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The proposed research mobility (RM) focusses on the Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) for the wastewater treatment (WT) using thin film photocatalysts (TFPs) developed at the Faculty of Physics and Centre for Micro- and Nanosciences and Technologies, University of Rijeka (UR). Dr. Martina Kocijan (MK) will prepare nitrogen-doped metal oxide TFPs for photocatalysis, aimed at breaking down emergent pollutants into non-toxic compounds. This research will involve testing new TFPs designed to harness solar light, thereby replacing the use of highly energy-consuming UV lamps. Besides the photocatalytic activity, the structural characterization of TFPs is vital for the understanding of physical and chemical properties that affect the photocatalytic performance. Bearing that, the proposed RM will focus on the TFs characterization to be performed by MK at Institute of Physics for Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology and Photonics (IFIMUP), Faculty of Sciences (University of Porto, UP), that have several advanced characterization equipment’s such as X-Ray Diffraction, Raman Spectroscopy, etc, with supervision of Dr. Mariana Rocha (MR). MK has experience and knowledge on the preparation of nanophotocatalysts (PhD thesis), which pose challenges in recovery and reuse. Now MK is preparing TFPs by Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) to be characterized by advanced techniques with the intent to achieve thin films for green and sustainable photocatalysis. The proposed RM sets an ambitious goal of integrating multiple research fields, ranging from the preparation and characterization of TFPs to the study of heterogeneous photocatalysis and consolidate the collaboration between UP and UR. The main goal of the RM is divided into three manageable sub-tasks: the design of nitrogen-doped TiO2 TFPs; the detailed characterization of the fabricated TFPs to assess their physicochemical properties; and investigation of photocatalytic activity under visible and solar illumination. |