FINOCCHIO E.

A series of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(lactic acid)-based bio-composites (sisal PLA) were prepared and studied by spectroscopic and microscopic techniques as such and after immersion at room temperature in different degradation mediums (i.e., distilled and natural sea water and solutions at pH = 2, 6, and 8). In these conditions, some of...

Communities of Practice (CoP), defined as learning groups that have the goal of producing organized and quality knowledge, are recognized nowadays as an effective approach to Faculty Development. At the Polytechnic School of the University of Genova, meetings of the CoP are active since 2017, to favor sharing teaching practices and tools,...

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)-based biopolymers filled with degradable glass fibers were submitted to real life conditions, selected based on their potential applications as beverage containers, to evaluate the feasibility of their usage at the required operational conditions. To do so, several media (i.e., buffer solutions at pH = 3, 5, 7.5, 12 and...

Hybrid materials based on clays and polyamines are supposed to be efficient heavy metals sorbents due to the well-known adsorption behaviour of the clay matrix and to the coordination properties of un-protonated amino groups. For this purpose, a montmorillonite clay was modified with three different aliphatic polyamines: L6 and L10 have a...

In this work, ceramic powder dispersion was achieved by using a glycerol/water solution as dispersion medium and polyvinyl alcohol as binder and rheology modifier. Five different powders were dispersed and they were deposited onto open cell ceramic foams: the bare carrier (i.e. cerium oxide) and four catalytically active powders (i.e. nickel,...

BACKGROUND: Catalysts based on alumina-supported metal oxides are of crucial importance in the field of heterogeneous catalysis for several applications requiring tuning of surface acidity. RESULTS: In this work, the effects of K+, Ca2+ and La3+ cation doping have been evaluated on a well-characterized commercial gamma-Al2O3 through...

Acidity and basicity of four hydrocalumite-type materials were studied by infrared spectroscopy through theadsorption of pivalonitrile and acetonitrile, as probe molecules. Samples were prepared by coprecipitation of thecorresponding chloride salts with and without ultrasounds and later aging by refluxing under microwaves or byconventional...

Iron phosphide catalysts supported on silica with an iron loading of 15 wt% were synthesized and studied in the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of phenol. The amount of phosphorus varied in order to obtain iron phosphides with different stoichiometry. Catalysts containing Fe2P, FeP and FeP2 phases were obtained. The textural and structural properties...

This study is a starting point for the development of an efficient method for rare earths (REs) and transition metals (TMs) recovery from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) via a hydrometallurgical process. The capture and release capability of mineral clays (STx) and activated carbons (AC), pristine and modified (STx-L6 and...

Uptake and release capability of a new organoclay material were assessed with the final goal to evaluate its applicability in recovering REs from solutions. Capture and release capability have been tested towards a La ions model solution, and interaction mechanism and reactions, active in both capture and release processes, were related to the...

In this work, Ca-montmorillonite (STx), natural and modified (STx-L6) with a linear penta-ethylene-hexamine (L6), were tested as sorbents in a liquid/solid process for La and Cu capture in bionic model solutions. Twelve La/Cu ratios in solution were set and analyzed with the final target of investigating the capture mechanisms when both Cu and...

Metals from electric and electronic waste equipment (WEEE) can be recovered by dissolution with acids followed by liquid–liquid extraction. A possible alternative to liquid–liquid extraction is liquid–solid adsorption, where sorbents efficiency is the key factor for process efficiency. In this respect, aim of this paper is the study of the...

This study has the main purpose of testing natural carriers as more sustainable alternatives to polymeric coating. New clay‐based hybrid organic–inorganic materials have been prepared. An innovative procedure for the intercalation of the bioactive molecule is proposed. The synthesis process implies the use of mild operating conditions and does...