Eugenio Bringas

University of Cantabria | UNICAN · Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

The alarming rise in chronic diseases worldwide highlights the urgent need to overcome the limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. In this context, osmotic pumps are able to release drugs by differential osmotic pressure, achieving a controlled rate independent of physiological factors and reducing the dosing frequency. As osmotic pumps...

During the last decades, there has been growing interest in the application of functionalized mesoporous nanomaterials as stimuli-responsive carriers for drug delivery. However, at present there is not a standardized methodology to evaluate their performance. The limitations of the different techniques reported in literature give rise to the necess...

The globally expanding threat of antibiotic resistance calls for the development of new strategies for abating Gram-negative bacterial infections. The use of extracorporeal blood cleansing devices with affinity sorbents to selectively capture bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is the major constituent of Gram-negative bacterial outer membran...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a main component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, has crucial implications on both antibiotic resistance and the overstimulation of the host innate immune system. Fighting against these global concerns calls for the molecular understanding of the barrier function and immunostimulatory ability of LPS. Molecu...

Nowadays, the design of efficient technologies for the detection and separation of environmental pollutants from aqueous solutions continues to be a challenge to the industrial sector. The present work proposes a robust microfluidic system for the continuous, rapid and effective testing of selective capture agents of aqueous pollutants based on the...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the primary component of the outer leaflet of Gram-negative bacterial outer membranes. LPS elicits an overwhelming immune response during infection, which can lead to life-threatening sepsis or septic shock for which no suitable treatment is available so far. As a result of the worldwide expanding multidrug-resistant bac...

The design of microdevices in which components with magnetic character must be separated and recovered from reactive media benefits from the advantages of microfluidics and meets the criteria for process intensification; however, there are open questions, such as the design of the most appropriate magnet arrangement, that need further research in o...

The growing use of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) demands cost-effective methods for their synthesis that allow proper control of particle size and size distribution. The unique properties of MNPs include high specific surface area, ease of functionalization, chemical stability and superparamagnetic behavior, with applications in catalysis, data and...

We present a numerical model that describes the microfluidic generation and manipulation of ferrofluid droplets under an external magnetic field. We developed a numerical Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis for predicting and optimizing continuous flow generation and processing of ferrofluid droplets with and without the presence of a perma...

The use of functionalized magnetic particles for the detection or separation of multiple chemicals and biomolecules from biofluids continues to attract significant attention. After their incubation with the targeted substances, the beads can be magnetically recovered to perform analysis or diagnostic tests. Particle recovery with permanent magnets...

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the major component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, often pose a serious risk not only when delivered in the bloodstream but also in air, the environment and several industrial fields such as pharmaceutics or food. LPS is constituted of three regions; the O-specific chain, the core region and the lipid A,...

In this work, we report a numerical flow-focused study of bead magnetophoresis inside a continuous-flow microchannel in order to provide a detailed analysis of bead motion and its effect on fluid flow. The numerical model involves a Lagrangian approach and predicts the bead separation from blood and their collection into a flowing buffer by the app...

Solvent extraction at micro-scale has known increased interest in recent years. Consequently, numerous theoretical and experimental studies focused on diagnosis, detection and recovery of either biological substrates or base metals, isotopes and rare earths have been reported so far in the last few years. Within this context, the present work repor...

Magnetic beads can be functionalized to capture and separate target pathogens from blood for extracorporeal detoxification. The beads can be magnetically separated from a blood stream and collected into a coflowing buffer solution using a two-phase liquid-liquid continuous-flow microfluidic device in the presence of an external field. However, devi...

The advantages of miniaturized systems and the laminar flow regime that is present in microfluidic channels have opened a new range of applications in which the use of multiple streams with different reagents is exploited. However, further development of these microdevices needs deeper understanding on the phenomena involved in order to efficiently...

This work proposes a flowsheet based on the combination of membrane processes for the effective recovery of value-added components contained in mining effluents with high concentration of hydrochloric acid and metal anionic and cationic chloro-complexes. A representative case of study has been selected consisting of a solution of zinc and iron that...

Correction for ‘On-chip polyelectrolyte coating onto magnetic droplets – towards continuous flow assembly of drug delivery capsules’ by Ali Q. Alorabi et al. , Lab Chip , 2017, DOI: 10.1039/c7lc00918f.

We report an improved method for the continuous encapsulation of magnetic droplets with polyelectrolytes by deflecting ferrofluid-based templates through a microdevice with a design based on the “Snakes-and-Ladders” game. We demonstrated that the templates were successfully coated in less than 1 minute, showing the promising capabilities of integr...

Polyelectrolyte (PE) microcapsules for drug delivery are typically fabricated via layer-by-layer (LbL) deposition of PE layers of alternating charge on sacrificial template microparticles, which usually requires multiple incubation and washing steps that render the process repetitive and time-consuming. Here, ferrofluid droplets were explored for t...

A systematic investigation of magnetic nanoparticles and the formation of a core-shell structure, consisting of multiple maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles as the core and silica as the shell, has been performed using various techniques. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy clearly shows isolated maghemite nanoparticles with an average d...

The development of separation technologies, which also permit the recovery of valuable compounds from industrial wastewaters, reports economic and environmental benefits. In particular, the selective recovery of metals from end-of-life products is an essential strategy to avoid the depletion of natural sources, especially for less abundant metals s...

The use of magnetic particles has recently expanded for a process known as detoxification in which different toxins and microorganisms are captured from the bloodstream of septic patients. Due to the magnetic properties of the particles, once the capture of the pathogens is complete, their separation from the patient’s blood can be performed in a c...

In recent years, there has been growing interest in the use of functionalized magnetic beads for biomedical applications due to the outstanding characteristics of these materials. Furthermore, the recent development of microfluidics has enabled the continuous capture of malignant cells or toxins from biofluids for either analysis or treatment. Howe...

Microfluidic technology reports many advantages to be used in solvent extraction, namely reduced volume of the receptor phase, ease control of the fluidynamics of both liquid phases and thus, improved process performance. This work reports the theoretical, through CFD computational simulation, and experimental analysis of a microfluidic extraction...

The integration of magnetic nanophotocatalysts (MNPCs) in water treatment technologies has recently received great attention due to the enhanced physical and chemical properties of these materials. Thanks to the introduction of a magnetic material into the nanocomposite, its separation can be easily performed through the application of external mag...

For many developing countries, groundwater is the main source for water consumption in rural and urban areas. The occurrence of arsenic in groundwater is an environmental problem due to its high toxicity. Although the removal of arsenic by different technologies has been proven, adsorption is one of the best alternatives due to its simplicity and l...

Due to increasing demand for potable and irrigation water, water suppliers have to use alternative resources. They either have to regenerate wastewater or deal with contaminated surface water. This book brings together the experiences of various experts in preparing of innovative materials that are selective for arsenic and chromium removal, and in...

The occurrence of arsenic is frequently observed in groundwaters around the world and harshly affects several million people. Although different technologies have been proven to be efficient to face this environmental threat, adsorption with functionalized magnetic nanomaterials is one of the best alternatives, due to its flexibility and efficient...

This paper reports the selective separation of zinc over iron from spent pickling wastes or effluents using two different membrane-based solvent extraction process configurations, Non-Dispersive Solvent Extraction (NDSX) and Emulsion Pertraction Technology (EPT). The process aims to obtain a highly concentrated zinc solution with a negligible conte...

Universitaris espanyols són conscients de la necessitat d'introduir una dimensió internacional en el seu currículum. S'ha creat una nova alternativa al programa ERASMUS que bé podem anomenar "internationalization at home". En el grau d'Enginyeria Química de la Universitat de Cantabria es proposa un nou programa Chemical Engineering European Project...

The presence of arsenic in natural water is one of the most important pollution problems worldwide. Functionalized magnetic silica/magnetite nanoparticles (M3) have been reported as effective materials for arsenate adsorption [Saiz et al., 2014]. Because the process economy might be limited by the solid reuse, this work aims at the analysis of the...

BACKGROUND One of the most harmful pollutants to human health present in natural water is arsenic. In this work magnetic silica/magnetite nanoparticles functionalized with aminopropyl groups incorporating Fe3+ (S1-F3) were investigated for their suitability as materials to adsorb As5+ and As3+ from polluted groundwater.RESULTSMagnetite nanoparticle...

Separation processes combining facilitated transport membranes and membrane contactors offer several advantages such as the ability of liquid membranes to promote the uphill transport of target species by the coupling between mass transfer and chemical reaction, together with the benefits of using membrane contactors: large interfacial area, non-di...

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We report here the on-command cargo controlled delivery using an alternating magnetic field (AMF) from magnetic silica mesoporous supports capped with a lipid bilayer.

This work presents an overview of membrane-based solvent extraction technologies using membrane contactors as an innovative alternative for the remediation of effluents containing metallic pollutants. The discussion is focused on the description of Non-Dispersive Solvent Extraction (NDSX) and Emulsion Pertraction Technologies (EPTs). Three case stu...

This work aims at the development of a dynamic model for the mathematical description of facilitated transport separation processes carried out in membrane contactors where mass transport phenomena are coupled with chemical reactions. A general model that takes into account the description of all possible mass transport steps and interfacial chemic...

This work aims at the separation of the metallic impurities, namely Zn2+ and Fe3+, from trivalent chromium spent passivation baths used in the galvanic industry by means of selective liquid membranes as an efficient and necessary step in the regeneration of the baths for their useful life extension. A Liqui-Cel hollow fiber membrane contactor separ...

Liquid membranes have traditionally been employed for liquid/liquid mass transfer and have found applications in industrial, biomedical and analytical fields as well as in hydrometallurgical processes, wastewater treatment and remediation of polluted groundwater. However, in spite of the known advantages of liquid membranes, there are few examples...

Spent pickling effluents coming from hot-dip galvanizing processes contain high amounts of zinc and other metallic compounds in hydrochloric acid media. Thus, the effluent has a strong hazardous character and needs to be treated before disposal. Emulsion pertraction (EPT) with hollow fiber modules, can be considered as a clean alternative able to c...

OVERVIEW: During the past two decades, liquid membrane technology has grown into an accepted unit operation for a wide variety of separations. The increase in the use of this technology owing to strict environmental regulations and legislation together with the wider acceptance of this technology in preference to conventional separation processes h...

This work reports the study of the kinetics of zinc recovery from spent pickling solutions by means of emulsion pertraction technology (EPT) in order to reuse the metal in electrolytic processes. Tributyl phosphate (TBP) and service water were used as extraction (EX) and back-extraction (BEX) agents, respectively. Kinetic experiments were carried o...

This work deals with the optimal synthesis of groundwater remediation networks for the valorization of anionic pollutants by means of emulsion pertraction technology using hollow fiber modules (HFMs). Superstructures that incorporate all possible design alternatives are proposed. The aim of this work is to obtain a minimum cost groundwater remediat...

This work reports a synthesis model for the optimal design of an emulsion pertraction process for the removal and recovery of pollutant anions from industrial wastewaters. The goal is to define the minimum membrane area needed in order to obtain an environmentally acceptable stream with minimum concentration of the pollutant and at the same time a...

This work reports the study of the chemical equilibrium of the extraction of chromium(VI) anions from groundwaters where other anionic species are present, mainly sulfate and chloride anions, using Alamine 336 as extractant. The analysis was performed working with two different systems: (i) a binary system (sulfate and chloride anions) and, (ii) a...

Polluted groundwaters with an average anionic composition of 9 mol Cr2O42-/m3, 64 mol SO42-/m3, and 9.2 mol Cl-/m3 were treated by the emulsion pertraction technology using Alamine 336 as the extractant and NaOH as the stripping agent, to reduce the concentration of chromate compounds and recover them in a concentrated solution. A careful experimen...

The development of new “zero discharge” technologies which also permit the recovery of pollutant anions from industrial waste waters is a way of minimizing the cost of the processes and the impact on the environment. The kinetic behaviour of the removal and recovery of two different anionic pollutants is reported using membrane-based solvent extrac...

This work reports the viability of the selective separation of zinc from spent pickling solutions by means of membrane‐based solvent extraction to get a high concentrated zinc solution with a negligible content of iron and other metals that could be used in a electrolytic process to recover zinc in a metallic form. By working with waste effluents a...

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo el desarrollo de la metodología de diseño óptimo de procesos de separación con membranas líquidas selectivas en su aplicación a la separación de mezclas multicomponentes con recuperación selectiva del componente de interés. Para ello se ha investigado la separación selectiva y concentración de cromo(VI) presente ini...