Welcome to Michele D'Amico, the newest PhD student, who will study by molecular dynamics the solvation of metal ions in DES and its relevance to solvent extraction. Good luck!

Welcome to Bruna Ferreira, a joint PhD student with Professor Pedro Carvalho of CICECO, who will investigate the inclusion HES within membrane reactor designs relevant to their application. All the best to Bruna!

Nicolas Schaeffer presented on solvent design for lanthanide separation at East China University of Science and Technology (China) as part of the creation of joint research center between CICECO and ECUST. More information on this initiative can be found here.

The DESignSX team presented their recent works at Jornadas de CICECO 25 in Ílhavo (PT), a great day of discussion!

Welcome to PhD student Aboubakar Bakayoko from ICSM (France), supervised by Sandrine Dourdain and Guilhem Arrachart. Aboubakar is investigating the characterisation and application of DES for the recovery of uranium, a new and interesting challenge for the Aveiro team.

The DESignSX team was at the 7th International Conference on Wastes in Funchal (Portugal), presenting their latest efforts in providing alternative solvents to tackle metal recovery. Great conference in a lovely setting.

Welcome to Eva Fouillet, a Engineering School student from Polytech Lyon (France), who is carrying out her research internship investigating the intercomponent interaction in DES via ITC.

Great experience to have you in Aveiro!

Our latest publication in Green Chemistry investigates the recycling of rare earth elements a diglycolamide-based hydrophobic eutectic solvent. The TODGA-Decanoic acid presented excellent selectivity against impurities and a lower environmental impact relative to conventional solvent extraction. The work is a result of an international collaboration between the University of Aveiro and Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (France), thank you to all the contributors!

Participation of Nicolas Schaeffer and Inês Vaz at the IUPAC International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics 2025 in Porto (Portugal). They presented the team's recent work on the quantification of the thermal signature of metal partition in biphasic systems. More information can be found here.

The DESignSX project hosted the Symposium on Hydrometallurgical Innovations and Technologies - HIMET 2025 at the University of Aveiro. HIMET is an event dedicated to innovation and sustainability in hydrometallurgical processes. It provided a unique platform to explore the latest advancements in the field and engage in dynamic discussions with leading experts and professionals, focusing on the development of sustainable technologies and efficient solutions for the management and recovery of valuable metals. More information on the program and event is available here. Find the coverage of the event using the following link. 

Participation of Nicolas Schaeffer to the NEPHEWS Twinning Programme along with the team of Dr Pierre Baudouin from ICSM (France), getting first hand knowledge of SANS technique and analysis at the ILL in Grenoble. A big thank you for a very intense but fulfilling experience! A video summarizing the experience can be found on youtube.

A big welcome to PhD student Rodrigo Colhe as well as Dr Felipe Olea Chandia and Dr João Pinto who will study the structure-performance relationship in deep eutectic solvents for liquid-liquid separation. All the best to the new DESignSX members!

Our latest publication in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering presents our opinion as to the pitfalls to avoid when characterizing natural deep eutectic solvents as "green" or "sustainable".

Welcome to Karen Torrez, a MSc student from Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile). Karen investigated the development of synergistic deep eutectic solvents to be used as organic phase in solvent extraction for the recovery of platinum group metals. Pleasure to have you in Aveiro!

Our latest publication in Green Chemistry reviews the potential advantages and limitations of type V eutectic solvents for liquid-liquid separation applications. The work is a result of an international collaboration between the University of Aveiro and Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (France), University of Santiago de Chile (Chile), and Tokushima University (Japan), thank you to all the contributors!

Our latest publication in collaboration with Dr Sandrine Dourdain of the Institut de Chimie Séparative de Marcoule (France) is available in the Journal of Molecular Liquids. Special congratulations to Baptiste Bernicot for carrying out the work and very thankful for the opportunity to work together.

Nicolas gave an invited lecture at MATSUS Spring 2025 in Seville (Spain) as part of the Sustainable energy materials and circularity symposium entitled "A walk down the waste hierarchy pyramid for lithium-ion batteries". Thank you to the organizers for the opportunity to share our work.

Participation of Nicolas Schaeffer at the Annual Meeting of the DECHEMA/VDI Group Extraction 2025 in Aachen (Germany). This conference offers participants from industry and academia the chance to share and discuss current topics in everything extraction. Nicolas presented the group´s work on "Evaluating the potential of hydrophobic eutectic solvents for inter-lanthanide separation".

A huge congratulations to Henrique Bastos who successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Recovery of Critical Metals from Secondary Waste using Hydroxylated Systems" as part of a cotutelle doctorate between Deakin University (Australia) and the University of Aveiro led by Dr Cristina Pozo-Gonzalo. We wish Henrique all the best in his future endeavors and a big hug from the group always!

Welcome to Walter Blanco, a PhD student from Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile) supervised by  Professor Pía Hernández and Professor Javier Ordóñez. Walter investigated the physicochemical properties of deep eutectic solvents and evaluated their ability to dissolve salts such as AgCl for the valorisation of copper anode slimes.

Welcome to Amélie Tropres from Université Claude Bernard Lyon1 (France) as part of the Master´s degree. Amélie will study "Solvent extraction in non-ideal eutectic solvents" with a focus on the influence of apolar moieties and their role in lanthanide extraction using hydrophobic eutectic solvents.

Nicolas Schaeffer along with the team of Professor Paola D'Angelo from University of Rome Sapienza (Italy) were at the ESRF synchrotron in Grenoble to probe the speciation of lanthanides in hydrophobic eutectic solvents. A big thank you for the collaboration and the fantastic time there!

Our publication in collaboration with Professor Yecid Jimenez of Universidad de Antofagasta (Chile) is  available in Chemical Communications. This work was result of a team effort between Phd students André Nogueira and Camila Vallejos-Michea, who stayed with us during three month. Congratulations to all the authors and a big thanks for the opportunity to work together. This article is part of the themed collection: Chemistry for a Sustainable World – Celebrating Our Community Tackling Global Challenges.

Participation of Nicolas Schaeffer and poster presentation  by André Nogueira at the 7th Edition of the Iberoamerican Meeting on Ionic Liquids (IMIL 2024) hosted by the University of Coimbra (PT). This conference showcases recent advances in ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and related ionic structures for application in  synthesis, catalysis, electrochemistry, and in materials and biotechnology. André presented his recent work on the "Determination of new DES-DES biphasic system for metal separation".

Researchers from various innovation and research lines at CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials were welcomed by colleagues from ICMCB - Institute of Chemistry of Condensed Matter of Bordeaux, in France. Over two days, the scientists gathered for the first CICECO-ICMCB Workshop: Collaborative Innovations on Advanced Materials, where they shared and discussed potential areas of collaboration (link here). As part of this event, Nicolas Schaeffer presented a talk entitled "Hydrometallurgical Separation of Critical Metals using Alternative Solvents" summarizing recent group efforts on the recycling of lithium-ion batteries.

A big welcome to Maísa Saldanha Pinheiro, the newest PhD student joining the group, to study the development, characterisation, and application of eutectic solvent for lanthanide separation. All the best to Maísa on this new journey.

Recycling and reusing waste is a major technological and sociological challenge. The development of chemistry may have triggered some environmental problems, but it can also be the solution. See the full interview as part ScienceCast podcast at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teyaJ7g5Q4Y.

Our publication, in collaboration with Professor Takafumi Hanada of Tokushima University and Professor Masahiro Goto of Kyushu University, is now available in Green Chemistry. Congratulations to all the authors and a big thanks for the opportunity to work together.​

​

Start of the ERC funded DESignSX project. More information at https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101116461.

Nicolas Schaeffer was awarded with an ERC starting grant. Read the full interview at: https://www.ciceco.ua.pt/?tabela=geral_article&menu=255&language=eng&id_article=1963