Periodic Reporting for period 2 - MAT4TREAT (Enhancing water quality by developing novel materials for organic pollutant removal in tertiary water treatments)
Berichtszeitraum: 2017-01-01 bis 2018-12-31
The Italian Torino University is the leader of the project. The principal scientific aim is to develop efficient and eco-sustainable materials for water remediation, by means of separation processes, adsorption and photo- and bio-catalytic abatement. In detail, the examined substances belong to several classes of materials: from graphene-based systems, oxidic semiconductors with peculiar features tailored for the specific applications, polymeric and silicon carbide-based membranes, up to waste-derived bio-organic substances. The most promising materials, in the final step, will be studied by means of Life Cycle Assessment, which allows an evaluation of their potential interaction with the environment in their entire cycle of life. The project, organized following the experience of the researchers of Torino University in green chemistry field, takes advantage of precious international collaborations both in academinc and non-academic field. This wide collaboration network and the cultural and professional exchange, favored by researchers mobility within the project, become one of the fundamental pillars of the operation plan. Beside the scientific aspects, the project takes particular care of the implication on the community in a perspective of social integration. In fact, scientific dissemination is carried out at different levels (from PhD schools and workshops to laboratories for primary and secondary school students) as well as outreach activities by participation to successful events as the “Researchers’ Night” in Torino.
On the other hand, some new materials, oxidic (doped and non-doped) and also hybrid, were synthesized in order to obtain highly efficient photocatalysts for the mineralization of pollutants and membranes whose porosity is specific for the separation of chosen substrates, also basing on thermal stimuli able in opening and closing the pores of the membranes.
Not only the consortium took advantages from the interconnections born within the project, since the Mat4Treat action allowed to wide the number of people aware to the thematic of water pollution. People awareness generates attention to the possible ways to maintain the water clean for human needs, and this is one of the main purposes of Mat4Treat action. To reach this aim, the project was presented in several scientific and non-scientific meetings, in form of poster or oral presentations to congresses and workshops, in form of laboratories for schools and general audience, in form of written communication in a widely diffused journal in Italian and English.