Sviluppo di una procedura analitica per la caratterizzazione chimica del particolato emesso dal sistema frenante

The thesis project was born from the collaboration between the University of Turin and ITT Motion Technologies. The subject of the thesis activity was the chemical characterization of the atmospheric particulate matter (PM10) emitted and collected during dynamometer tests for the homologation of brake pads. All samples were subjected to microwave-assisted acid mineralization and analyzed to determine the concentration of 27 elements: Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, NI, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, Nb, Mo, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, W, Pb. The instrumental analytical techniques used were Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP- MS). Both instruments made it possible to determine the concentration of major, minor, trace, and ultra-trace elements. Chemometric techniques, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA), helped to process the results. The final goal of the thesis project is to find a correlation between the composition of friction materials and PM10 emitted. It is important for ITT Motion Technologies to improve the composition of friction materials in order to develop new eco-friendly brake pads that reduce the emission of health-relevant elements into the atmosphere.