Environmental Chemistry

The course is structured in four main parts: i) the environment system (from a chemical point of view), how it is perturbed by external agents (polluting) and what the effects are (pollution); (ii) analytical techniques for monitoring the environment system, identifying and quantifying components of interest; (iii) approaches to removing pollutants from the environment; iv) processes aimed at minimizing negative effects (recycling) and technologies to prevent/reduce their entry into the environment (green processes). Real case studies will also be proposed and discussed together with simulations of environmental issues, which can be addressed using the tools learned during the course (problem solving).
The course will specifically address the following topics:
1- Organic and inorganic environmental pollutants: origins and effects on the environment. Natural and anthropogenic pollutants. Stratosphere chemistry: notions to the chemistry of the ozone layer and ozone holes. Air pollution at ground level, photochemical smog and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), health consequences. Notions of the chemistry of the greenhouse effect. Energy, fossil fuels, carbon dioxide. Biofuel chemistry. Radioactivity, radon, nuclear power. Water chemistry, pollution and purification. Main toxic heavy metals: mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, chromium. Toxic organic compounds: pesticides, dioxins, furans, PCBs, aromatic polycyclic hydrocarbons, environmental estrogens (endocrine disruptors). The chemical-physical bases of the main effects caused by pollutants will be discussed. Solid soils and waste (regulatory, for example for water).
2 - Techniques for monitoring pollutants, identifying and quantifying them. Overview of the sample treatment processes; gravimetric and volumetric methods, absorption spectrophotometry, atomic absorption and atomic emission, chromatographic techniques, mass spectrometry. Electroanalytic techniques (potentiometry , conductometry, amperometry, voltammetry).
3 - Notions of the main techniques for the removal of pollutants in the three environmental compartments. Filtering, catalysts, flocculation, sedimentation, precipitation, adsorption and ion-exchange agents, membranes, electrodeposition, electro-purification, disinfection, biological treatments.
4 - Strategies for reducing the impact of polluting materials: recycling/recovery of materials & sustainable processes/technologies. Recycling processes of conventional materials: steel, glass, aluminum, zinc, lead, polymer materials (plastics and tires). The problem of "new" waste: lithium, silicon, rare earths. Renewable energy and related technologies, with a focus on technologies that have chemical bases: photovoltaics (traditional and new frontiers), production and use of hydrogen, biofuels, lithium batteries, post-lithium batteries, supercapacitors. Technologies and processes aimed at minimizing the use of energy and substances impacting the environment: smart windows, green chemistry, catalytic converters, active filters.
5 -Simulations and case studies. Discussion of real case studies. Problem solving: simulation of environmental problems, to be solved in groups.