Research themes:

• Mechanisms influencing the speciationthe bioavailability and the toxicity metals and metalloids
• Interaction between soil, plants and micro-organisms at the rhizosphere
• Transfer of contaminants inorganic (metals, nanoparticles) in the soil-plant system
• Phyto-extraction metals and metalloids, in particular rare earths
• Extraction of critical metals from secondary resources through bio-inspired techniques

The complexity of the environment studied requires interdisciplinary approaches: physical chemistry, soil science, plant physiology, microbiology, and the use of different tools to characterise the mechanisms, such as the study of speciation by X-ray absorption spectroscopy or imaging.