A postdoctoral researcher at the UJI designs a pioneering method in the evaluation of nitrate pollution



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## A postdoctoral researcher at the UJI designs a pioneering method in the evaluation of nitrate pollution The work of Vicente Martí Centelles has been published in the prestigious journal Chemistry- A European Journal that highlighted it on its inside cover

21/10/2015 |
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](https://www.svideo.uji.es/svideo_flash/jpeg/Not_Nitratos_val.jpg)](https://www.svideo.uji.es/svideo_flash/minut/Not_Nitratos_cas_1min.mp4)

A postdoctoral researcher at the Universitat Jaume I has designed an innovative model for the selective recognition of nitrates which has a large involvement in the prevention of environmental pollution. The proposal developed by Vicente Martí Centelles during a postdoctoral research stay at the University of Oxford, has been published in the prestigious journal *Chemistry- A European Journal* that has included the work in the top 10% of articles of importance, has recognized it as *Hot-Paper* and has highlighted it on its inside cover.

The article describes the preparation of a sensor that can selectively detect, that is to detect exclusively, the nitrate anion over other anions such as phosphate. The nitrate anion is a pollutant molecule that is part of fertilizers and which is present in the water we drink, or water from rivers, and which at high levels is harmful to health and the environment. In this sense, following the excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture, nitrate anion has caused the alteration of the natural aquatic ecosystem. Besides, contamination of water with elevated nitrate levels causes various diseases such as *methaemoglobinemia* also known as the *blue baby syndrome* in infants, a disorder characterized by an abnormal accumulation of haemoglobin.

The method proposed by Vicente Martí Centelles, PhD at the UJI, opens the way for the detection of nitrate in water samples in different contexts, environmental or medical, to see if there are high levels of nitrate and take the necessary preventive measures. A pioneering model as it is the design of a chemical structure that allows tailored selective recognition of this pollutant.

The chemical structure designed is the first step for efficient recognition of nitrates, and it could have applications in the development of nitrate detection systems such as in the development of filters to remove these contaminants from water. As Martí Centelles explains, "we could develop user-friendly systems for everyone that allow the molecule to change colour in the presence of nitrates, and even filter systems similar to those with resins that exist to remove calcium from water. Including molecules based on our prototype, we could pass the water through the filter and remove the nitrate."

The research was conducted during a postdoctoral stay at the University of Oxford, supervised by Prof. Paul D. Beer, within the program of the Generalitat Valenciana VALi+d. Martí Centelles project has been endorsed by Professor of Organic Chemistry at the UJI, Santiago Luis Lafuente, and the different steps were performed at the Universitat Jaume I and the University of Oxford. The postdoctoral program was complemented by a stay of the researcher in the company *Biotics* of Espaitec, the Scientific, Technologic and Business Park of Jaume I. Vicente Martí Centelles did his doctoral thesis in the group of Supramolecular and Sustainable Chemistry of the UJI led by Santiago Luis Lafuente.

References: Vicente Martí-Centelles, Paul D. Beer, *Chemistry - A European Journal,* 2015, Volume *21,* Issue 26, pages 9397-9404.

[Video](http://blogs.uji.es/cienciatv/en/2015/10/21/pioneering-method-in-the-evaluation-of-nitrate-pollution/)

[Link to magazine cover](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.201590116/abstract)

[Link to article](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/chem.201406066/abstract)

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