26-11-2025
Miguel Nogueira, who completed his PhD in Sustainable Chemistry, was distinguished with the Waste Vision 2100 International Award from the International Waste Working Group (IWWG), with his doctoral thesis entitled Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from NdFeB Magnets by Using Porous Carbons Produced from Rubber of Spent Tyres - Tyre4REEcycle.
The thesis explored the recovery of rare earth elements, namely neodymium and dysprosium, from NdFeB magnets through adsorption mechanisms, using porous carbon materials obtained by pyrolysis of end-of-life tyres.
The growing generation of used tyres and the scarcity of rare earth elements essential for technological applications pose significant environmental and economic challenges. In this context, the work converted tyre waste into porous carbon adsorbents capable of recovering rare earth elements, contributing to circular economy solutions.
By winning the Waste Vision 2100 Award, Dr Miguel Nogueira was invited to present his thesis at the opening session of the Sardinia Symposium 2025, held from 13 to 17 October at the Forte Village Resort in Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy), where he received the award.
This research was supervised by Dr Nuno Lapa and Dr Inês Matos (NOVA FCT) and Dr Filomena Pinto (LNEG), and benefited from the collaboration of Dr João Carlos Lima, Dr Sandra Gago and Dr Maria Bernardo (NOVA FCT), Dr Luís Tarelho (University of Aveiro), the waste-tyre management company Valorpneu, S.A., the spent-tyre recycling companies Recipneu and Biogoma, the Associated Laboratory for Green Chemistry (LAQV-REQUIMTE) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
This award highlights the international impact of the research carried out at NOVA FCT and its strong connection with the business sector.
