UC professor is elected to the European Academy of Sciences

When it comes to water treatment technologies and processes, University of Cincinnati Professor of Environmental Engineering Dionysios (Dion) Dionysiou, Ph.D., is a household name among engineers and scientists around the world.

Dionysiou is a UNESCO co-chair on Water Access and Sustainability, editor of three prestigious journals and author or co-author of more than 325 publications, many in water-related research. 

Recently, his achievements again garnered him international recognition. Earlier this year, the European Academy of Sciences elected Dionysiou to its organization, a selection that requires a highly distinguished record and a history of advancing the engineering or science field. Dionysiou will join the company of less than 600 distinguished scholars and scientists. 

"I'm honored to be part of this select group of members and to be connected to this network," says Dionysiou.

By developing concepts in advanced oxidation processes and creating nanomaterials, Dionysiou has made significant progress in the breakdown and removal of toxins and other contaminants from water. Dionysiou's work includes applications for treatment of surface water, groundwater and industrial wastewater. He even studies application for water reuse. 

"The objective is to purify water," says Dionysiou. "The diversity of the contaminants in water makes this complicated. For example, removing toxins like algae toxins and pesticides from water requires a different process than removing toxins like lead or mercury."

Because the contaminants in water are generally incredibly small, they can be manipulated through certain treatment processes – processes that Dionysiou has developed through his research. 

"Very small contaminants have very large surface areas," he says. "You can tailor design materials that can cause chemical reactions on these large surface areas."