Group activities:
The study of the interaction between chemistry and electricity has fascinated scientists since Galvani’s experiments, becoming a fundamental discipline for the construction of portable devices such as sensors, batteries, and supercapacitors. Analytical chemists take advantage of the possibility of directly converting the chemical signal into an electrical signal to continuously monitor the physiological state of people, environment, and food. Furthermore, electrochemical processes offer the possibility of directly interconverting chemical energy into electrical energy with high-efficiency green processes, at room temperature and without the use of combustion reactions. The research activity is focused on the development and design of innovative electrochemical devices that operate in the following fields:
- amperometric and potentiometric sensors based on chemically modified electrodes
- wearable sensors for monitoring the health state during daily activities, as well as athletes and workers
- batteries and supercapacitors
- devices for green chemistry based on electrocatalytic processes (oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction, carbon dioxide reduction, production of platform molecules)
- Organic electrochemical transistors for bioelectronics
- catalysts for industrial applications and processes
- Microelectrochemical imaging using scanning electrochemical microscopy with flexible probes
The fabrication of these devices requires the development of new materials that should satisfy high technical specifications, which are essential to real applications. The mainly used materials are layered double hydroxides, conductive polymers, hexacyanoferrates, metal nanoparticles, carbon-based nanomaterials, and metal nanomaterials. Furthermore, the group benefits of chemometric skills for the design of experiments and devices.
Head of the group:
Prof. Erika Scavetta
Professors and researchers:
Prof. Sergio Zappoli, Prof. Andreas Lesch, Prof. Isacco Gualandi, Dr. Federica Mariani, Dr. Luisa Stella Dolci
Post-doc, Ph. D. students and fellows:
Silvia Tortorella (post-doc), Martina Serrafini (post doc), Danilo Arcangeli (Ph. D. Student), Francesca Ceccardi (Ph. D. Student), Stefano Gianvittorio (Ph. D. Student)
Collaborators in the department:
Prof. Valerio Zanotti, Prof. Francesco Luca Basile, Prof.ssa Elisabetta Venuti, Prof.ssa Carla Boga, Prof.ssa Rita Mazzoni, Prof.ssa Barbara Ballarin, Dott. Andrea Fasolini (researcher)
Other collaborations:
Dipartimento di fisica ed astronomia, University of Bologna, Prof.ssa Beatrice Fraboni
University of Cambridge, Prof. George Malliaras and Prof. Rosin Owens
Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Prof. Wolfgang Schuhmann
IMM-CNR, Bologna, Dott. Vittorio Morandi
ISTEC-CNR, Faenza, Dott.ssa Anna Costa
Ècole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Prof. Hubert Girault