Chemistry in Peru
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Olga R. Lock Sing
CIbQ Organizing Board – President
Under the sponsorship of the Peruvian Chemical Society (SQP), two conferences took place in Lima-Peru, between 16 and 19 October 2018. These conferences were the IV Iberoamerican Congress and the XXIX Peruvian Congress of Chemistry. This joint event is referred as CIbQ (from its acronym in Spanish). The CIbQ was organized to coincide with the 85th anniversary of SQP’s foundation. Details of the CIbQ event were publicized through its web page www.spperu.org.pe/congreso-2018/.
The event was sponsored by universities like PUCP, UNMSM, UNI, UN Agraria La Molina, UNAP, UNSAAC, and, UTEC; professional associations like CIP, CQP, CPQF; associations and institutes like CONCYTEC, FLAQ, IPPN, IUPAC, ACS, ANC; and, the direct sponsorship of CONCYTEC/FONDECYT, Hersil Laboratories, HACSA, CLARIANT, among others.
Attendance included about 400 participants: industrial chemists, researchers, academics, as well as graduate and undergraduate students from the country and abroad. A total of 220 summaries were submitted for publication.
IUPAC participated by providing six grants for Young Scientists, and the American Chemical Society provided awards to three investigations submitted to the Ernest E. Eliel Award, as well as covering the registration of 10 undergraduate and graduate Chemistry students. All guidelines, submissions, and results have been publicized in the CIbQ web page.
The CIbQ was organized in different types of forums, including presentations in different Chemistry areas (aka Academic Sessions), Symposiums, Round Tables, and Courses.
Areas covered in the Academic Sections included Education, History, and Philosophy of the Chemistry Science; Chemistry as a Basic Science (Analytical, Inorganic, Organic, Physical Chemistry, Theoretical, and Computational Chemistry); Chemistry towards Life Sciences (Medicinal, Food and Functional Foods, Biochemistry, Toxicology); Environmental and Green Chemistry; Materials Chemistry; Natural Products Chemistry; and Chemical Engineering.
Participants offering presentations in these areas included 25 professionals from South American countries like Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, as well as participants from the United States, Spain, France, and Switzerland. Peru was represented by 20 researchers and academics. Also, other professionals from the industry and academia were invited to present in the four Symposiums (28), four Round Tables (16), and three Courses (11).
The Symposiums addressed current topics like; Biodiversity: It’s Study and Sustainable Use; The Teaching of Chemistry: Vision, Delivery, and Accomplishments; Environmental and Green Chemistry; and Applications of Nanomaterials.
The Round Tables were aimed at providing a view of the state of the art of different industries in the country, including: Technological Advances in Mining, Hydrocarbons, and Energy in Peru; Innovations in the Industries of Textile, Cosmetic, Paints, and Adhesives; the Chemistry in the Peruvian Gastronomy; and Marine Biotoxins. The conclusions from two of these round table are reported below.
The Courses offered target training in topics like: Research of Medicinal Plants and Applications as Phytotherapics; Selected Topics in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry; Analytical Techniques in Infrared with Fourier Transform; Electronic Microscopy; Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass-Mass; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance; and others.
A technology exhibit was also held as part of the CIbQ. Known as QUIMITEC 2018, the exhibit included companies who displayed advanced in equipment used in Chemistry research and development. Amongst these companies were Sulabsa, Oz Group, Techological Group of Peru, Andean Scientific SAC, Peruvian Electromedic SA, Osmo Service, Elicrom, Pesacon, and Quantum International Design.
Another activity held during the Congress was the “Chemistry and Me” contest, an event that called participants to reflect their notion, knowledge, or feelings on the essence of chemistry through drawings (kids category) or an up-to-150-word narrative (junior/senior categories). The winners were chosen by a committee formed by a chemist, an artist, and a linguist as a down-selection process, and eventually chosen by public voting through the Congress web-page.
Lastly, a special mention should be made to the Organizing Board, which worked tirelessly for over 15 months to make this event possible. This congress was made an official event in the country by the Peruvian Ministry of Industry, per resolution No. 251.2018-PRODUCE dated 8 Jun 2018 and published in the ministry’s web page and the Diario El Peruano.
Round Table Conclusions
Innovations in the textile, cosmetics, adhesives, and painting industries
In the textile industry, the discussion was focused on the use of enzymes with the purpose of minimizing the use of water and energy in the dyeing process. Enzymes are proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions in a selective manner, which can improve efficiency of the chemical reaction in the textile processes and reduce water/energy consumption. The net result could be a reduction of contaminants in the effluents from the industry, as well as an improvement in textile finishing.
In the cosmetic industry, innovation is driven in the areas of production, by selection of proper raw materials to create new products, and training of personnel. The expectation is optimized production efficiency and cosmetic products that meet customers expected functionality.
In the adhesives industry, the effort is placed on ecological products with water-based and thermo-plastic adhesives.
In painting, innovation is also driven by reducing environmental impact, which include designing more eco-friendly products and reducing use of solvents in production. In addition, another area of innovation focus is the use of nanotechnology to develop paintings with special properties (e.g. magnetic paintings).
The Peruvian Chemical Society at 85 years
The Peruvian Chemical Society (SQP) is a non-profit scientific institution whose main objective is to promote the chemistry sciences in the country. It was founded on 7 Oct 1933. Its membership includes professionals from a wide range of disciplines related to the Chemistry sciences, like chemists, chemical engineers, pharmacists, biochemists, biologists, environmental chemists, material sciences, computational and theoretical chemists, and others.
The SQP has been very active in the promotion of Chemistry, serving as an effective link and networking venue within its members. A quarterly publication serves as the official communication forum, where scientific articles and general news are broadly shared. This news magazine, known as the Peruvian Chemical Society Magazine, started its publications in July 1934. As such, it is the oldest scientific magazine in the country, and has worldwide reach as it is indexed in the Chemical Abstracts, Scielo, Latindex, and licensed to EBSCO.
Another means to fulfill the SQP’s objective has been through its sponsoring role of numerous Chemistry events. In the 85 years of existence, the SQP has organized and sponsored several congresses and conferences, including 3 Ibero American, 4 Latin American, and 28 national. The SQP has also sponsored Symposiums, Scientific Conferences, as well as Courses in Chemistry Education, Environmental Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Phytochemistry, and other related areas.
In the 85 years of existence, 43 Board of Directors have governed the institute. Their dedication, professionalism, commitment, and passion have been an important factor to the success of the organization and the many contributions to the service of the country. It’s through their leadership that the organization grew strong and made possible meeting its goals of promoting Chemistry across the country. The solid contributions made by the SQP has made it gain recognition and respect from the Peruvian scientific communities.
Colorful fabrics are ubiquitous in Peru. A round table discussion considered how traditional dyeing techniques could be improved to reduce water/energy consumption.
Technological Advances in Mining, Hydrocarbons, and Energy in Peru
The importance for the continued promotion of mining was recognized, not only as an important revenue generating source, but also as a way to foster development in the country. To that effect, it is necessary to first address corruption, informality, and the tendency towards centralism. It is possible to deploy an environmentally sensitive operation that considers a rational use of water and the use of appropriate remediation technologies, improving the quality of life for inhabitants living nearby mining operations. Technical development should take ownership of the challenges to solve problems arising from these activities.
Regarding new sources of energy, the benefits of lithium were highlighted as a way to store energy, which can lead to multiple applications. Lithium is a natural resource that will increase the value of the current mining industry. Its increasing price in the market makes this a potentially important revenue source for the inhabitants of Puno, as well as generating jobs in the area. A specific application of interest is electric vehicles, which contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide release and mitigate its impact on global warming.
On hydrocarbons, discussions were centered around new technologies under development to obtain these raw materials with less environmental impact. The current emphasis is in reducing costs of extraction and production of hydrocarbons. One of these technologies being taken advantage of is the use of catalyzers in production processes. An important technical advancement is hydrocarbon volume reduction, which significantly reduces costs of transportation.
Finally, regarding renewable technologies, the importance of researching options for cost effective alternatives was a point of discussion. There are several options for investigation in the energy segment. As an example, the use of electric transportation, which would translate in a significant reduction environment impact. An important field of investigation is the conversion of waste into energy, a topic that should drive attention and interest from different regions within the country. It is clear there is a need for a joint collaboration in this area from within Peruvian society, including the industry, academia, and the national government.
Über den Autor / die Autorin
CIbQ Organizing Board – President
©2019 IUPAC & De Gruyter. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For more information, please visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Masthead - Full issue pdf
- Paris 2019
- Back to France to Celebrate the Century-Old IUPAC: The 47th IUPAC World Chemistry Congress & 50th General Assembly
- Features
- The Stockholm Convention: A Tool for the Global Regulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants
- Ten Chemical Innovations That Will Change Our World: IUPAC identifies emerging technologies in Chemistry with potential to make our planet more sustainable
- 50th International Chemistry Olympiad: Back to Where It All Began
- Henry Moseley and the Search for Element 72
- IUPAC Wire
- Awardees of the IUPAC 2019 Distinguished Women In Chemistry or Chemical Engineering
- IUPAC-Zhejiang NHU International Award for Advancements in Green Chemistry
- Provisional Recommendations
- Recommendations and Terminology for Lactic Acid-Based Polymers
- Definition of the Chalcogen Bond
- Project Place
- Building Broader and Deeper Links Between OPCW and IUPAC
- Chemical and Biochemical Thermodynamics Reunification
- Making an imPACt
- International Standard for viscosity at temperatures up to 473 K and pressures below 200 MPa (IUPAC Technical Report)
- IUPAC Distinguished Women in Chemistry: Contributions to Science and Careers
- Erratum
- Conference Call
- Bringing IUPAC to Southern Africa
- Chemistry in Peru
- Emerging Polymer Technologies
- MACRO 2018
- Where 2B & Y
- Mark Your Calendar
- Conference Call
- Bye-Bye, IPK!
