Human Resources Program in Nanotechnology and New Materials Applied to the Oil, Natural Gas, Biofuels and Energy Sector

• Grant number: 25/03501-8
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: August 31, 2030
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Nicolau Apoena Castro
• Grantee: Nicolau Apoena Castro
• Host Institution: Centro de Tecnologia. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). Natal , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Ana Paula Cysne Barbosa ; Antonio Eduardo Martinelli ; Bismarck Luiz Silva ; Dulce Maria de Araújo Melo ; Julio Cezar de Oliveira Freitas ; Maria Carolina Burgos Costa ; Mauricio Mhirdaui Peres ; Mauricio Roberto Bomio Delmonte ; Meysam Mashhadikarimi ; Rubens Maribondo do Nascimento ; Sérgio Rodrigues Barra ; Sibele Berenice Castella Pergher

Abstract

The high technological demand in the oil, natural gas and biofuels sector is driven by new discoveries and growing global consumption of oil and natural gas extracted from new exploration frontiers. This sector interacts with other industrial sectors to meet its general and specific demand for new technologies and new materials. In this scenario, the need for qualified technical personnel is not limited to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies and renewable energy generation companies, but extends to suppliers of products and services in Brazil and abroad. The sector is both a generator and an inducer/consumer of new materials and associated technologies, including chemical products, elastomers, composites, metallic and non-metallic materials for piping and structures, coatings, civil construction materials, as well as materials for the generation of renewable energy, such as photovoltaic and wind power. In this context, new lightweight materials, resistant to high temperatures, high pressures and aggressive environments, and subject to wear, are combined with nanotechnology to offer solutions that meet the challenges of the sector. It is therefore important that the technical staff of companies that supply and consume products and services for the sector have contemporary and innovative training in materials, including a matrix of skills and abilities that enables them to specify, select and inspect components manufactured from new materials and nanomaterials, as well as their combinations. The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte has a long and consolidated history of working in the oil, natural gas and biofuels sector, including the generation of basic and applied knowledge, the placement on the market and the ongoing training of professionals in activities related to the areas of science, chemistry and materials engineering. In the energy sector, the group develops innovative projects aimed at the production and improvement of materials used in batteries, solar cells and fuel cells. In addition, it invests in the development of advanced materials for wind turbines, with a focus on the application of nanomaterials, high-strength composites and materials with self-repair properties. These technologies aim to increase energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact and enable the use of sustainable alternatives to replace conventional materials, contributing to the evolution of the sector and the transition to cleaner and more renewable energy sources.UFRN (IGC 4) has offered an undergraduate course in Materials Engineering (CC 4) since 1999, with a curriculum of optional subjects containing specific curricular components for students interested in strengthening their training for the sector. In addition, the UFRN Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering (CAPES Grade 7) and the Graduate Program in Chemistry (CAPES Grade 4) maintain lines of research in new materials and nanotechnology applied to solving demands from different industrial sectors, including oil, natural gas and biofuels. UFRN has been a leading player, cultivated over the last 20 years through projects in public/private partnerships based on demands exclusive to the sector. Among the outstanding institutional competencies in undergraduate and postgraduate training and in the development of applied research that make up the theme of this proposal, the following lines of research that form its scope stand out: 1. Drilling and Cementing Materials and Fluids; 2. Applied Nanotechnology; 3. Metallic Pipes and Coatings; and 4. Non-metallic Pipes. (AU)