NU SEDS Research Seminar “Advances in sampling and analysis of airborne Cr”
The Nazarbayev University School of Engineering and Digital Sciences and National Laboratory Astana invites you to the research seminar “Advances in sampling and analysis of airborne Cr””
Presenter: Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Materials Engineering Department, SEDS NU
Abstract:Airborne particulate matter (PM) has become a major global environmental concern due to its critical roles in atmospheric processes, adverse health effects, and global climate change. Airborne particles serve as vectors for trace metals that are emitted into the atmosphere from anthropogenic and natural sources. Some of these metals are toxic and are linked to adverse health consequences. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), a known carcinogen, emanates from both anthropogenic and natural sources. There is limited data of ambient concentrations of insoluble Cr(VI) in the world in general and soluble and insoluble Cr(VI) in Central Asian region, particularly in, Kazakhstan where there are a variety of trace element mines and mineral processing facilities. This lack of information constrains the development of control strategies to likely be needed to mitigate Cr(VI) pollution in this country, particularly in industrial cities such as Aktobe. We will present advances in sampling and analysis of airborne Cr(VI) that were achieved through our small grant and the PhD thesis of our student Enoch Adotey. We have quantified soluble and insoluble Cr(VI) in Aktobe and Nursultan and understood gas-solid chemistry of Cr(VI). Apart from the conventional methods such as UV-Vis and IC-UV that are used for Cr(VI) detection, we are developing a novel fluorescence-based detection method with nanoparticles, since the latter has advantages of better sensitivity, specific detection, low cost, fast response time and real-time detection. The use of the luminescent nanoparticles probe has a great tendency to be used in environmental measurements for sensing Cr(VI). This research will be presented by Dr. Mehdi Torkmahalleh (PI) and Dr. Mannix Balany (CoPI).
Short bio:Dr. Mehdi Amouei Torkmahalleh received his B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Tehran and M.Sc. degree in biochemical engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology. He then received a research assistantship from Prof. Hopke, a well-known aerosol chemist, to do a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Clarkson University, USA. In 2013, Dr. Amouei completed his Ph.D. and was offered a faculty position at Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus (METUNCC). He then moved to Nazarbayev University in 2015, and since then, he has been serving as an assistant professor in the department of chemical and materials engineering. He established chemical and aerosol research team (CART) where many UG and graduate students are involved in research in different areas of aerosol science. Dr. Amouei published over 40 high impact factor journal papers in aerosol science and gave more than 80 talks at international conferences. He is the first and corresponding author of a global article entitled “Global Air Quality and COVID-19 Pandemic: De we Breathe Cleaner Air?” He also authored a chapter on cooking aerosol for the handbook of Indoor Air Quality that will be published soon by Springer.
