Employee Profile

Name of employee:

Dong Nguyen Thanh, PhD.

Summary Institutes/universities attend and attending:

• Since 2013 - UniCRE (Unipetrol Centre of Research and Education), Research program RENTECH (Renewable & Environmental Technologies).
• 2013 – Ph.D. University of Chemical Technology Prague (UCT PRAGUE), Laboratory of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering.
• 2007 – B1 -Czech Charles University, Faculty of languages, Czech Republic.
• 2006 – M. Sc. Envi. Tech. Hanoi National University, Vietnam/ Institute of chemical industry Vietnam
• 2004 – B. Sc. Envi. Tech. Hanoi National University, Vietnam

Your current job/employment/research:

• Synthesis of nanomaterials based on metal oxide and mixed oxides.
• Application of nanomaterials as heterogeneous catalysts in bio-fuel production.
• Application of nanomaterials as adsorbent for the removal of toxic heavy metals from drinking water, wastewater and purification of biogas.

Research carried out at UniCRE:

I am the leader of the project of “Green synthesis” focusing on the utilization “green” extracted chemicals for synthesis of nanomaterial and their application for environmental treatment and catalysis.

Nowadays, the ‘greener’ environmentally friendly processes in chemistry and chemical technology are becoming increasingly popular and are much needed as a result of worldwide problems associated with environmental contamination. There are some techniques have been used successfully to produce nanoparticles, they remain expensive and involve the use of hazardous chemicals. Therefore, there is a significant interest in the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable methods. The techniques for obtaining nanoparticles using naturally occurring reagents such as vitamins, sugars, plant extracts, biodegradable polymers, and microorganisms as reductants and capping agents could be considered attractive for nanotechnology. Greener methods involving plant materials that have been used in nanoparticle synthesis are generally single-pot reactions, without the use of additional surfactants, capping agents, and/or templates.

These syntheses have led to the fabrication of limited number of inorganic nanoparticles (mainly metal nanoparticles, although several metal oxides and salts are also reported). Among the reagents mentioned above, plant based materials seem to be the best candidates and they are suitable for large-scale ‘biosynthesis’ of nanoparticles. Greener synthesis of nanoparticles provides advancement over other methods as it is simple, cost-effective, and relatively reproducible and often results in more stable materials.

Overall, the use of natural products for greener synthesis of nanoparticles/nanomaterials is an emerging and exciting area of nanotechnology and may have a significant direct impact on further advances in biotechnology. Therefore, in the project, we will make the best use of the chemical resources extracted from agricultural wastes in Czech Republic to synthesis of nanomaterials for environmental and catalysis application. In addition, we are also ready to co-operate with colleagues to develop the applications of the synthesized nanomaterials in other fields.

Valuable skills and experience gained from working with UniCRE:

• Synthesis of nanomaterials.
• Application of nano-adsorbents for the removal of toxic heavy metals (Arsenic, copper, nickel, cadmium, lead, etc.)
• Application of solid catalysts for aldol condensation of furfural, and acetone and another chemical reactions.
• Application of TGA-DTA for evaluation of thermal properties of PE, PE composites, HTCs, metal oxides.
• Application of the other physical methods (FTIR, XRD, BET, XPS, TPD, SEM and TEM) for material characterization, especially the surface properties.