88376 - TECHNOLOGIES FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS AND ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY STORAGE

Learning outcomes

Description and applicability of the main technologies and sensors for environmental analysis. Spectroscopic, gas chromatographic, electrochemical etc. Applications of electrochemical energy storage / production systems. Introduction to electrochemical systems: thermodynamics and kinetics. Main techniques of characterization of electrochemical systems. Performance evaluation. Storage and conversion of energy. Batteries and Supercapacitors.

Course contents

Prerequisites

Knowledge and skills acquired in the following courses are required: Mathematics, Physics, Analytical Instrumental Chemistry. In particular, to successfully attend this class, the student should:

• have knowledge on chromatography and spectroscopy as analytical tool
• have basic knowledge on the electrochemical techniques conductometry and potentiometry
• be able to create graphs and plot calibration curves
• Collecting, storing and preparing samples from air, soil/surfaces and water for analysis.

Content

• Discussion on the importance of environmental analysis in the context of low carbon technologies
• Description on the main technologies and sensors for environmental analysis; selected case studies related to the production, disposal and recycling of electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices and materials.
• Field measurements versus analyses in centralized laboratories.
• Optimization of chromatographic separations in gas chromatography (GC) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
• Atomic spectroscopy: absorption, emission, graphite furnace, fluorescence
• Hyphenated techniques: inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), ICP-MS, GC-MS
• Fundamentals of electrochemistry: thermodynamics, kinetics, electrode reactions, mass transfer (diffusion, migration, convection), electrochemical methods (e.g. voltammetric techniques, stripping analysis, modified electrodes) and (bio)sensor designs and production.
• Electrochemical scanning probe microscopies.
• Introduction to electrochemical power sources. Historical progress. Batteries and supercapacitors
• Primary cells
• Secondary cells.
• Lithium batteries and post lithium technology. Materials.
• Electrochemical characterization of batteries. Main analytical techniques for the characterization of these electrochemical systems.

The course is completed by one laboratory (practical) experience (4 hours) based on voltammetric techniques and one demonstration of Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy (SECM, 2 hours)

Readings/Bibliography

Readings/Bibliography

The following books are relevant and useful for the content of the course

• J. R. Dean, "Environmental Trace Analysis - Techniques and Applications", Wiley, 2014.
• C. Zhang, "Fundamentals of Environmental Sampling and Analysis", Wiley, 2006.
• Allen J. Bard, Larry R. Faulkner, "Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications", Wiley, 2000.
• R. M. Dell, D.A. Rand, "Understanding Batteries", The Royal Society of Chemistry, 2001.
• B Scrosati and C. Vincent, "Modern Batteries", Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003.

Additional materials will be provided in the course and properly cited.

For the prerequisites section the student can refers to:

• Harris, Quantitative Chemical Analysis, 9th ed., 2015
• David Harvey, Modern Analytical Chemistry, McGraw-Hill Education, [https://www.bookdepository.com/publishers/McGraw-Hill-Education-Europe] 1999,which is freely available in the web: (last check 05 July 2019): http://dpuadweb.depauw.edu/harvey_web/eTextProject/AC2.1Files/AnalChem2.1.pdf

Teaching methods

Front lectures with one practical experience plus one laboratory demonstration of an electrochemical microscope will be offered. The course is complemented by examples related to industrial applications.

Assessment methods

a) Laboratory report (5 points) concerning the laboratory class to be submitted on the IOL platform.

b) Oral exam, about 30 minutes (25 points).

Teaching tools

• Lecture slides and other material useful for exam preparation are made available to the student electronically on the IOL platform.
• Students take notes during the lessons (the teachers will use the blackboard/whiteboard).
• Recent literature of impact will be provided and discussed.
• Access to students with disabilities is provided

Office hours

See the website of Marco Giorgetti

See the website of Andreas Stephan Lesch