Chapters authored
Electrodeposition from Deep Eutectic Solvents
Deep eutectic solvents constitute a class of compounds sharing many similarities with properly named ionic liquids. The accepted definition of ionic liquid is a fluid (liquid for T<100 °C) consisting of ions, while DES are eutectic mixtures of Lewis or Brønsted acids and bases. Their most attractive properties are the wide potential windows and the chemical properties largely different from aqueous solutions. In the last few decades, the possibility to electrodeposit decorative and functional coatings employing deep eutectic solvents as electrolytes has been widely investigated. A large number of the deposition procedures described in literature, however, cannot find application in the industrial practice due to competition with existing processes, cost or difficult scalability. From one side, there is the real potential to replace existing plating protocols and to find niche applications for high added-value productions; to the other one, this paves the path towards the electrodeposition of metals and alloys thermodynamically impossible to be obtained via usual aqueous solution processes. The main aim of this chapter is therefore the critical discussion of the applicability of deep eutectic solvents to the electrodeposition of metals and alloys, with a particular attention to the industrial and applicative point of view.
Part of the book: Ionic Liquids
Biorefinery for Rehabilitation of Heavy Metals Polluted Areas
Biorefinery applied in heavy metals polluted lands proposed here describes a process starting from soil (polluted and unfit for food and feed production) and solar energy stored in carbohydrates (regarded here as a solar energy carrier) to deliver liquid and gaseous biofuels, green building block chemicals for the market and return the rest of the matter (not delivered to the market) as fertilizer and soil improver, extracting the heavy metals from the polluted soil for safe reuse and remediating the land to sustainably deliver resources in a circular bioeconomy. The circular economy proposed in this chapter offers a novel approach to land rehabilitation by investigating the opportunity for economic value creation as an integral part of a rehabilitation strategy and production of biomaterials and biofuels as renewable energy carriers. The case study approached here can be developed in a complete circular biorefinery process and value chain enabling the use of heavy metals polluted lands for production of renewable energy and biomaterials and at the same time serve as a means of rehabilitation of contaminated lands. This biotechnology can be transferred and adapted in other areas improper for food/feed production due to contamination human industrial activity.
Part of the book: Heavy Metals