Paulo Cesar De Morais

Catholic University of Brasilia, Brazil

Abstract Title: Prospecting nanomagnetic composites for petroleum removal

Biography:

Professor Paulo Cesar De Morais (H62), PhD, was full Professor of Physics at the University of Brasilia (UnB) – Brazil up to 2013. Appointed as UnB’s (Brazil) Emeritus Professor (2014); Visiting Professor at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) – China (2012-2015); Distinguished Professor at the Anhui University (AHU) – China (2016-2019); Full Professor at the Catholic University of Brasília (CUB) – Brazil (2018); CNPq-1A Research Fellow since 2010; 2007 Master Research Prize from UnB. He held two-years (1987-1988) post-doc position with Bell Communications Research, New Jersey – USA and received his Doctoral degree in Solid State Physics (1986) from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) – Brazil. With more than 14,500 citations, He has published over 500 papers (Web of Science), delivered more than 300 international invited talks (35 countries), and filed 16 patents.

Research Interest:

The growing concern over environmental contamination – particularly pollution of water bodies – has driven the development of innovative technologies aimed at mitigating these impacts. Among these, nanotechnology holds significant promise for advancing water remediation strategies. This presentation explores the application of nanomagnetic composites for removal of petroleum following accidental spills in marine and freshwater environments. Specifically, it highlights the successful incorporation of cubic ferrite-based magnetic nanoparticles into expanded and hydrophobized vermiculite template. The aforementioned magnetic nanocomposite demonstrated the ability to remove nearly 100% of petroleum in bench-scale experiments. This talk will include details of the fabrication and characterization of the magnetic nanocomposite material. Additionally, images of the performance of the proposed technology will be presented in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the petroleum removal process.