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Marianna Guagliano is a PhD student in Materials Engineering. She graduated in Advanced Biotechnology at the University of Pavia. The topic of her MSc was the development of a smart methodology to exploit clays as a vehicle for drug delivery.
This experience increased her interest in the application fields of clays, in particular for environmental purposes. Her PhD project promotes green issues, specifically she will develop new technological solutions for the treatment of wastewater as by-products of industrial processes in collaboration with Opigeo (Spin-Off of the University of Padua specialized in the formulation and characterization of new materials from waste by-products), promoting the management of circular and sustainable resources. Marianna is also interested in the synthesis and characterization of hydrogels for biomedical and drug delivery applications.
She is a nature lover and a courageous climber.
Research topics:
- ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
- WATER TREATMENT
Detailed topics:
The uses of clays have always been well researched and exploited in several fields such as drug delivery, wastewater treatment, medicine, agriculture and civil engineering. Their structure, physical and chemical properties make them versatile materials.
The aim of Marianna's PhD project is to develop a new technology to valorize clay-like materials, called geopolymers, in combination with biochar for the treatment of heavy metals in wastewater. Geopolymers are produced from slag, a by-product of the steel industry, and biochar is obtained through the pyrolysis process from chestnut waste. The excellent mechanical strength of geopolymers combined with the absorbent and chelating properties of biochar make them very promising materials for wastewater purification.