Nicolas Cimetiere

Nicolas CIMETIERE obtained his PhD degree from the University of Poitiers in 2009. His thesis was supervised by Joseph De Laat and Florence Dossier-Berne. It deals with the reactivity of monochloramine with model organic compounds. After a postdoctoral funded by the ANSES at the ENSIP on the effect of UV dechloraminators of the water quality in swimming pools, he was appointed assistant professor in 2010 at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes to work in the Chemistry and Process Engineering (CIP) department. His field of expertise concerns environmental engineering and especially the analysis and physico-chemical treatments of water contaminated with traces organic compounds.

My research focuses on the treatment of water contaminated with organic micropollutants.

These activities can be summed up in three main themes:
-The development of analytical tools for the analysis of organic micropollution in the trace level in complex matrices
-The study of adsorption processes for the treatment of water contaminated by emerging ornamental pollutants
-The impact of oxidation treatments on the formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs).
Moreover, a final transversal approach to these themes aims to model these complex phenomena in order to simulate and predict the impact of treatments on water quality in treatment facilities.

Development of analytical tools Development of analytical tools for trace organic compounds detection and quantification in complex matrices. To be representative, organic emerging pollutants removal in water treatment studies require to work under realistic conditions (trace concentrations, presence of interfering species). This need to develop analytical methods such as LC-MS/MS or GC-MS to quantify samples. In addition to these conventional approaches, more innovative strategies can be used such as the automation of solid phase extraction in an existing LC-MS/MS system to determine trace concentration of pharmaceuticals in water or the development of Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) for identification and real-time monitoring of BDPs in swimming pool water for example. These developed methods are then used both for lab scale study or sampling campaigns in the environment or water treatment facilities.
	Adsorption process Adsorption process for organic emerging pollutant removal, and modeling. These research aim to determine the fundamental parameters governing the adsorption process (kinetic and thermodynamics behaviors) and the impact of natural organic matter on the adsorption of trace pollutants. Studies are based on multi-scale approach combining lab experiments and pilot scale assay in order to take into account both the molecular interactions and the flow conditions. Different strategies of modeling (top-down, bottom-um, QSAR…) are used to predict the occurring of pollutant during water treatment using activated carbon filters or reactors.
Oxidation process ...
	Modelling and simulation ...