In her PhD thesis, Silvia Larumbe-Abuin has developed
nanostructures that assist in the process to decontaminate water. The
nanostructures (particles of a microscopic size of between 1 and 100
nanometres) are coated in titanium oxide to which nitrogen has been added. This
allows sunlight, rather than ultraviolet radiation, to trigger the process
involving the chemical reaction and destruction of contaminants. What is more,
thanks to the magnetic nucleus of the particles, once the process has been
carried out, they can be retrieved and reused. Silvia Larumbe’s thesis is
entitled: “Síntesis, caracterización y aplicaciones de nanoestructuras basadas
en óxidos de metales de transición” [Synthesis, characterisation and
applications of nanostructures based on transition metal oxides].