Description du projet
L’avenir des nanobulles semble plus prometteur que jamais
Les nanobulles, dotées de propriétés remarquables, offrent des possibilités infinies pour de nombreuses industries, du traitement des eaux usées à l’agriculture. L’exploitation de ces minuscules merveilles a toutefois constitué, à ce jour, un formidable défi. C’est là qu’intervient le projet NIMBLE financé par le CER. Celui-ci entend révolutionner la technologie des nanobulles et libérer le potentiel de ces minuscules merveilles. Plus précisément, il s’attaquera au principal obstacle à la création et au contrôle d’une formation de nanobulles de manière reproductible. NIMBLE aborde ce problème de front en proposant une solution économe en énergie qui assure une stabilité des nanobulles pendant des mois. Le projet aborde également la science complexe des nanobulles et leur libération contrôlée. NIMBLE entend faire la lumière sur la formation de nanophases et ses applications dans la capture du carbone, le traitement de l’eau et l’agriculture.
Objectif
Nano-bubbles exhibit several unique physical and mechanical characteristics, such as dramatically reduced buoyancy, extremely high surface area/volume ratio, large zeta potentials, enhanced solubility of gas in water. These properties render them good candidates for several commercial applications, such as fine-particle flotation, wastewater treatment, and in food and agricultural industries. A most important challenge lies in establishing facile and easily-controlled methods to promote nano-bubble formation, and, indeed, liquid-phase nano-droplets, i.e. in realising reproducibly and consistently a nano-phase. NIMBLE revolutionises formation of the nano-phase, providing substantial enhancement in effective gas/liquid solubility in water and aqueous media. Further, energy demands are very low visà-vis other nanobubble-generating technologies, with nanobubble stability over months.
A ‘Grand Challenge’ lies in understanding underlying mechanistic phenomena involved in nano-phase formation, and the metastability of pure nanobubbles. Indeed, developing experimental and theoretical insights into controlled, on-demand release for nanobubbles is also vital for efficient process-engineering applications. In this ERC ‘NIMBLE’ project, state-of-the-art computer-simulation methods in molecular and larger- (continuum-) scale will be employed in tandem with advanced experimental set-ups and techniques to investigate and manipulate mechanisms of nano-phase formation in the presence of electric fields (Work-Package 1), as well as its controlled, on-demand release (Work-Package 4), with applications to carbon capture and agriculture using nanobubbles’ “carrier” personality. NIMBLE will employ state-of-the-art experimental and simulation methods to investigate and manipulate nano-phase formation in electric fields and controlled release and study their mobility and carrier agency, with applications in carbon capture, water treatment and agriculture.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitution d’accueil
4 Dublin
Irlande