Filipa A. Vicente

• PhD in Chemical Engineering
• Research Assistant at National Institute of Chemistry

In an era so focused on sustainability, it is important to improve chemical processes by developing and using more environmentally friendly solvents and technologies. Deep eutectic solvents (DES) have proven to be a promising replacement for conventional solvents. In recent years, a new type of DES has emerged that responds to various stimuli. Thes...

The ESTELLA project aims to develop and produce sustainable thermoset epoxy composites, impacting the entire materials value chain, in particular by introducing covalent adaptable networks (CAN) in fossil-and bio-based matrices and fibres following the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) approach. This approach will enable the recycling of epoxy...

Monolignols represent pivotal alcohol-based constituents in lignin synthesis, playing indispensable roles in plant growth and development with profound implications for industries reliant on wood and paper. Monolignols and their derivates have multiple applications in several industries. Monolignols exhibit antioxidant activity due to their ability...

Epoxy resins are extensively used in various sectors, e.g. the automotive and construction industries, due to their thermomechanical properties [1]. Typically, amines are used as crosslinkers to enhance thermomechanical properties. However, this process reduces the recyclability of the resins [2]. For sustainable development, lignin, a branched bi...

Chemical pretreatment is an important method in the valorization of biomass for bioenergy production. The recalcitrant nature of lignocellulosic materials makes them resistant to microbial attacks, which reduces or impairs their usefulness as feedstock for bioenergy production. Although chemical pretreatment has been proven useful and efficient in...

Step towards resilience and sustainability through exploring renewable biomass and waste streams to produce higher-added value products and energy is among key aspects for closing the loops, saving resources, and reducing the resource and emission footprints. In that respective, crustacean shells waste can offer rich spectre of valuable compounds s...

The article discusses the production of platform chemicals from various biological sources,including glycerol,lignin,cellulose,bio-oils,and sea products. DFT calculations are provided.

A series of polymeric aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) were determined using polyethylene glycol (PEG) and sodium polyacrylate (NaPA) with choline chloride ([Ch]Cl) as an adjuvant. The effect of (i) PEG and NaPA molecular weights, (ii) PEG functionalization, (iii) [Ch]Cl addition (at different concentrations), and (iv) temperature (25, 37 and 50 °C)...

The present study reports the development of the lab-scale procedure for extraction of pectin from the waste industrial apple pomace using deep eutectic solvents (DES) as extraction medium. Compared with conventional extraction solvents, DES have attracted considerable attention due to the fact that they not only are eco-friendly, non-toxic, and bi...

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) play an important role in polymer chemistry, as they provide an innovative link between thermoplastics and thermosets. The breakthrough idea behind CANs is to at least partially replace irreversible crosslinks in classic thermoset polymers with dynamic covalent bonds that allow for reversible polymer character and...

Fruits are the most utilized commodities among all horticultural crops. They are consumed raw, minimally processed, due to their nutrients and health-promoting compounds. With the growing population and changing diet habits, the production and processing of fruits, have increased very significantly to fulfil the increasing demands. Significant loss...

Aqueous biphasic systems are widely known for their enhanced biocompatibility and selectivity in downstream processes. Hence, being a key tool for the extraction/separation of innumerous biomolecules. This is particularly important for the food industry considering the higher consumers’ awareness for the health hazards associated with chemicals use...

This review examines the possible functional roles of liquid natural deep eutectic solvents (NaDES) in plants and translating it to the laboratory.

Protein A affinity chromatography is an effective method for capturing and purification of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), which are amongst the most important products in the biopharmaceutical industry. Being one of the most expensive steps of downstream purification, optimization of Protein A affinity chromatography towards higher productivity offe...

Biotechnology has revolutionized science and health care by providing new biomolecules with biological and medical applications. However, the low stability of several life-saving bioproducts still hinders their transport, storage, and application. Hence, protein-based bioproducts instability and high costs are the main bottlenecks limiting access t...

Marine-derived food wastes mainly include seafood, fish and feed production resources. From crustaceans, traded annually, 6 to 8 million tonnes of valuable shrimp, lobster and/or crab shells are produced worldwide. In this systemic work, the researchers with complementary technical expertise, covering the fields of chemical engineering design, chem...

Over the last few years, there has been an impetuous search for natural colorant to be applied in various industries, such as cosmetics, food, and textile. This is largely driven by an increasing consumer demand for formulated ingredient products that are not only considered safer than their synthetic counterparts, but also present medicinal health...

Marine-derived food wastes mainly include seafood, fish and feed production resources. From crustaceans, traded annually, 6 to 8 million tonnes of valuable shrimp, lobster and/or crab shells are produced worldwide. In this systemic work, the researchers with complementary technical expertise, covering the fields of chemical engineering design, chem...

Immunoglobulin Y (IgY) represents an important class of antibodies, being present in egg yolk, with relevant medical applications and involving non-invasive methods of extraction. However, due to the complexity of egg yolk, the purification levels required for use in most medical applications demands the application of multi-step and cost-intensive...

In recent years, flavonoids have become a highly researched topic due to their health beneficial effects. Since flavonoids’ solubility plays a significant role in their use in pharmaceutical, food, biological, and chemical areas, the determination of suitable solvents is crucial. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis was used to characterize f...

A cloud point evaluation was performed for the nonionic surfactant Tergitol 15-S-7 in aqueous solutions of McIlvaine buffer (pH 7.0). Cloud point temperatures of the selected nonionic surfactant were studied in relation to the effect that the addition of dicationic ionic liquids (ILs) had on the systems. The dicationic ILs with different alkyl spac...

Raising the awareness of carbon dioxide emissions, climate global warming and fossil fuel depletion has renewed the transition towards a circular economy approach, starting by addressing active bio-economic precepts that all portion amounts of wood are valorised as products. This is accomplished by minimizing residues formed (preferably no waste ma...

Over the last years, the depletion of fossil resources allied with the growing energy demands and the increasing environmental pollution turned imperative the search for alternative renewable resources. Lignocellulosic biomass has been recognized as an excellent alternative feedstock due to its availability, renewability and low cost. Lignin, one o...

Chitin is the most abundant marine biopolymer, being recovered during the shell biorefining of crustacean shell waste. In its native form, chitin displays a poor reactivity and solubility in most solvents due to its extensive hydrogen bonding. This can be overcome by deacetylation. However, this process requires a high concentration of acids or bas...

Temperature-dependent aqueous micellar two-phase systems (AMTPSs) have recently been gaining attention in the isolation of high-added-value biomolecules from their natural sources. Despite their sustainability, aqueous two-phase systems, and particularly AMTPSs, have not been extensively applied in the industry, which might be changed by applying p...

The tuneable properties of surface-active ionic liquids (SAIL) and Pluronics are dramatically magnified by combining them in aqueous solutions. The thermo-controlled character of both, essential in the extraction of valuable compounds, can be fine-tuned by properly selecting the Pluronic and SAIL nature. However, further understanding of the nanosc...

Conventional isolation of chitin from crustacean waste demands the use of high amounts of hazardous chemicals, hence not leading to a sustainable process. Atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma has demonstrated an enhanced ability to remove proteins directly from the biomass without the formation of any waste. Simultaneously...

Separation and purification of biomacromolecules either in biopharmaceuticals and fine chemicals manufacturing, or in diagnosis and biological characterization, can substantially benefit from application of microfluidic devices. Small volumes of equipment, very efficient mass and heat transfer together with high process control result in process in...

This review highlights microfluidics-based separation and purification of proteins and nucleic acids with the focus on liquid–liquid extractions, particularly with biocompatible aqueous two-phase systems, which represent a cost-effective and green alternative.

Chitin displays a highly rigid structure due to the vast intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, thus hindering its dissolution and deacetylation using most solvents. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are special and environmentally friendly solvents composed of a hydrogen bond acceptor and a hydrogen bond donor. This allows them to dissolve chitin...

In this paper, we develop a new coarse-grained model, under the MARTINI framework, for Pluronic block copolymers that is able to describe the self-assembly mechanism and reproduce experimental micelle sizes and shapes. Previous MARTINI-type Pluronic models were unable to produce realistic micelles in aqueous solution, and thus our model represents...

R-phycoerythrin is a high added-value protein found in red macroalgae with several interesting properties. Despite the promissing results found when R-phycoerythrin is used as an optically active center in luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs), it still has some problems that can be attributed to the low stability of the R-phycoerythrin in presenc...

A two-step approach combining an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) and an aqueous micellar two-phase system (AMTPS), both based on the thermo-responsive copolymer Pluronic L-35, is here proposed for the purification of proteins and tested on the sequential separation of three model proteins, cytochrome c, ovalbumin and azocasein. Phase diagrams were...

Aqueous micellar two-phase systems (AMTPS) hold a large potential for cloud point extraction of biomolecules but are yet poorly studied and characterized, with few phase diagrams reported for these systems, hence limiting their use in extraction processes. This work reports on a systematic investigation of the effect of different surface-active ion...

Good’s buffer ionic liquids (GB-ILs) have demonstrated their potential usefulness in the biotechnological field due to their advantageous properties of self-buffering and biocompatibility. To further investigate the applicability of these solvents in industrial process, the knowledge of the thermophysical properties of such solvents is of utmost im...

A new range of Good's buffer ionic liquids (GB-ILs), displaying simultaneously the properties of ionic liquids and Good's buffers, were synthesized by a combination of Good's buffer anions (MOPSO, BES, TAPSO, and CAPSO) and tetrabutylammonium, tetrabutylphosphonium, and cholinium cations via an acid-base neutralization reaction. The activity and st...

Aqueous micellar two-phase systems (AMTPS) using surfactants have been widely applied as an advantageous extraction technology for a wide range of (bio)molecules. When composed by two surfactants (the second one used as the co-surfactant), the extractive performance of such systems is considerably boosted. In this context, this work looks at ionic...