Contacts:
Supervisor(s):
Prof. Maria Rosaria Tinè
Prof. Celia Duce
Title of the PhD project:
Valorization of waste biomasses through eco-friendly extraction of valuable compounds suitable to produce innovative materials
Abstract of the PhD project:
With increasing industrialization, various kinds of waste products were accumulated in the ecosystem. In particular, poultry industry generated millions of tons of keratin(s)-rich waste biomass, like poultry feathers, which is either dumped off or discarded in landfills and rivers causing serious health concerns. However, the unique physical and chemical properties of keratin have led researchers to develop keratin-based materials which can be useful in biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and industrial applications. In recent years, several attempts have been made for the extraction of keratin, but a simple, cheap, environmentally sustainable and industrial applicable method was not optimized. Initially, my PhD project will focus on to develop an eco-friendly microwave assisted keratin extraction from poultry feathers using a novel coaxial dipole antenna to apply the microwave inside the extraction medium. Subsequently the project will focus on food keratin-packaging with enhanced sustainability, biodegradability and biomedical applications.
Publications:
B. Campanella, E. Pulidori, M. Onor, E. Passaglia, S. Tegli, C. G. Izquierdo, E. Bramanti. “New polymeric sorbent for the solid-phase extraction of indole-3-acetic acid from plants followed by liquid chromatography – fluorescence detector”. Microchemical Journal 128 (2016) 68-74.
Oral communications at conferences:
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Poster communications at conferences:
• E. Pulidori, B. Campanella, M. Onor, S. Tegli, P. Bogani, M. Cerbonschi, E. Passaglia, A. D’Ulivo, E. Bramanti. “Rapid clean-up strategy based on molecularly imprinted polymers for the determination of 3-indolacetic acid in plant extracts”. XXV Congresso della Divisione di Chimica Analitica della Società Chimica Italiana), September 13th - 17th 2015, Trieste (Italy).
• T. Biver, E. Pulidori, F. Secco, M. Venturini. “Structure effects on the reactivity of two new cyanine/DNA systems”. XXIV International Symposium on metal complexes, June 16th – 20th 2013, Burgos (Spain).
Other achievements:
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