Highly fluorescent carbon nanodots from olive mill wastewater

Este trabalho foi financiado pelo Concurso Anual para Projetos de Investigação, Desenvolvimento, Inovação e Criação Artística (IDI&CA) 2016 do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa. Código de referência IPL/2016/NANOLIVE/ISELOlive oil production is a tremendously important agro-industrial activity in the Mediterranean region, with the European Union countries contributing to near 70% of the world quota. Olive oil is typically obtained by two main processes: batch press and continuous centrifugation. Depending on the particular process used, 200-1600 L of olive mill wastewater (OMWW) is produced per ton of processed olives. The OMWW exhibits very low biodegradability parameters which pose serious issues for its treatment. Apparently, none of the researched methods or technological processes developed so far have found a widespread application, probably due to unaffordable economical costs.