ISMER Group
CONTACT
Prof. Claudia Letizia Bianchi
University of Milan -
Chemistry Department
Via Golgi, 19 -
20133 MILANO (MI)
Italy
Tel +39 02503 14253
E-mail: claudia.bianchi@unimi.it
The research activities of the ISMER (Innovative Smart Materials for Environmental Remediation) group is primarily focused on the development of innovative organic, inorganic and hybrid materials (oxides, alloys, polymers, composites, organic-inorganic hybrids), their characterization and applications in water and air decontamination by different approaches (photo-sono-degradation, sorption and their combinations).
ISMER group is leader in advanced oxidation technologies for wastewater treatment, drinking water treatment and purification of water from persistent organic and inorganic pollutants. Air purification is investigated as well, thanks to a dedicated research line involving innovative photocatalysts mainly used in the building sectors.
The high and broad experience in photocatalysis and sono-photocatalysis makes ISMER one of the reference group worldwide in these two sectors.
Recently, in addition to these activities it is working on the development of innovative technologies for the production of “green” energy (Hydrogen) and for the solar steam generators to water purification.
Claudia Letizia Bianchi
Full professor, group leader
Full professor of Industrial Chemistry (SSD Chim/04), she graduated in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Milan where she also achieved the PhD in Material Science (tutor: Prof. Pizzini. Since 2002 she is Member of the Board of Directors of the European Society of Sonochemistry with the function of Secretary, and member of the Editorial Board of Ultrasonics-Sonochemistry (Elsevier).
LCA expert, she is author of 250 original papers on International Journals with IF in the field of applied material science and environmental catalysis.
Carlo Pirola
Associate professor
Graduated in University of Milan in Industrial Chemistry in 2000 with a thesis concerning the purification of water by the combined action of ultrasound and photocatalysis.
In 2001 he began to work as technician at the Department of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry.
From 2005 to 2008 goes on leave to achieve the PhD in Industrial Chemistry with a thesis concerning the synthesis of Fischer-Tropsch, developing a series of new supported catalysts with high iron loading.
In 2011 he became researcher (SSD ING-IND/25, chemical plants) at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Milan.
At present he is associate professor.
Ermelinda Falletta
Researcher
After the master degree in Chemistry at the University of Palermo, she worked as graduated technician in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Milan, working in the development of heterogeneous gold-based catalysts for the selective oxidation of organic compounds.
She got the PhD in Industrial Chemistry in 2013 with a thesis concerning on the synthesis of conducting polymers by innovative green protocols and their application in different fields.
At present she is researcher at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Milan.
Daniela Meroni
Researcher
She received her PhD in Chemical Sciences in 2013 from the University of Milan.
During this period, she joined the groups of Prof. Dirk Poelman at Ghent University and of Prof. Ulrich S. Schubert at Jena University as visiting student.
Dr Meroni was then appointed post-doctoral fellowships in the groups of Prof. Silvia Ardizzone and Prof. Giuseppe Cappelletti at the University of Milan.
In 2015 she was awarded the "Debut in Research" ENI award.
From 2017, she is a Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Milan. Her main research interest is the development of oxide-based hybrid materials for environmental applications.
Melissa Greta Galloni
Post-Doc
She obtained her master’s degree and Ph.D., both in Industrial Chemistry, in 2018 and April 2022, respectively.
Her Ph.D. work was carried out under the joint supervision between Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy) and Ircelyon (Institut de recherches sur la catalyse et l’environnement, Lyon, France).
It dealt with the development of novel eco-friendly catalysts based on hydroxyapatite functionalized with copper and/or iron species for environmental reactions devoted to the abatement of nitrogen-containing compounds (NOX, N2O, NH3).
In May 2022 she joined the ISMER Group, and she is working on the SUNFLOAT project.
In August 2022 she won the “Aldofo Parmaliana 2022” Award, annualy given by Gruppo Interdivisionale di Catalisi of Società Chimica Italiana for her hard work done in the field of Sustainable Catalysis during her Ph.D..
Stefania Vitali
Graduated technician
After her master degree in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Milan she has worked in the ISMER lab as scholarship recipient in the field of preparation and characterization of metal-based supported catalysts, synthesis and characterization of scaffolds and nanostructured particles based on titanium dioxide, novel manufacturing process for photocatalytically activate ceramic tiles by digital printing.
At present she is graduated technician at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Milan.
Vincenzo Fabbrizio
PhD student
Graduated in Industrial Chemistry in September 2023 with a thesis on the development of modified superabsorbent polymers with nutrients for water vapour recovery, he is currently working on the SUNFLOAT project. His Ph.D. thesis is focused on the design and development of novel eco-friendly floating photocatalysts for wastewater remediation.
Shiva Amanipour, Alessandro Perico.
PAST COWORKERSDr. Ridha Djellabi (post-doc), Anna Bruni (fellow), Carmen Mora (fellow), Marta Sartirana (fellow).
PAST STUDENTSLuca Zucchetti, Elisa Pregara, Marco Visconti, Ulkar Gurbanova, Erfan Khatibi, Alessandro Oggioni, Leyla Suleymanova, Alessandro Pecci, Elena Ferrara, Veronica Bortolotto, Giacomo Falcone, Vasilissa Nikonova, Nikoletta Mila, Muhammad Nurhakimie Bin Roslan, Lisa Ernjakovic, Milad Mahdi, Amin Narimani, Zivar Abdullayeva, Alessandro Mauri, John Blancio, Camilla Erba, Matteo Macchnitz.
Some moments in our group
July 2024
June 2024
April 2024
December 2023
July 2023
Water Team - July 2023
.jpg "Clic to enlarge")
June 2023 (at MIPOL congress)
April 2023
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2023: December 2022
Some ISMER members in Catania: November 2022
Pr. Claudia L. Bianchi & Pr. Daria C. Boffito
October 2022
Ready for a new academic year, September 2022
July 2022
Lunch, July 2022
Party, May 2022
May 2022
At the beginning of the SUNFLOAT project
EPIC Lab
CONTACT
Prof. Daria C. Boffito
Polytechnique Montréal -
Département de Génie Chimique - A671.3
C.P. 6079, succ. Centre-ville
Montréal, QC, Canada H3C 3A7
Tel. + 1 (514) 340-4711 ext. 2446
E-mail: daria-camilla.boffito@polymtl.ca
Our team has established experience in Materials Engineering.
Our multidisciplinary background in inorganic and organic chemistry syntheses gives us flexibility in terms of new challenges in materials manufacture.
We are able to tackle Green Chemistry principles in several ways through biomass conversion, conceiving renewable-electricity driven units and processes, translating processes from bacth to continuous. We wish to reduce the environmental footprint of metal extraction from primary sources and recover metals from end of life streams. We design green processes aimining at minimizing the impact on the environment.
Daria Camilla Boffito
Full professor
at the Chemical Engineering Department of Polytechnique Montréal, and she is chairholder (Tier II) in Intensified Mechano-chemical Processes for Sustainable Biomass Conversion. Her research interests include process intensification, biomass conversion, heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis, ultrasound, microwaves, gas-to-liquid processes, and synthesis of drug delivery systems.
She was featured as an Emerging Leader in Chemical Engineering (2019) by the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) and is the executive editor of the journal Ultrasonics Sonochemistry. Before joining Polytechnique Montréal as a Professor, she was a post-doc in the team of Prof. Gregory Patience as a FRQNT PBEEE post-doctoral fellow (2013-2014) and then as an NSERC Banting post-doctoral fellow.
Daria completed her Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Milan. During her Ph.D., she was a visiting scholar at the School of Chemistry of The University of Melbourne. She holds as well a Master’s in Industrial Chemistry and Management. Daria is also involved in scientific communication, bibliometrics studies, and ethical publishing. In 2015, she co-authored the book Communicate Science Papers, Presentations, and Posters Effectively (Elsevier) and wrote several papers on the same subject.
Nila Davari
PhD researcher
Nila received both bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Isfahan in 2012 and 2016, respectively. During her master's study, she did research on the photocatalytic process for wastewater treatment contaminated with pharmaceutical effluent. After her master's graduation, Nila had the opportunity to work as a researcher and lab advisor at the Environmental Research Institute of the University of Isfahan.
Currently, she is pursuing her PhD study under the supervision of Professor Boffito at EPIC Group at Polytechnique Montréal. Her PhD thesis is about the design and application of floating photocatalysts for the purification of real wastewater.
Cristina Rodríguez Seco
Post-Doc
Cristina obtained her Ph.D in Technologies of Nanosystems, Bioengineering and Energy at the Institut Catala D'Investigació Quimica and University Rovira i Virgili (ICIQ-URV) under the supervision of Prof. Emilio Palomares.
Her work mainly focused on the synthesis of low-molecular weight organic semiconductors for third generation solar cells. This included the synthesis and characterization of hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells and electron donors for bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. She also participated in projects related to dye-sensitized solar cells, including the fabrication and characterization of the final device.
In 2021, she started a Banting Postdoctoral fellowship in Prof. Dongling Ma's group at the Institute National de la Recherche Scientifique (INRS) in Varennes (Québec), to work on the synthesis of nanomaterials for photocatalytic applications, such as hydrogen production and CO2 reduction.
Recently, she joined Prof. Daria Boffito's group as a postdoctoral fellow, to work on the scale up of the synthesis of bio-dispersants from biomass's ligneous waste using ultrasound technologies.
Nila Davari, Cristina Rodríguez Seco
PAST COWORKERSDr. Mohamed Gar Alalm, Maryam Mokhtarifar
Polymtl: October 2022
Polymtl: October 2022
CREDITS
We have to thank Velux Stiftung the financier of the project.
This foundation aims to have an impact on and contribute to sustainable improvement and the benefit of society. This is achieved by supporting the creation of new knowledge through cutting-edge research and the fostering of its application and dissemination. The foundation attains leverage by focusing on projects with a high potential to initiate change and impact.
