vilas pol chemist
It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it has been created. Energy requirements of chemical processes should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. If possible, synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure. Chemist Vilas Pol came up with an environmentally green method that breaks down plastics and transforms them into a highly usable substance for society. Chemist Vilas Pol inserted plastic bags into a specialized reactor in order to heat them to 700 degrees Celsius. This heating resulted in a fine black powder which contains tiny carbon spheres. This powder can form carbon nanotubes if a cobalt-based catalyst is added during the heating. The carbon nanotubes and carbon spheres formed from the plastic bags can be used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries, which powers most electronic devises and even electric cars. They are also useful in the tire industry and in the manufacture of paint, printer inks, and toners. Chemist Vilas Pol’s accomplishment illustrates the principle of prevention because his method prevents the non-biodegradable plastic products from being piled up in landfills and polluting the environment. Chemist Vilas Pol does this prevention through a process of converting non-biodegradable plastic products into a fine black carbon powder. In essence, Chemist Vilas Pol is preventing these plastic products from doing sustained damage to the environment. Chemist Vilas Pol’s accomplishment could be critiqued with regard to the principle of energy efficiency due to his process using high energy requirements and going against ambient temperature and pressure. Chemist Vilas Pol’s method requires a temperature of 700 degrees Celsius which is very much above ambient temperature. His method also requires a high powered reactor which causes a large energy requirement. His method may go against the energy efficiency principle but it strongly promotes the