Research Activities
Nanomaterials for Energy Storage
The fundamental and application-oriented activities of the NANOCOMPS research group is focused on the preparation and characterization of new nanomaterials and nanocomposites which can be employed in energy storage devices such as lithium ion batteries or supercapacitors. The main activities regard the preparation of LiFePO4/C (Figure 1), metal oxide/C (graphene, CNTs or amorphous carbon) nanocomposites and metal oxide nanoparticles for application as electrodic materials. Solid state chemistry, sol-gel, hydrothermal (Figure 2), sonochemical and wet-chemistry methods are generally explored in the NANOCOMPS lab in order to develop innovative, eco-friendly and water-based synthetic procedures. Structural/morphological studies together with electrochemical and spectrophotometric measurements allow investigation of the structure-property relationship and to get a deeper insight into the physical and chemical processes during energy storage and conversion.
Cathodic materials in lithium-ion batteries: Fe(II) phenyl phosphonate, a hybrid precursor material for production of LiFePO4/C composites4/C
Metal oxide nanoparticles: CuO obtained by direct surfactant-assisted hydrothermal synthesis
Relevant Publications
NiO nanoparticles: SEM images and galvanostatic charge-discharge curves
Collaborations
- Prof. Mauro Pasquali, Prof. Alessandro Dell’Era, Department S.B.A.I., University of Rome “Sapienza”
- Prof. Carlos J. Gomez, Institute of Molecular Science –ICMol, Valencia, Spain
- Dr. Mauro Missori, Institute of Complex Systems – CNR, University of Rome “Sapienza”
- Prof. Said Ahmed Ibrahim, Prof. Dina Fouad, Department of Chemistry, Assiut University, Egypt
Nanoparticle and Nanoaggregate formation of pigments after laser tattoo removal
The NANOCOMPS research group focuses towards the investigation of chemical and physical processes underlying laser tattoo removal. In this field special attention is dedicated to the determination of potentially toxic decomposition products and possible formation of nanoparticles or nanoaggregates upon interaction of tattoo inks or organic pigments with conventional and non-conventional (ultrafast) laser sources (Figure 4). The studies undertaken in this field are mainly focused on the size, morphology and chemical composition of decomposition products and fragments of commercial green and blue tattoo inks and pigments in liquid and biologic matrixes in order to shed light on the selective photothermolysis and optical breakdown processes involved during interaction of these materials with different laser sources.
Laser treatment of tattoo inks and pigments
Relevant Publications
Collaborations
- Dr. Stefano Orlando, FemtoLAB, ISM-Tito Scalo Research Unit, Potenza, Italia.
- Dr. Ettore Guerriero, Dr.ssa Marina Cerasa, Institute of Atmospheric Pollution Research-CNR, Rome 1 Research Area, Rome, Italy.
- Prof. Steven Paul Nisticò, Department of Health Science, The Magna Greciæ University of Catanzaro, Italy.
The #SpectraFood project aims to combine the realization of an innovative portable spectrophotometer with the enhancement of optical properties by
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