This thematic area explores the role of mineralogy, petrography and geochemistry in the assessment of waste streams, and the characterisation and exploitation, as secondary raw materials, of specific waste and by-products. These activities are in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12: “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”, within a current scenario in which less than 10% of the nearly 100 billion tonnes of raw materials extracted each year (the majority of which being classified as “industrial minerals”) consist of recycled materials.

The first step towards a correct reutilisation of such secondary raw materials consists in their appropriate characterisation, which can be achieved by a series of analytical techniques available at the Department of Geosciences, including: chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence, mineralogical analysis by X-ray powder diffraction, optical and electron microscopy.

One of the main activities within this research area is the use of secondary raw materials from waste streams into manufactured materials such as cement, concrete, and bricks. The design and optimisation of such materials is achieved by a combination of experimental, numerical and statistical tools that include:microstructural analysis by advanced imaging techniques (FIB-SEM; X-ray microtomography); reaction kinetics assessment (in-situ XRD, calorimetry); thermodynamic, kinetic and microstructural modelling; design of experiments. Beamline techniques based on the use of synchrotron light (total X-ray scattering methods, phase-contrast nano-tomography) and neutron sources (SANS, neutron grating interferometry) are also implemented to the study of these sustainable materials.

Professors coordinating and developing projects related to this research pathway: Gilberto Artioli, Maria Chiara Dalconi, Massimiliano Ghinassi, Lara Martian, Claudio Mazzoli, Gabriella Salviulo, Luca Valentini