Dr Eng. Maciej Thomas from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Power Engineering at the Kraków University of Technology (PK) became one of the winners of the MINIATURA 7 competition. He will receive financial support for a project of preliminary research on the synthesis of sodium polycarbonate and assessment of the possibility of its application for the removal of selected heavy metals from water solutions. 

Dr Maciej Thomas’s research may in future contribute to solving the problem of environmental pollution by heavy metals. 

They are used in many industries, including metallurgy, electrical engineering, electronics, printed circuit board production and electroplating. When industrial effluents are not treated effectively, they can leak into sewerage facilities, wastewater treatment plants and then into the environment. Due to their toxic properties, they must be effectively removed from the wastewater at the source, i.e. at on-site wastewater treatment plants.