OVERVIEW

The faster the world's resources and available energy are consumed, the less time remains for our survival. Starting from this assumption, Environmental Physical Chemistry aims to reformulate the traditional concepts of classical thermodynamics and to provide the tools for the environmental modeling of ecosystems, for the study of the pollutants' fate, and the determination of environmental sustainability indicators through an assessment of energy and entropic parameters that affect the non-equilibrium chemical processes. The course will help students to develop systemic, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary thinking, introducing more advanced, specialized knowledge that will allow them to address environmental and energy related problems with a new approach, which takes into account the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the tools for modeling ecosystems and determining indicators of environmental sustainability through an assessment of the energetic and entropic parameters that influence non-equilibrium processes of anthropic origin. They will develop the ability to conduct group experiments in the laboratory and in the field, to write test reports on diagnostic activities in the environmental field, and to prepare and present reports on assigned topics and on the results of experiments conducted in the laboratory.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The active participation in the training activities proposed by the course of Environmental Physical Chemistry will allow the student:

- To describe the main steps concerning the development of environmental awareness, through the first experimental evidences and international agreements;

- To defend the sustainable development goals thanks to the systemic approach, typical of the "environment" topic, identifying the concepts related to sustainability, considering with new tools and new approaches (emergetic and exergetic indicators, the concept of Transformity) the anthropic impact on ecosystems, understanding how to monitor it, prevent it and evaluate it;

- To define the concepts of advanced thermodynamics applied to complex systems, irreversible and non-equilibrium transformations, which describe natural and anthropic chemical-physical processes;

- To generalize the thermodynamic concept of entropy as a function of time, to extend it as a parameter for measuring the quality and the evolution of energy;

- To describe the characteristics of terrestrial ecosystems (atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere) as a function of matter and energy exchange processes, with particular reference to the main pollutants and their environmental fate;

- To justify and understand the need for the mathematical modeling of some phenomena occurring within ecosystems, exploiting chemical-physical prediction tools, and distinguishing their limits and their potential;

- To list the main energy production technologies, in relation to individual sources, distinguishing the concepts of renewability, and identifying strategies suitable for the challenges of the future;

- To examine scientific literatures knowingly, selecting only significant sources among the main available tools;

- To apply analytical procedures in practical laboratory activities;

- To develop a theme of environmental interest with critical and clever thinking, learning to manage social interactions with a collaborative and constructive attitude, communicating the projects in different environments, in a scientifically correct way. The project is carried out in a small group but it’s disseminated in front of colleagues and the commission, who interact and give an evaluation; this project will also allow the students to identify and refine their skills first individually, later with the group, and eventually the class, in relation to the development of the assigned task, testing one's own organization and also evaluation strategies.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching consists of lectures, for a total of 32 hours, and a part of exercises, for a total of 26 hours, which consist of different activities: dealing with practical problems with experts in the field, conducting guided tours of industrial plants, carrying out specific laboratory tests, and critically analyzing scientific literature; included in these hours are the students' seminar activities, developed in groups on topics of environmental interest and presented, at the end of the teaching, to an audience of students and experts. Attendance at the practical exercises is mandatory, as per the Didactic Regulations. The practical exercises are held by the lecturer in charge of the teaching, assisted by laboratory tutors, or by experts in the field and technicians of industrial plants or production. The organization and dates of practical activities are communicated directly by the lecturer at the beginning of class.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The teaching program is divided into four sections. The introductory part takes the students toward the history of the development of environmental consciousness, which uses the major environmental events of the last century as a starting point for International Agreements, COPs, and eventually the identification of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the first part, tools are provided for the definition of advanced thermodynamics, as a description of irreversible non-equilibrium processes, which, starting from the concepts of Energy and above all of Entropy of the First and Second Laws of classical Thermodynamics, leads to the concepts of production and flow of Entropy as a function of time. Entropy, therefore, assumes the role of measuring the quality of energy and the transformation of energy over time, considering open systems and irreversible processes, which lead to the formulation of the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics. In the second part, the terrestrial ecosystems (hydrosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere) will be described, in relation to the possibility of applying mathematical models for the treatment of emissions into the atmosphere, the transport of pollutants in water systems and soils, and the connections involving all the different spheres. Then the concepts of Emergy, Exergy and Transformity, new thermodynamic functions that take into account the sustainability of resources from which new Environmental Sustainability Indicators can be developed to understand the potential of emergy analysis of a Territorial System. In the third part, the various renewable and non-renewable energy technologies will be examined, in relation to consumption, needs, available reserves, and environmental costs, with which the concept of Circular Economy will finally be introduced.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Students are not provided with a basic reference text because the topics covered in the course can be reported in various texts, which are suggested directly by the teacher at the beginning of the lessons or in conjunction with the deepening of a specific topic. Lecture notes can be considered sufficient for exam preparation.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

The course lessons will begin concurrently with the start of the second semester of the Chemical Sciences Master Course.

The date of the first lesson will be communicated shortly before the start, via the aulaweb platform.

For details, see (https://chimica.unige.it/didattica/orari_SC)

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The examination is divided into two modes: the first consists of an oral test, conducted in seminar form, i.e., developing, in groups, a topic of their choice among several topics of environmental and chemical-physical interest, relevant to the program of the teaching and agreed upon beforehand with the lecturer; the second consists of a written test, where students will have to answer individually specific questions related to the program of the teaching, posed as multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The two modes weigh 50% of the final grade.

For students with disabilities or with DSA, please refer to the Other Information section.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The learning objectives in detail, which correspond to the learning outcomes expected for the students, listed in the dedicated section, are tested according to the examination methods described above. In particular, the written test, as it is structured, is dedicated to verifying the achievement of an adequate level of basic knowledge related to all the sections into which the teaching program is divided into, and understanding of the topics covered; on the other hand, the oral part carried out in seminar form will allow verifying that a higher level of critical analysis, reworking and collaborative construction has been achieved with regard to the group presentation developed on a topic of choice. Finally, the experimental laboratories will be concluded with the drafting of laboratory reports//tests that will be evaluated to verify that the application of analytical procedures in practical activities has been achieved. More generally, it will be possible for the student to self-verify their own preparation by active participation in the exercises carried out in classroom and in the laboratory or field, through feedback from the instructor.

More details on how to prepare for the exam and seminar, the level of in-depth analysis of each topic, and the evaluation criteria will be provided in the course of teaching.

FURTHER INFORMATION

The course may undergo some changes in the period of time between the publication of the present Teaching Data Sheet and the beginning of the lessons, in particular concerning the exam program, the teaching methods, and consequently the assessment methods, in the light of the analysis of the teaching evaluation questionnaires that are filled in by the students of previous years and on the basis of the teacher's updating on innovative and quality teaching methods that prove to be most appropriate for active, constructive, and interactive learning of the topic. Any change made will be promptly communicated in the classroom and via aulaweb.

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Sergio Di Domizio (sergio.didomizio@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.