Sprouting “sustainability” in chemical sciences curriculum

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a new viewpoint on how the curricula for higher education chemistry courses can be restructured, so that students understand the various dimensions of the sustainability concept and are equipped to work chemical sciences in a profitable, clean and societal friendly way, that is synthesis of materials (which collates CHNOPS—atomic symbols) in desired architecture and disperse them after their intended use, back into their natural reservoirs. A very novel idea of “sustainable chemical science facility”, encompassing a teaching module capable of imparting strong fundamental Chemistry concepts, a virtual environment for undergoing the basic industrial training and a production unit with modular reactors for resource funding is proposed here. Often research is restricted to academic qualification, and a substantial band gap exists between the microscopic realm of academic research and the macroscopic domain of industrial chemistry, which thrives on research application. This band gap can be overcome by arming young chemists with training, tools and experience to possess complete control (synthetic and functional) on the materials they produce. The conceptual facility if turned into reality will definitely be the right step towards achieving materials with sustainable functionalities. We will have learning, training and production under one roof. Students will receive theoretical, practical and real-life experience of the production in industries, making them efficiently employable at a very young age. The idea is to bridge some critical engineering concepts with core chemistry, but with a clear distinction between chemical reactor engineering and core chemistry. This paper is a brainchild of the author and is more of a policy paper, needed to be elaborately discussed in academic and industrial forums.