Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) (President Yang Oh-bong) Department of Bionanotechnology and Bio-Convergence Engineering Ph.D. candidate Gandel Deramer Raz and master's student Park Kyung-yeon (supervising professor Lee Jae-woo) recently presented outstanding research outcomes at academic conferences and received awards for excellent presentation papers.

Ph.D. candidate Gandel Deramer Raz presented his work at the 9th International Water Industry Conference and Water Energy Nexus Conference (IWIC-WEN 2023). He reported that compositing manganese oxide–based, micrometer-sized flower-shaped structures onto a low-temperature plasma‑treated carbonized rice-husk adsorbent maximized the removal efficiency of heavy metals from water. For this poster presentation he received the Gold Award (1st place in the poster presentation category).

The study was highly regarded for repurposing waste resources into a high-performance adsorbent capable of efficiently adsorbing and removing heavy metals released into aquatic environments.

At the 2023 Fall Conference of the Korean Membrane Society held recently in Jeju, master's student Park Kyung-yeon presented research titled "Fabrication of a Biodegradability-Enhanced Sodium Alginate–Dialdehyde Cellulose Nanofiber Hydrogel Membrane for the Filtration and Adsorptive Removal of Methylene Blue" and received an Excellent Poster Presentation Award.

The natural-material-based membrane with adsorption-filtration capability developed by Park is produced via an eco-friendly manufacturing process that does not generate toxic organic solvent wastewater. In addition, its improved degradability allows it to decompose relatively rapidly at the disposal stage, minimizing environmental pollution and thereby enhancing its environmental friendliness across the entire life cycle.

This research was conducted with the support of the Future Hydrogen Source Technology Development Project, the Regional University Outstanding Scientist Support Program, and the Water and Sewage Innovation Technology Development Project.