Novel Trends in Chemistry 2025

Dr. Olivier Monfort has been invited to deliver a talk about his ongoing research at the Conference on Novel Trends in Chemistry - Research and Education (NTCH 2025) organized by the University of Pavol Jozef Safarik in Kosice. His talk was focused on MXenes-based materials: Novel catalysts for wastewaters treatment. Below is the asbtract along with some picture of the conference.

Abstract

Wastewater treatments are a crucial challenge worldwide as their treated effluents are released into the natural environment. This point is a big concern since the current technologies are not 100% efficient, thus leading to pollution. With the released of new regulations, especially the European Directive No. 2024/3019 related to municipal wastewater treatments, the quality of the treated wastewaters should be addressed and MXenes (and particularly nanomaterials derived from MXenes) can potentially shape the future of wastewaters treatment. MXenes have found plenty of applications although they are currently investigated as cocatalysts in remediation processes. In this presentation, I introduce first the environmental context along with scientific context of MXenes. Then, their used in the preparation of innovative catalysts for wastewaters treatment is highlighted where the example of oxidized MXenes is discussed for the degradation of pharmaceutical contaminants in water. Mechanistic elucidations during the degradation process is also explained, as they are important parameters to consider for potential scale-up applications. The take-home message is that MXenes are promising catalysts that can contribute significantly to the EU Water Framework Directive.