معرفی
Elza Bontempi is a Full Professor of Fundamental Chemistry at the University of Brescia, affiliated with the Department of Chemistry within the College of Science. Her research focuses on environmental technologies, sustainable resource recovery, and circular economy strategies, particularly in battery recycling and phosphorus recovery. She leads major projects such as CARMEL (2025), funded by the Italian Government, and Tech4Lib (2023–2026), supported by Fondazione Cariplo, employing microwave-assisted processes to recover strategic metals from spent lithium-ion batteries.
Elza has authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers and 200 conference presentations, with patents in environmental technologies. She was awarded the 2024 Intellectual Property Award (Climatech Context) for her innovation in battery recycling. Her work addresses global challenges like reducing reliance on mining and achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Key projects include the development of eco-friendly wastewater treatment systems (e.g., car wash effluent), CO2 sequestration via steel slag carbonation, and phosphorus extraction from poultry litter ash. She coordinates interdisciplinary teams and leverages AI and machine learning for material characterization and process optimization.
Her research also extends to pandemic-related studies, including SARS-CoV-2 surveillance in wastewater and the environmental impact of pandemic-related waste (e.g., surgical masks). She advocates for sustainable industrial symbiosis strategies to minimize ecological footprints.
