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SURFIN - Chimica fisica delle superfici e delle interfacce

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Settore ERC

PE4_18 - Environment chemistry

Attività

The research activity of the SurfIn group is focused on the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials intended for a wide range of applications, with the aim to elucidate the structure (bulk, surface) / function relationships. For instance, development of sustainable chemical processes,  environmental protection,  production of energy,  development of new materials/devices for diagnostics and therapeutics are between application fields of interest.

In all cases, the scientific approach is based on the synergy between the study at an atomic/molecular level of the nature and structure of surface sites exposed by the nanomaterials of interest and their interaction with molecular species and media, in controlled conditions.

Structural, morphological and textural features of nanomaterials are investigated by XRD, SAXS, EXAFS, XANES, SEM, HR-TEM and gas volumetric measurements.

Information on the electronic states of bulk and surface sites are obtained by electronic spectroscopy (UV-Vis-NIR), both in absorption (typically, in the Diffuse Reflectance mode) and emission (steady state and time resolved photoluminescence). Moreover, a relevant part of the studies of nature and structure of surface sites is carried out by in situ FT-IR spectroscopy of molecules adsorbed in controlled conditions. More recently, also Raman spectroscopy (traditional, resonance Raman and SERS) has been exploited in this regards. Furthermore, microgravimetry and adsorption microcalorimetry are employed to obtain quantitative and energetic data on the surface-molecules interactions.

Other than probes, adsorbed molecules can be also reactants, and in this regard in operando methods have been developed. Moreover, in the case of nanobiomaterials, spectroscopic investigations of molecules adsorbed via a liquid medium are carried out, taking into consideration various molecular substrates (drugs, aminoacids, proteins), and also operating in situ (typically, by IR in the ATR mode).

 

RESEARCH LINES

  • Metal nanoparticles (such as Au, Ni, Pt, Pd, Cu) or transition metal ions (such as Cr, Ti) supported on pure or mixed oxides (Al2O3, CeO2, ZrO2, SiO2, BaO/Al2O3), carbons or metal chlorides, as catalysts for Water Gas Shift reaction, CO PROX, VOCs abatement, synthesis of platform molecules from renewable resources, steam reforming, hydrogenation, DeNOx, olefin polymerization, etc.

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  • Acidic, heteroatom-substituted (Fe, etc) and exchanged (Cu, Co, Fe, Ni, etc) zeolites (MFI, mordenite, Beta, MCM-22, etc) and zeotypes (AlPOs, SAPOs and MeAlPOs, Me = Co, Mn, Fe, Ti, V) for selective oxidation reactions with benign oxidants, methanol to olefins (MTO), DeNOx, etc.

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  • Hybrid materials for CO2 activation. Fundamental studies of CO2 adsorption in functionalized microporous materials (MOFs, zeolites and hybrids) and its activation towards the synthesis of formic acid and other simple chemicals.

  • Functionalized porous polymers as scaffold for catalytic active phases (metal nanoparticles, transition metal ions, etc.)

  • MoS2 nanoparticles as catalyst for sulfur removal from hydrocarbons and as new material with peculiar optical properties.

 

  • Functionalized magnetic silica and functionalized nanometric magnetite for removal of pollutants from acqueous solutions.

  • Handleable dispositives prepared from preformed silica particles with modulated hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity to be used as support for immobilization of proteins or selective adsorption.

  • Materials for hydrogen storage (alloys and intermetallic compounds, complex hydrides, inorganic and metal-organic microporous solids, polymers, nanostructured oxides).

  • Hybrid materials for CO2 adsorption/purification. Fundamental studies of CO2 adsorption in functionalized microporous materials (MOFs, zeolites and hybrids).

  • Polymer-based composite materials as getters for CO2, H2O, NH3 and other gases.

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  • TiO2-based materials, templated to form mesoporous structures or prepared in form of self-supporting easy-recoverable dispositives using bio-organic molecules. TiO2 nanostructured materials coming from hydrothermal process of TiO2 (titanate nanotubes), from thermal treatment of polymers precursors and Ti salts (TiO2 micropillars) and from templated synthesis (TiO2 spheres). TiO2 and Ag/ Au-covered natural fibers.
  • Micrometric TiO2 commercial materials, either plain or promoted by addition of heterospecies (N, C, F, etc) as substitutes of nanometric TiO2 in photocatalysis applications (tiles, cements, fillers, etc) along the UE guidelines.

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Semiconductor materials for gas sensing applications (SnO2, TiO2, NiO, In2O3).

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Carbon-polymers composites (CNTs and/or graphite/graphene nanoplatelets dispersed in polyolefins matrices; porous carbon-oxide composites (ZnO/C, SnO2/C and TiO2/C).

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Reverse osmosis ceramic membranes for treatment of water. Multifunctional membranes with photocatalytic activity for fouling removal in nanofiltration.

 

Surface properties of silica-based materials for applications ranging from nanomedicine (mesoporous sillica nanoparticles for drug delivery), catalysis (prebiotic chemistry and supports for hybrid materials), manufacturing processes

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Set up employed for in FTIR in operando studies

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Inside Cover: Acetylene Adsorption on CPO-27-M Metal-Organic Frameworks (M=Fe, Co and Ni) by Sachin M. Chavan, Greig C. Shearer, Eric Bloch and Silvia Bordiga, ChemPhysChem, 13 (2), 2012 366: "The adsorption of acetylene on CPO-27-M (M=Fe, Co and Ni) frameworks is studied by FTIR and UV/Vis spectroscopy, as well as calorimetric isotherm measurements, as shown by S. M. Chavan et al. M-O pairs act as the adsorption sites in these materials and the Ni analogue is the strongest acetylene adsorbent of the series."

Inside Cover: The Formation and Self-Assembly of Long Prebiotic Oligomers Produced by the Condensation of Unactivated Amino Acids on Oxide Surfaces by Gianmario Martra, Chiara Deiana, Yuriy Sakhno, Ilvis Barberis, Marco Fabbiani, Marco Pazzi and Marco Vincenti, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 53 (18), 2014, 4498: "The formation of long polypeptides from unactivated glycine adsorbed on SiO2 and TiO2 and the self-assembly of these polymers into both helical and β-sheet-like patches following surface hydration is reported by G. Martra et al. in their Communication . These results shed light on the formation of polymers from small biomolecules under abiotic conditions, thus adding to our understanding of the basis of biochemical complexity and the prebiotic formation of biopolymers."

Cover: Evidence of Mixed-ligand Complexes in Cu-CHA by Reaction of Cu Nitrates with NO/NH3 at Low Temperature by Chiara Negri, Elisa Borfecchia, Michele Cutini, Kirill A. Lomachenko, Ton V. W. Janssens, Gloria Berlier and Silvia Bordiga. ChemCatChem 2019, 11, 3828–3838. The cover picture depicts the chemistry taking place within the cages of the Cu-exchanged chabazite zeolite, during the reaction of pre-formed CuII-nitrates with a NO/NH3 flow at 50 °C. 

Special Issue of ChemCatChem dedicated to Women in Catalysis

 INSTRUMENTS BOOKING

Prodotti della ricerca

Martini, Andrea, Borfecchia, Elisa, Lomachenko, K A , Pankin, I A , Negri, Chiara, Berlier, Gloria, Beato, P , Falsig, H , Bordiga, Silvia, Lamberti, Carlo (2017)
Composition-driven Cu-speciation and reducibility in Cu-CHA zeolite catalysts: A multivariate XAS/FTIR approach to complexity.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1651332

Pappas, Dimitrios K , Borfecchia, Elisa, Dyballa, Michael, Pankin, Ilia A , Lomachenko, Kirill, Martini, Andrea, Signorile, Matteo, Teketel, Shewangizaw, Arstad, Bjørnar, Berlier, Gloria, Lamberti, Carlo, Bordiga, Silvia, Olsbye, Unni, Lillerud, Karl Petter, Svelle, Stian, Beato, Pablo (2017)
Methane to Methanol: Structure-Activity Relationships for Cu-CHA.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1651670

Alessio, Masala, Vitillo, Jenny G , Giorgia, Mondino, Gianmario, Martra, Richard, Blom, Grande, Carlos A , Silvia, Bordiga (2017)
Conductive ZSM-5-Based Adsorbent for CO2 Capture: Active Phase vs Monolith.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1658088

Bordiga, Silvia, Lamberti, Carlo, Bonino, Francesca, Travert, Arnaud, Thibault-Starzyk, Frédéric (2015)
Probing zeolites by vibrational spectroscopies.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1534330

Carlos, Palomino Cabello, Gloria, Berlier, Giuliana, Magnacca, Paolo, Rumori, Gemma, Turnes Palomino (2015)
Enhanced CO2 adsorption capacity of amine-functionalized MIL-100(Cr) metal-organic frameworks.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/1506325

D J Xiao, E D Bloch, J A Mason, W L Queen, M R Hudson, N Planas, J Borycz, A L Dzubak, P Verma, K Lee, F Bonino, V Crocella, J Yano, S Bordiga, D G Truhlar, L Gagliardi, C M Brown, J R Long (2014)
Oxidation of ethane to ethanol by N2O in a metal-organic framework with coordinatively unsaturated iron(II) sites.
https://iris.unito.it/handle/2318/153276

Giuliana Magnacca,Alex Allera,Enzo Montoneri,Luisella Celi,Damián E. Benito,Leonardo G. Gagliardi,Mónica C. Gonzalez,Daniel O. Mártire,Luciano Carlos
Novel Magnetite Nanoparticles Coated with Waste-Sourced Biobased Substances as Sustainable and Renewable Adsorbing Materials
http://hdl.handle.net/2318/146197

Caterina Barzan, Diego Gianolio, Elena Groppo, Carlo Lamberti, Vincent Monteil, Elsje Alessandra Quadrelli, Silvia Bordiga
The Effect of Hydrosilanes on the Active Sites of the Phillips Catalyst: The Secret for In Situ -Olefin Generation
http://hdl.handle.net/2318/141458

 

Ultimo aggiornamento: 14/02/2024 13:10
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