real wines in a pilot-scale plant. AMINE_REMOVAL represents an important step in the strategy to tackle the problem of the presence of biogenic amines in wine. Thus, obtaining a suitable method to remove the amines from wines will have a great impact not only on the quality of the wines, but also on the possibility to establish a maximum concentration of biogenic amines in wines by the European Union in its food security policies in order to protect the consumer. This project fits in one of the society challenges of the European 2020 strategies (food safety and quality, productive and sustainable farming, sustainability of natural resources, marine and maritime research).

Subduction mega-earthquakes are among the most destructive events on Earth. When affecting very densely populated areas these earthquakes may cause extensive human losses and severe damages, as for the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki event (Japan). According to the ‘asperity model’, a mega-earthquake may occur when regions of the fault that are potentially seismic (i.e., asperities) interact and synchronize failing together. But understanding the physical conditions that are responsible for such synchronization still remains enigmatic. AspSync proposes to tackle this problem using a multidisciplinary approach that combines analog modelling with geodynamics and statistics. AspSync proposes to develop a 3D mechanical prototype that reproduces the convergent margin features, including interplate earthquakes. This model will feature laterally (i.e., in trench parallel direction) heterogeneous frictional behavior mimicking the asperities that characterize the plate interface. Tuning the physical and frictional properties of asperities, AspSync will systematically test the role of their dimensions, distance, geometry and strength in the synchronization process, unlocking the possibility to infer the physical conditions that lead to the triggering of mega-earthquakes. AspSync will then link the experimental results with ‘real Earth conditions’, studying the feedbacks between geodynamical properties of convergent margins and interplate seismicity aiming to identify the physical conditions that promote mega-earthquakes triggering. AspSync will update and analyze the existing database of global physical properties of subduction zones and interplate seismicity developed at UM2 applying robust statistics (e.g., multi-parametric pattern recognition analysis; analysis of temporal series) to quantitatively estimate cause-effect relationships between geodynamical and seismic parameters.