ICRA researcher Natalia Ormeño defended her PhD thesis on 28 October 2025 at ICRA. The thesis, entitled “Electrochemical Removal of Antibiotics and Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria using Graphene-Sponge Electrodes”, was supervised by Jelena Radjenovic.

The excessive use of antibiotics in humans and animals has led to their accumulation in ecosystems and has promoted the emergence of resistant bacteria. Since conventional methods provide poor results in removing antibiotics and resistant bacteria, the thesis investigates the effectiveness of electrooxidation processes using continuous-flow reactors and the development of 3D graphene electrodes. Graphene sponges—cost-effective, scalable, and electrocatalytic—avoid the formation of toxic by-products and can be doped with different elements (boron, nitrogen, and sulfur) to enhance the removal of antibiotics and resistant bacteria.

For more details, see here or watch the defense recording here.