Last year PhD student in Chemical Engineering (IST). Master of Chemical Engineering (IST). Co-author of three papers. Currently researches the recovery of rare earth elements from e-waste with focus on circular economy and green hydrometallurgy principles, and enginnering project of chemical plants.
Research interests
Field of Research (FOS)
Chemical engineering
External profiles
Scientific production
Biography
Get to know this author through their biography.
Filipe M. J. Figueiredo is currently a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at IST (UL). He proposes to apply green hydrometallurgy principles for the recovery of rare earth elements from e-waste towards a circular economy. His scientific interests include rare earth elements chemistry, waste valorisation, green hydrometallurgy, modelling of biphasic processes, scaling-up of chemical operations, chemical engineering project and the development of methods for XRF analysis. His commitment to research has recently led him also to be fully autonomous with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers, which already led him to be co-author of three peer-review scientific articles and a poster at an international conference. He tutored a fellow about calibrating an ED-XRF portable spectrometer for the analysis of REE. He participated in 16 activities, including one course and 7 short trainings on analytical techniques and methodologies, several workshops, namely about teaching STEM and writing/reviewing scientific documents, and was invited to peer-review in a Q1 journal. He made part of one meeting designed to divulge science to public. He was a teaching assistant in the Physical Chemistry course (Graduation in Chemical Engineering, IST) in theoretical-practical (TP) and laboratory classes in 2022-2023, in which he focused in active learning and other STEM pedagogical techniques. He is a researcher since 2017 in multiple research fellowships. Some of his work has included metal separation from uncommon secondary sources, design of unitary operations in pilot plants and functionalization of surfaces. He has practical experience with many analytical techniques (ED-XRF, ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, HPLC, UV/Vis, TLC) and has used some others (ICP-MS, ICP-OES, SEM/EDS, powder XRD, Raman, DL, FTIR). This proves his adaptability and knowledge in different areas. He has also learned to manage the internal affairs of a laboratory. He graduated in Chemical Engineering from IST (UL) in 2016 and was part of the Honour Roll twice. His MSc thesis work was "Estudos de Reactividade do Fármaco Antiplaquetário Clopidogrel" ("Antiplatelet Drug Clopidogrel Reactivity Studies"). The main goal was to find evidence of toxic pathways by detection of covalent adducts of its metabolites with common bionucleophiles. This work provided a solid formation on organic chemistry (focusing on the oxidation of thienopyridines and laboratory synthesis) and analytical chemistry. Filipe is very responsible, autonomous and flexible while being also highly motivated to improve the environment, to understand natural processes and to transfer scientific knowledge.