The research project UCBM on one of the most pressing issues related to the Earth
22 April 2021 - Today, April 22, 2021, we celebrate the World Earth Day, created to raise awareness of the importance of conserving the natural resources offered by the Planet. Among these is water, to which one of the projects of the Chemical-Physical Foundations Research Unit of the University is dedicated.IngChemical engineering directed by teacher. Vincenzo Piemonte.
Water is one of the fundamental resources for life but drinking water represents only 1% of all water resources on Earth. In the world, according to the 2019 United Nations World Report, three out of ten people do not have access to it and goal number 6 of theSustainable Development Agenda 2030 is "Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation facilities for all ". The water purification it is therefore a particularly topical and urgent issue for the protection of the environment.
The study of Leone Mazzeo, graduate IngChemical Engineering for Sustainable Development and research fellow UCBM, which aims to use waste materials for the purification of polluted water. An example of the material used in this first work is yerba mate, known as an infusion and used in the Argentine and Uruguayan tradition.
Through tea filters it is possible to remove polluting substances: these agri-food wastes are in fact bio-adsorbent, i.e. they eliminate toxic substances from an aqueous solution (specifically, methylene blue (MB), Remazol brilliant blue (RBB) and chromium. Adsorption is a traditional, low cost and highly efficient method for removing dyes and heavy metals, especially with the use of activated carbon.
The "clean" water studied in Mazzeo's project can be reused as process water (for example to feed boilers or to dilute chemical products) or for irrigation purposes. Instead, further biological treatments would be needed to make the water drinkable in view of studies aimed at solving and combating the problem of water scarcity.