One of the most painful problems facing humankind today is an important component of the sustainable development of society – the protection of the environment. Studying the real state of our large and small rivers, lakes and groundwater, identifying the factors that determine their contamination and developing measures aimed at preserving their purity is a priority task for Ukrainian ecologists.
By the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated May 21, 2018, the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology in 2017 was awarded to the Head of the Department of Chemical Technology of Ceramics and Glass of the Chemical Technology Faculty of our University, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine B.Yu. Kornilovych for participating in the cycle of works “Estimation, forecasting and optimization of the status of water ecosystems of Ukraine”.
The distribution of contaminants in aquatic ecosystems is determined by chemical reactions between water-dissolved toxicants and bottom sediments, the most active component of which is clay minerals. The study of the physical-chemical properties of clay in Ukraine began at the department of chemical technology of ceramics and glass since its founding in 1921 by a future academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and the laureate of the USSR State Prize B.S. Lisin These researches continue and develop now with the use of modern high-precision methods and in close cooperation with leading foreign scientists, chemists working in the field of protection of the water pools from pollution.
In the works of the department in recent years the theoretical principles of the processes of migration of heavy metals and radionuclides in aquatic ecosystems with the use of physical-chemical analysis of sorption and oxidation-reducing processes in these systems have been developed. The main regularities of the interaction of pollutants, primarily uranium, with the surface of mineral and organic components of sediments and soils, clay minerals and humic substances, are formulated. The role of compounds of complexogenic and natural origin in these processes was revealed.
On the basis of the obtained results, recommendations for the stabilization of the state of water sources in problematic industrial regions of Ukraine were developed. The scientific substantiation of the nature-protection technologies in the places of extraction and processing of uranium raw materials is given, taking into account the established basic laws and mechanisms of migration of toxicants in surface and underground waters, as well as in soils, taking into account the effect of the whole complex of natural factors. Under the direction of B.Yu. Korlynilovych in 2008-2013, jointly with the US Environmental Protection Agency, and jointly with the Ukrainian Scientific and Technical Center, the project “Regional Assessment of Metal Contamination in Mining, Risks and Innovations technologies in Ukraine and Georgia” and “Development of innovative environmental technology for the restoration of polluted waters in Ukraine” were performed.
Postgraduates and students of the department also actively participate in studies on the reactivity of different clays in Ukraine. For work on this topic, for the last five years, the students at the All-Ukrainian competition on chemical technology A. Doroshenko, V. Prus and M. Golembievskaya received prizes.