Established in early 2024, the Materials for Environmental Applications Lab supports the new research direction at the Department of Earth Sciences. It is dedicated to developing cutting-edge hybrid nanocomposite materials and their applications in:

Pollution Mitigation: Creating materials and methods to effectively immobilize, adsorb, and degrade both emerging and regulated contaminants in water and soil, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals, pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, toxic anions (nitrates, phosphates), and metallic contaminants.

Contaminant Retention and in situ treatment: Developing sustainable nanocomposite sorbents integrated into isolation layers to retain contaminants in underwater sediments. These materials are tailored to address site-specific contaminant mixes such as heavy metals (e.g., Hg, As, Cd, Pb) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs)..

Critical Raw Material Extraction, Separation and Recovery: Focusing on the extraction, separation, and recycling of critical raw materials, such as rare earth elements, cobalt, nickel, copper and uranium;

Remediation of contaminated sites by mining activities (tailings, drainage waters).