Corso di laurea in Scienza dei Materiali
Corso di laurea in Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali

The main goal is to develop the skill to choose an analytical strategy, taking into account the objective of the analysis, the laboratory instruments and their performances, the working time and the budget.

A second mission is the ability to connect concepts coming fron inorganic, organic and physical-chemistry to choose and properly  to plan a good  analytical procedure.

A further mission will be the ability to critically discuss the obtained result.

At the end of the course students are expected to have a basic knowledge of chemical equilibria in solution and their effect on the chemical analysis. Moreover they should know principle and application of molecular and atomic spectroscopies, and instrumental separation techniques. Criteria for the selection and optimization of a method of analysis, from sampling to data analysis will be a further learning result, together with the ability to analyze the obtained results following a statistical approach.

The course aims at acquiring a wealth of chemical-analytical knowledge necessary to develop the following skills:
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:

- describe the phases in which an analytical procedure is articulated

- know the pre-treatment techniques for the solubilization of inorganic and/or organic analytes present in different types of materials

- know the fundamentals and the application in the chemical analysis of solution equilibria

- understand the operation of the main instrumentation in the spectrophotometric and chromatographic fields and know how to identify the appropriate techniques according to the analytes

ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

At the end of this course, students will be able to use the basic knowledge acquired in the field of chemical-analytical methods to carry out the chemical analysis of a material.

MAKING JUDGMENTS:

- evaluate the goodness of an analysis method in relation to its performance

- evaluate the data obtained during laboratory experiments according to the objective of the analysis

COMMUNICATION SKILLS:

- be able to draw up a report that summarizes and critically analyzes the data obtained in the laboratory

- be able to discuss the topics covered in class

LEARNING ABILITY

The student component will be able to continue their training

Lessons
The analytical problem from sampling to result.
The chemical equilibrium. Dissociation constants. Acid-basic equilibrium; the pH concept. Complex formation in solution. Stability constants. Conditional constants.
Solubility. Adsorption phenomena.
Redox equilibrium.
Volumetric techniques, generality.
The potentiometric technique for pH measurement; the glass ion-selective electrode.

UV-VIS absorption spectrophotometry (quantitative approach)
Precision and accuracy of a measurement, error definition, detection and treatment.
Sampling and sample pre-treatment. Analytical  applications of solvent extraction.
Inorganic elemental analysis: atomic absorption and emission spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma. Theory and applications.
Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy: theory and applications.
Organic elemental analysis: principles, instrumentation and applications
Chromatographic methods: principles and applications of liquid chromatography and gas chromatography analysis in the analysis of materials
Introduction to mass spectrometry and to ICP-MS and GC-MS.

Laboratory experiments:
Sampling and dissolution of a material.
Quantitative analysis with UV-VIS spectroscopy.
Elemental analysis with atomic spectroscopy.
Separation and analysis of organic substances by liquid chromatography. 

The teaching method consists of lectures (6.5 CFU) and in laboratory practice (1.5 CFU). The participation to the lectures is optional, while the participation to the 70% of the hours of the laboratory is mandatory.

The didactic material will be uploaded to the Moodle platform on the course pages.
To carry out the laboratory activity, working groups will be organized whose members must cooperate to achieve the required analytical objective and to compile the laboratory report.

The laboratory activity will be documented by compiling a written report which must be delivered at least one week before the exam; the evaluation of the report will be qualitative.

The verification of learning will take place with an oral exam and the vote will be expressed on the thirtieth.

During the test, the student's knowledge of the analytical methods proposed in class will be verified and the ability to illustrate the laboratory activity will be verified, starting from the written report, considered an integral part of the exam. The student will be asked to critically process both the information received and the results obtained in the laboratory.

The suggested text books are the followings:

D. Harris, Chimica Analitica Quantitativa, Zanichelli

Di Marco, Pastore, Bombi, Chimica Analitica, EdiSES (equilibrium and titrations) or Harris, Chimica Analitica Quantitativa, Zanichelli
Skoog, Holler, Crouch, CHIMICA ANALITICA STRUMENTALE, EdiSES (instrumental aspects).

Copy of the material used during the lessons will be made available.