Innovative materials for sustainable development: from abatement of pollutants to energy conversion.

Universities and industry are often understood as two separate entities, aiming to innovate but with different purposes and in very different ways. This thesis is instead intended as a bridge between these two realities, created through the collaboration of industry, in the form of my work with Efesto Innovation S.r.L. and with the University of Padua, giving me the opportunity to be a PhD student in their facilities under the supervision of Professor Antonella Glisenti. Accordingly, this work will cover topics from different areas, from the world of aesthetic coatings to the recycling of waste materials, from the world of green energy to the reduction of air pollutants. Being a PhD thesis in materials science and nanostructures, the 'red thread' that will connect all these different works, in each case, will be the research and development of new materials, methodologies and/or innovative tools with a high scientific added value. Not only that, but special attention will be paid to the environment in this thesis. What can be the point of doing research if you will not have a place in which to exploit the knowledge and technologies produced by such research? The solutions that will be proposed in this work will therefore be the result of research in green chemistry, whenever possible, or with low environmental impact. Not only that, but major efforts will be made precisely to reduce pollution both in an active form, through research into new materials capable of decomposing pollutants, and in a passive form, by directly attacking the sources of pollution production. Consequently, this work will include a research on aesthetic coatings with high mechanical and heat resistance characteristics, which will be addressed by means of an extensive search of scientific literature, patents filed in recent years and the latest technological advances in the field. Then the focus will be on finding ways to recycle waste metal powders to obtain high value products suitable for sale in order to promote a circular economy that has a low impact on the environment and benefits society as a result. The topic of the environment will be further addressed, focusing on environmental pollutants, specifically nitrogen oxides or NOx. Here, a work will be presented on the design and development of catalysts for the decomposition reaction of the hazardous species mentioned above. Not only that, for this project a test bench was also designed and built to verify the actual performance of these catalysts, bringing innovation on several fronts to a sector as important as green chemistry. In an organic manner to what has been done previously, the focus will be also put on an additional aspect concerning environmental protection through chemistry: clean energy production. This will be done through research and development of innovative materials to be used in the construction of solid oxide fuel cells to be brought to market. Not only that, but successful efforts will be made to find materials that can enable the use of ammonia instead of hydrogen as a fuel, in order to make the ecological transition away from fossil fuels a closer and less difficult reality to achieve, as it is unrealistic to think that in a very short time our cities can be ready to use hydrogen as main fuel. The work done here, carried out in collaboration with major industrial partners has in fact made it possible to develop innovative materials, directly marketable, that can limit the harmful emissions of certain systems and/or reduce the emissions already present. Thus, it can be said that this work can lay the foundation for both economic interest and, above all, scientific interest, having laid the groundwork for further research of materials in areas, at the state of the art, still little explored.