物質循環科学III

Course Objectives:

Environmental Sciences is a composite of natural and social sciences. It offers a framework for identifying and analyzing environmental issues from economic, cultural, and political viewpoints, based on the platform of basic science and technology. It also covers concepts from basic physics and chemistry to environmental concepts such as ecological systems and methods for measuring global material circulation.
In this lecture, Environmental Sciences related to material production will be introduced, and discussed from a multilateral perspective.


Target Students:
Both PEAK and non-PEAK students are welcome.

Evaluation:
Evaluations are based on homework assignments and/or attendance.

Textbooks:
There is no required textbook. All required materials will be provided.

Home work:
To be informed at the class

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Overview

Introduction to Environmental Sciences Related to Material Production

Prof. Toru H. Okabe

In recent years, there have been significant changes in the supply and price of rare metals (or, critical metals, less-common metals), including rare earth metals and their compounds. Because of the serious shortage in the supply of rare metals and the environmental problems related to the mining and smelting of these ores, it is essential to develop new environmentally sound processes for recycling rare metals and their compounds. Therefore, researchers in Japan are becoming actively involved in the development of efficient processes for recycling rare metals from scrapped electronic appliances.

In this lecture, the current status of rare metals and their compounds, especially in the context of industry related to the high-performance electronic appliances, will be reviewed. Further, the environmental problems related to the mining and smelting of rare earth ores will be introduced, as well as the supply chain of the materials.

If time permits, various types of recycling processes that are presently under development will be introduced, and their features and differences will be discussed. Some fundamental research work carried out at the Okabe laboratory will also be introduced in brief. The advantages and disadvantages of the new recycling processes will be evaluated, and the possibility of establishing new recycling processes in the future will be discussed from a multilateral perspective.

The future scope of environmental problems related to material production, and technologies for recycling materials will be discussed in the lecture.