Alexia Macina
"My project focuses on finding new catalytic methods to produce biodiesel in an efficient and sustainable way. Currently, biodiesel production on a commercial scale faces many challenges such as high production costs due to tedious purification processes and the inability to recover and reuse the catalyst, ultimately leading to unsustainable practices."
"My research addresses these drawbacks by synthesizing a carbon dot catalyst from very cheap and commonly available precursors such as glycine and citric acid through a simple one pot synthetic procedure. The catalyst can be recovered from the reaction mixture and be reused for multiple reaction cycles without having an effect on biodiesel yield. Using carbon dots as heterogeneous catalysts can permit biodiesel production to become a more cost efficient, environmentally friendly and sustainable process that can meet future energy demands."
"Winning was very unexpected, to be honest! I had seen other participants’ posters and there was some amazing research being done so just to be in the same pool as the others was very gratifying. Attending conferences always gives me the extra motivation that I think all students need during graduate studies, and receiving such positive feedback for not only my own research but also my fellow Concordia colleagues’ research was a validation of all the great work we do."
