Hi, I’m a student from Italy with an interest in Maths, Science and Music.
Part of the duo which won first place in the Italian competition ”I Giovani e le Scienze 2021”.
Tell us what the water concern in your country is!Italy is facing a water crisis due to lacking infrastuctures, climate change and the large quantities of water needed for agriculture. Developing solutions to purify water can reduce waste and truly make a difference.
SAP2 (Sustainability Analysis of Purification with SAPonite)
The goal of our project was to develop an experimental solution to environmental pollution and to analyze the sustainability of the process. We used a synthetic clay named Na-SAP-20, a mineral which possesses ion exchange properties which allow it to recover heavy metals and other pollutants from bodies of water. The method we developed was tested on Co2+, a material recognized as ‘critical’ due to its uses in a range of industrial, sustainable and technological applications, and on Cr3+ which is a common polluting agent found in freshwater. The material absorption capacities have been analyzed by spectrophotometry UV-VIS, ICP-MS and NMR-relaxometry; we compared the results obtained with these analytical techniques focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of each one.
