66943 - Applied Inorganic Chemistry

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a general vision of the relevance of  inorganic chemistry in the today's world . In particular, he knows the economic importance, the preparation methods and the environmental impact of the most important inorganic compounds produced on the industrial scale.

Course contents

• Inorganic acids and derived products.

       - Industrial production of sulphuric acid and its impact on 

          the environment.

       - Industrial production of phosphoric acid.   

       -  Industrial production of hydrochloric acid (hydrogen

           chloride).

• Inorganic bases and derived products.

       - Caustic soda and the chlor-alkali industry

       - Industrial production of soda (Solvay process)

       - Industrial production of lime.

• Silicon compounds and related products

       - Zeolites. Industrial importance of zeolites. Structure and

         classification of zeolites. Industrial preparation of zeolites.

         Properties and uses of zeolites.

       - The  Cement. Cement manifacturing process. Cement

          degradation by atmospheric factors.

        - Glass. Glass industry. Properties of glasses. Coloured

          glasses.

• Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compounds in agriculture.

       - Industrial production of ammonia (Bosch-Haber process).

       - Industrial production of nitric acid (Ostwald process)

       - Industrial production of ammonium nitrate. Explosives.

• Sulfur compounds and paper industry.

       - Industrial production of paper (Kraft process) and 

          comparison with the "sulfite" process.

•  Water treatment.

       - Hydrolysis of cations in aqueous solutions.

       - Water hardness.

       - Treatment of solids dissolved in water.

       - Treatment for the potability of water. Treatments for 

          demineralization and softening of waters for industrial

          uses.

• Energy production with fuel cells.

       - Redox reactions. Galvanic cells. Pourbaix diagrams.

       - Comparison among the different types of fuel cells.

• Metal corrosion and protection.

      - Bimetallic and single metal corrosion by acids.

      - Prevention of corrosion. Cathodic protection. Inhibitors of

        corrosion. Protective coating.

      - Stainless steels.

• New Technologies: -colloid science, materials for electronics, - magnetic materials and superconductors.

 

 

     

Readings/Bibliography

• Lecture notes

• T. W. Swaddle, Inorganic Chemistry , An Industrial and Environmental Perspective, Academic Press, 1997.

• K. H. Büchel, H-H. Moretto, D. Werner,  P. Woditsch, Industrial Inorganic Chemistry, Wiley, 2006.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures.

Assessment methods

The oral exam  consists of a colloquium on a few topics of the course.

Teaching tools

Pc, overhead projector.

Office hours

See the website of Magda Monari