Dr. Zahra Shamsi

My research focuses on the development of next-generation sorbent materials and innovative analytical workflows designed to address one of the most pressing challenges in environmental science today: the reliable detection, monitoring, and tracing of highly polar, persistent, and complex organic contaminants in water, soil, and sediment systems.

Across industrial, agricultural, and urban environments, a growing number of polyphosphonate compounds are being released into natural ecosystems. These substances (used widely in detergents, water treatment, corrosion control, herbicides, and industrial processing) are chemically stable, strongly hydrophilic, and often lack chromophores or other properties that make traditional analysis straightforward. Their environmental fate, transformation processes, and long-term ecological impacts remain insufficiently understood. As global usage increases, so does the need for robust, selective, and sensitive analytical methods that can detect these compounds at trace levels in complex environmental matrices.

Our group addresses this need by integrating expertise from analytical chemistry, environmental geochemistry, and advanced instrumental analysis. A central component of our work is the design and synthesis of tailored functional sorbents, often with engineered surface chemistries, magnetic cores, or selective recognition sites. These materials are developed to enhance extraction efficiency, improve selectivity for target analytes, and significantly reduce matrix interferences, paving the way for faster, cleaner, and more reliable sample preparation workflows. One of our main technological focuses is the advancement of magnetic micro-solid-phase extraction (MSPE). This approach allows rapid and solvent-efficient isolation of contaminants without the need for extensive centrifugation or filtration.

After material development and characterization, these extraction techniques are coupled with state-of-the-art chromatographic and mass spectrometric platforms, including high-resolution LC systems and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS). The combination of selective extraction with compound-specific isotope analysis provides a highly powerful toolset. It not only improves detection limits but also enables us to trace sources, degradation pathways, and biogeochemical transformations of pollutants in natural systems.

A major strength of our research program is its interdisciplinary structure. We combine:

• Material synthesis (core–shell structures, polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles, functional monomers),

• Surface and structural characterization (SEM, TEM, FTIR, XRD, BET),

• Analytical chemistry (LC–MS/MS, LC–IRMS, derivatization, chemometrics),

• Environmental science (pollutant transport, source tracking),

• Data-driven optimization (multivariate design, statistical modeling).

This integrated approach allows us to design solutions that are not only chemically sound but also practical, scalable, and applicable in real-world monitoring programs.