Our research group will be introduced at the I. BME Competence Fair organised by BME on 17. June 2022

The 1st BME Competence Fair, organised by BME on 17. June 2022 is a first of its kind program for showcasing research and creativity, disseminating results and facilitating multidisciplinary cooperation.

The aim of the event is to facilitate the meeting of like-minded experts from all over Europe for future research collaborations and European grant applications.

The hybrid (online and in-person) event will provide various opportunities for building connections: research pitches, thematic breakout room discussions and networking sessions. The program will also feature panel discussions on trending topics of the European Research Area.

The networking will be facilitated by an innovative mobile application (Whova) for setting up smart profiles, initiating 1:1 or group discussions around topics of interest and organizing meetups.

There will be 4 pitching sessions, each of them introducing 2 research groups of BME during 2*3 minutes.

Our research group will be presented by Dr Viktória Feigl in Pitching Session 2.

Further information about the event, schedule and registration could be reached at: https://innovacio.bme.hu/innovacios-nap/

Scientific articles published by our research group during 2021-2022

The scientific  publications of our research group  in cooperation with national and/or international scientists  during 2021-2022 in various  scientific journals include the following:

• Dell’Armi, E., Zeppilli, M., Di Franca, M. L., Matturro, B., Feigl, V., Molnár, M., Berkl, Zs., Németh, I., Yaqoubi, H., Rossetti, S., Papini, M. P., Majone, M. (2022) Evaluation of a bioelectrochemical reductive/oxidative sequential process for chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) removal from a real contaminated groundwater, Journal of Water Process Engineering, 49, 103101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwpe.2022.103101

• Cruz Viggi, C., Tucci, M., Resitano, M., Matturro, B., Crognale, S., Feigl, V., Molnár, M., Rossetti, S., Aulenta, F. (2022) Passive electrobioremediation approaches for enhancing hydrocarbons biodegradation in contaminated soils, Science of The Total Environment, 845, 157325, ISSN 0048-9697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157325.

• Berkl, Z.; Fekete-Kertész, I.; Buda, K.; Vaszita, E.; Fenyvesi, É.; Szente, L.; Molnár, M. (2022) Effect of Cyclodextrins on the Biofilm Formation Capacity of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Molecules, 27, 3603. https://doi.org/10.3390/ molecules27113603

• Kerekes, I. K., Pusztai, Éva, Feigl, V., Kemény, S. (2022) Acute Ecotoxicological Effects of Bauxite Residue Addition on Mortality and Motion-frequency of Dendrobaena veneta and Enchytraeus albidus (Annelida) in Three Types of Soils, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 66(3), 512–524. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.19868

• Németh, I., Molnár, S., Vaszita, E., Molnár, M. (2021) The Biolog EcoPlate™ Technique for Assessing the Effect of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on Freshwater Microbial Communities, Nanomaterials , 11(7), 1777. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano11071777

• Farkas, E., Feigl, V., Vaszita, E., Uzinger, N., Rékási, M., Gruiz, K., Molnár, M. (2021) Screening and Ranking Methodology Applied to Biochars Aimed at Acidic and Calcareous Sandy Soil Improvement, Periodica Polytechnica Chemical Engineering, 65(3), 361-377. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPch.17163

• Hirsch, E., Pantea, E., Vass, P., Domján, J., Molnár, M., Suhajda, Á., Andersen, S. K., Vigh, T., Verreck, G., Marosi, Gy. J. et al. (2021) Probiotic bacteria stabilized in orally dissolving nanofibers prepared by high-speed electrospinning, Food and Bioproducts Processing, 128, 84-94, 11 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fbp.2021.04.016

• Molnár, M., Fenyvesi, E., Berkl, Zs., Németh, I., Fekete-Kertész , I., Márton, R., Vaszita, E., Varga., E. , Ujj, D., Szente, L. (2021) Cyclodextrin-mediated quorum quenching in the Aliivibrio fischeri bioluminescence model system – Modulation of bacterial communication, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 594, 120150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2020.120150

The PhD students from our group were awarded the 1st and the 2nd prize at the Spring Wind Conference in Pécs

Congratulations to the PhD students from our group, who participated and were awarded prizes at the multidisciplinary regular annual scientific conference labelled as the Spring Wind Conference in Pécs, organized by the Association of Hungarian PhD and DLA Candidates (DOSZ) between 6-8^th of May 2022.

The event provided an opportunity for young researchers and doctoral candidates from all scientific disciplines to present their research outcomes in Hungarian and English, also in oral or poster sessions.

Based on the previously sent abstracts, the presentations were classified into 21 scientific sections and 61 various subsections and two poster sessions according to the scientific disciplines. The conference hosted altogether 500 presenters and 90 participants in the audience.

Two of our PhD students participated with 2 oral presentations at two different scientific subsections and were awarded the 1st and the 2nd prize:

Medical molecular biology subsection

Berkl, Zsófia (1st prize): The effect of cyclodextrines on bacterial communication in the Chromobacterium violaceum model system (PhD Supervisor: Dr. Molnár, Mónika)

Biotechnology and microbiology subsection

Németh, Imre (2nd prize): Ecotoxicity study of nanoparticles by various test systems (PhD Supervisor: Dr. Molnár, Mónika)

The additional two of our PhD students presented their research results in the poster session, where Rita Márton’s poster won the 1st prize and Szabina Molnár’s poster the 2nd prize:

Poster session 2.

Márton, Rita (1st prize): Biofilm formation by Candida boidinii and the assessment of the effect of quorum sensing molecules on the process (PhD Supervisor: Dr. Molnár, Mónika)

Poster session 1.

Molnár, Szabina (2nd prize): Qualification of beech-wood biochar and investigation of its applicability in sandy soil. (PhD Supervisor: Dr. Molnár, Mónika)

We participated at the 11th International Conference on Environmental Engineering and Management (ICEEM11) (Muttenz, Switzerland, 8-10 September 2021)

On 8-10 September 2021 our group was represented again at the ICEMM11 conference (11th International Conference on Environmental Engineering and Management) with an on-line presentation. The presentation was held by Dr.Viktória Feigl, who presented the results of direct mutagenicity testing conducted on complex environmental samples. The abstract of the lecture was published in the Book of Abstracts under the following details:

Rita Márton, Viktória Feigl, Ildikó Fekete-Kertész, Mónika Molnár: DIRECT MUTAGENICITY TESTING AS PART OF THE ECOTOXICITY TEST BATTERY FOR THE ASSESSMENT COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES, 2021, 11th International Conference on Environmental Engineering and Management, ICEEM11, 8 – 10 SEPTEMBER 2021 MUTTENZ, SWITZERLAND, Book of abstracts, 231-232, ECOZONE Publishing House, Iasi, ISSN 2457-7049, ISSN-L 2457-7049

Under the tagline Environmental Engineering for a Clean and Healthy Planet, ICEEM11 aimed to be a platform for scientific dissemination boosting internationalization, multi-disciplinarity and collaboration in research.

Information about the programme of the conference, about the organisers and other details can be reached through the conference webpage: http://iceem.ro/

The over 4 years long SCALE project, funded by H2020-EU.3.5.3, was successfully completed on 31.05.2021

The SCALE project (Production of Scandium compounds and Scandium Aluminum alloys from European metallurgical by- products) funded by the EU Research and Innovation programme H2020-EU.3.5.3 was successfully completed on 31.05.2021.

The main achievements:

• An optimized, commercially viable, eco-friendly selective ion recovery (SIR) technology process for extracting scandium from bauxite residues was patented and demonstrated at pilot scale, imparting sustainability benefits to the environment.
• Al-Sc master alloys was produced at small industrial scale and used in production of Al-Mg-Sc alloys.
• Al-Sc 3D printing with SCALE alloy was demonstrated.
• Direct production of Al with ~ 2wt% Sc by electrolysis from a cryolite melt with Al2O3and Sc2O3 as feed material was demonstrated, obtaining current efficiencies in the range of 85-90%. Besides, dross residues from Al-Sc master alloy production were successfully used as feed, i.e., as Al2O3 and Sc2O3 In this way, the dross material can be valorised by the developed innovative electrolysis process.
• Acid resistant nanofiltration process developed and tested at laboratory and pilot scale proved to be suitable for extraction of Sc from strongly acidic process wastewater  (acidic waste of TiO2 production).

Popular Science article about the Ajka red mud disaster in 2010

Our colleague, William Mayes, an environmental scientist from the University of Hull in England, summarised in a short article published on the 15th February, 2021 at the Popular Science website, the lessons  learned from the Ajka 2010 red mud disaster in Hungary.

We participated at the 1st International Greenering Conference between 15-17. 02. 2021

We participated with a poster presentation at the first international online Greenering conference, organised between 15-17 February, 2021.

The conference was organised within the GREENERING COST action, that had the objective to join academics, researchers and companies in an international forum to promote industrial application of green chemistry and sustainable technologies into industries, with environmental, innovation, economic and policy aspects in focus.

The title of the poster presented on behalf of our reserach group is:

Poster: ECOTOXICITY ASSESSMENT TO SUPPORT THE SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGY ALTERNATIVES FOR SCANDIUM EXTRACTION FROM BAUXITE RESIDUE IN SCALED-UP EXPERIMENTS

Authors: Feigl V., Molnár M., Berkl Zs., Vaszita E., Fekete-Kertész I.

Éva Farkas defended her PhD dissertation

Congratulations to Éva Farkas for sucessfully defending her PhD thesis on 15. 01. 2021.

The title of the PhD dissertation is:

“Complex assessment and evaluation of the long-term effects of biochar to improve sandy soils – from laboratory to field application “

The PhD dissertation and the thesis book (both in Hungarian and English) are available in the digital archive of the university.

We are pleased to welcome in our group two new PhD students

We are pleased to welcome in our group two additional PhD students, who won a scholarship from the

George A. Olah Doctoral School of Chemistry and Chemical Technology:

Rita Márton (bioengineer M.Sc., BME VBK) and Molnár Szabina (environmental engineer M.Sc., BME VBK).

Rita Márton’s PhD research topic is: studying and influencing quorum sensing in fungi.

Szabina Molnár’s PhD research topic is: the effect of biochar ageing on biochar properties and on its applicability in soil.

We wish much success to their research activity!