Browsing by Author "Zorita, Saioa"
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Item Electro-spun graphene-enriched carbon fibres with high nitrogen-contents for electrochemical water desalination(2018-02-15) Belaustegui, Yolanda; Zorita, Saioa; Fernández-Carretero, Francisco; García-Luis, Alberto; Pantò, Fabiola; Stelitano, Sara; Frontera, Patrizia; Antonucci, Pierluigi; Santangelo, Saveria; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; VALORIZACIÓN DE RESIDUOS; ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO; TECNOLOGÍAS DE HIDRÓGENOElectro-spun carbon fibres doped with very high nitrogen concentrations (19–21 wt%) are obtained operating carbonisation at low temperature (500 °C). The as-synthesised fibres are evaluated as electrode materials for the electrochemical desalination of water. The effect of the enrichment of the nitrogen doped carbon fibres with thermally reduced graphene oxide is also investigated. The fibrous electrodes are able to remove amazing amounts of NaCl (17.0–27.6 mg/g) from a salty solution with an initial concentration of 585 mg/L. The nitrogen doping, which dramatically improves the wettability, plays a crucial role in determining the outstanding electro-sorption capacities of the fibres. It allows fully profiting of the more favourable pore size distribution in the graphene-enriched fibres, endowed with higher conductivity and capacitance, for the obtainment of unprecedented electro-sorption capacities via an extremely simple synthesis process, with no need of activation treatments.Item Lessons Learned from Applying Adaptation Pathways in Heatwave Risk Management in Antwerp and Key Challenges for Further Development(2021-10-18) Mendizabal, Maddalen; Peña, Nieves; Hooyberghs, Hans; Lambrechts, Griet; Sepúlveda, Joel; Zorita, Saioa; Tecnalia Research & Innovation; ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICOHeat exposure is a well-known health hazard, which causes several problems ranging from thermal discomfort or productivity reduction to the aggravation of existing illnesses and death. Climate projections foresee an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat-related impacts on human health. To reduce these climate risks, governments need a better understanding of not only the scale and the factors affecting those risks, but also how to prepare and protect the city and citizens against these risks and prevent them through effective policy making. Therefore, climate adaptation decisions need to be made in complex systems with manifold uncertainties. In response to these deep uncertainties, different planning approaches have been developed to assist policymakers in decision making. This paper is focused on one of the dynamic adaptive policy planning approaches: the adaptation pathway. This approach allows designing alternative feasible plans that are flexible and can respond when new information appears or when conditions in the environment change. This paper presents a structured methodology for designing adaptation pathways. The work describes a high-level adaptation pathway covering heatwave impacts on productivity and health at city level in Antwerp to ensure the city adapts to future conditions. Lastly, a summary is provided of the lessons learned and the challenges of this approach are discussed.Item Removal of TiO 2 nanoparticles from water by low pressure pilot plant filtration(2018-03-15) Olabarrieta, Josune; Monzón, Oihane; Belaustegui, Yolanda; Alvarez, Jon-Iñaki; Zorita, Saioa; VALORIZACIÓN DE RESIDUOS; ADAPTACIÓN AL CAMBIO CLIMÁTICORising use of nanoparticles in manufacturing as well as in commercial products bring issues related to environmental release and human exposure. A large amount of TiO2 nanoparticles will eventually reach wastewater treatment plants. Low pressure membrane filtration has been suggested as a feasible treatment of water streams. This study investigated first at laboratory scale the influence of: i) membrane material, ii) pore size and iii) water chemistry on nTiO2 removal. TiO2 retention was governed by the cake layer formation mechanism and significant retention of nanoparticles was observed even for filters having considerably larger pores than nTiO2. PVDF showed a great potential for nTiO2 rejection. Additionally, filtration pilot plant experiments were carried out using PVDF membranes (0.03 and 0.4 μm pore size). The release of nTiO2 in the pilot scale filtration system was always above the instrumental detection limit (> 1.5 μg/L) and in most cases below 100 μg/L regardless of the pore size and applied conditions. The nTiO2 membrane breakthrough predominantly occurred in the first few minutes after backwashes and ceased when the cake layer was formed. Ultrafiltration and microfiltration were comparable with rejection of nTiO2 above 95% at similar permeate flow rates. Nevertheless, ultrafiltration is more promising than microfiltration because it allowed longer operation times between backwash cycles.