Bases and Basic Materials in Chemical and Environmental Processes. Liquid versus Solid Basicity

摘要

The development of more efficient, safer, and more environmentally friendly chemical technologies is a major need of humanity. This is in particular true today, when a relevant change in perspective is approaching. A significant decrease in the use of fossil raw materials and a definite increase of the use of renewable raw materials are expected and desired. Acid-base interactions are, together with redox exchanges, the most prevalent phenomenon in all fields of chemistry. Accordingly, bases and acids are among the most important industrial chemical products.1,2 They find widespread application not only in the chemical industry itself,3 such as, e.g., hydrocarbon chemistry,4 all fields of industrial organic chemistry,5,6 and industrial inorganic chemistry (including metallurgy, semiconductor technology, ceramurgy, fertilizer technology),7 but also for energy production processes and even for domestic applications. As reviewed recently by ourselves,8 basic compounds find relevant application in processes aimed at reducing the environmental impact of chemical plants and energy production facilities. On the other hand, both acids and bases may themselves behave as pollutants when dispersed in the environment and/ or incorrectly discarded