BIOPLASTICS FOR SUSTAINABLE APPLICATIONS

Bioplastics for Sustainable Applications is part of the training activities of the Master Degree in Chemistry and Sustainable Technologies dedicated to sustainability concepts.
The aim of the course is to provide the competencies needed to assess the sustainability degree of a polymeric material, to design its extraction/synthesis from renewable resources, and to evaluate the possible application fields and the end-of-life scenario.
The student will gain advanced knowledge permitting to understand the impact of polymeric materials on the environment within their entire life cycle, to interpret structure-property relationships and to foresee the physicochemical properties based on molecular structure.
The course does not only integrate some of the basic knowledge on polymers, yet offers modern methodological tools on sustainable plastics that abide by the circular economy paradigms.

1. Knowledge and understanding
• knowledge on the main classes of bioplastics and their physicochemical properties;
• knowledge on the different synthetic strategies leading to the production of bioplastics;
• knowledge on the possible applications of bioplastics;
• knowledge on the end-of-life scenarios of polymeric materials;
• ability to understand the structure-property relationships for polymeric materials.
2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
• ability to foresee and interpret the physicochemical properties of bioplastics;
• ability to suggest possible applications for the different classes of bioplastics;
• ability to design a suitable end-of-life treatment for a specific bioplastic;
• ability to critically interpret the data contained in a scientific publication dealing with the topics of the course through the identification of the starting issue, the analysis of the approach proposed by the authors, and the main results achieved in the work.
3. Ability to judge
• ability to interpret the effects induced by chemical or structural modifications on the physicochemical properties of polymeric materials;
• ability to evaluate the degree of sustainability and the environmental impact of a polymeric material.
4. Communication skills
• ability to use the appropriate scientific-technical terminology to discuss the contents of the course;
• ability to interact with the teacher and the classmates in a respectful and constructive way.
5. Learning skills
• ability to sum up the key concepts of the course;
• ability to make logical connections between the various topics of the course;
• ability to take notes, selecting and collecting information according to the specific importance and priority.

Basic knowledge on organic chemistry and on the synthesis and physicochemical characterization of polymeric materials.

Based on the educational objectives and expected learning outcomes, which are reported in the relevant sections, the content of the course content can be divided in the following sections:
1) review of macromolecular chemistry concepts: synthesis, characterization and structure-property relationships;
2) introduction to bioplastics: definitions and regulations, main classes, global production, applications;
3) monomers from renewable resources and generation of the respective polymers;
4) biopolymers from renewable resources obtained by extraction and fermentation processes;
5) biocomposites and bionanocomposites;
6) commercially available bioplastics;
7) end-of-life scenario:
• recycling (mechanical, chemical, biological, thermovalorization);
• biodegradation and composting.

• Bioplastics for Sustainable Development, Edited by Mohammed Kuddus and Roohi, Springer 2021. ISBN: 978-981-16-1822-2; Online ISBN: 978-981-16-1823-9; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-1823-9 ;
• Biopolymers and their Industrial Applications, Edited by Sabu Thomas, Sreeraj Gopi and Augustine Amalraj, Elsevier 2020. ISBN: 978-0-12-819240-5; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/C2018-0-05189-0 ;
• Introduction to Bioplastics Engineering, Edited by Syed Ali Ashter, Elsevier 2016. ISBN: 978-0-323-39396-6; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/C2014-0-04010-5 ;
• Bio‐Based Plastics: Materials and Applications, Edited by Stephan Kabasci Wiley, 2014. ISBN:9781119994008; Online ISBN:9781118676646; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118676646 ;
• Publications available on the European Bioplastics website (https://www.european-bioplastics.org );
• Supporting material available on Moodle.

The oral exam consists in the analysis of a literature work (provided by the teacher) dealing with the topics of the course. The student is expect to be able, through a critical revision of the publication, to interpret the results obtained by the authors on the basis of the knowledge acquired in the course, to expose them in a formal manner and to be able to develop logical links between the various sections of the program. The exam will last about 30 minutes.

Teaching is organized in lectures that include examples. All the slides of the lectures can be found and downloaded from the Moodle webpage of the course.

Italian

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments:
Ca’ Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). In the case of disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Circular economy, innovation, work" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development