Chemistry – Progress in Research

Chemistry and crystals: new perspectives for therapy and cosmetics

Posted on 15/01/202406/08/2024 by Erik Franco

A work conducted by the SupraBioNanoLab at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering ‘Giulio Natta’ of the Politecnico di Milano demonstrated how the combination of supramolecular chemistry and crystallography can be used to design hydrogels with specific characteristics. The research was published on the cover of the journal Chemistry – A European Journal.

The study focused on an amino acid called Fmoc-pentafluoro-phenylalanine, which effectively turns into a gel in water. The researchers examined the behaviour of this molecule in the presence of other substances, including bioactive molecules such as vitamin B3, which establish strong attractive interactions with its reactive groups.

The key to the research was the determination of the crystal structure of the complex through X-ray diffraction, which allowed us to predict the properties and consistency of the resulting gel. This also allowed us to modulate the release of the partner molecule from the gel itself,
Professor Valentina Dichiarante

Experimental results have shown that the interactions between the amino acid and partner molecules are identical both in the formation of a crystalline complex in the solid state and in the creation of a gel in an aqueous solvent.

This scientific breakthrough opens up new perspectives for the selective and targeted design of mixed hydrogels. The supramolecular interactions between the solid-phase components allow the strength and structure of the gel to be modulated, creating an ideal matrix for the controlled release of active substances, with possible therapeutic or cosmetic applications,
Professor Pierangelo Metrangolo

Read the article

Revolutionizing industrial materials sustainably

Posted on 11/12/202306/08/2024 by Erik Franco

An international team, which includes researchers from Politecnico di Milano, Rice University, University of Cambridge, Stanford University, UC Santa Barbara and other U.S. and European universities, has received $4 millions in funding from Kavli Foundation and the Carbon Hub of the Rice University to advance understanding of carbon nanotube synthesis and its potential for producing industrial materials more sustainably.

The research will be focused on the development of alternative materials to steel, aluminum and copper, whose production contributes to over 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon nanotube fibers boast strength comparable to steel and conductivity akin to copper. This makes them a promising and sustainable resource for materials needed for the energy transition an the electrification.

Current raw materials for nanotube production, such as natural gas and other hydrocarbons, are largely burned as fuels, also in the field of metal industry. As the world transitions to renewable energy, these abundant resources could be harnessed to produce global quantities of nanotubes, fixing the carbon content in durable and recyclable materials, as opposed to CO₂ emission in the atmosphere, with the positive additional consequence of generating clean hydrogen as a valuable by-product.

The group of the Politecnico participating in the project is coordinated by Matteo Maestri, professor at the Department of Energy, and includes Mauro Bracconi (Department of Energy) and Matteo Pelucchi (Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”). The researchers will focus on multiscale modelling and analysis of chemical reactions and reactors.

ERC consolidator grant for an innovative cure for spina bifida

Posted on 23/11/202306/08/2024 by Erik Franco

Revolutionising the treatment of Spina Bifida Aperta through the application of a new method based on tissue engineering, a branch of biomedical engineering that aims to reconstruct or regenerate damaged or pathological tissues and organs: this is the aim of the 3D.FETOPRINT project of Professor Alessandro Pellegata, lecturer at Politecnico di Milano, who received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

Spina Bifida is a congenital disorder characterised by the failure of the spine to close properly during the development of the foetus, that causese significant disabilities throughout the child’s life. The innovative approach of 3D.FETOPRINT involves the development of a gel containing stem cells, designed to be printed in real time during fetoscopic surgery through 3D bioprinting technology. The objective is to promote healing and proper formation of fetal tissue. This revolutionary approach will allow surgeons to customise the procedure, tailoring it to the patient’s specific needs.

This project, which combines biomedical engineering, tissue engineering and fetal surgery, aims to maximise the benefits for both the newborn and the mother.

ERC Consolidator Grants are intended for researchers, with at least 7 years of experience since obtaining their PhD and with a very promising scientific profile, who aim to consolidate their independence in research, strengthening their research group and continuing to develop a career in Europe.

Muspell project to pioneer next-gen thermal energy storage system

Posted on 12/10/202306/08/2024 by Erik Franco

The consortium comprising of Swisspod Technologies, EURAC Research, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, the National Institute of Chemistry in Slovenia, the Politecnico di Milano and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya has received a €3.5M Pathfinder grant by the European Innovation Council (EIC): €3.1 million by the European Commission, supplemented by an additional €400,000 contribution from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research, and Innovation (SERI).

The funding will drive the development of the Muspell project, a novel, state-of-the-art Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) — an important component of a sustainable and reliable energy system. The project has commenced in October 2023 and is set to span a duration of 4 years.

Muspell aims to introduce to the market a more efficient mid-to-long term TESS, transcending the limitations of current available systems. By adopting an innovative approach grounded in material research, the consortium sets out to engineer a compact, highly flexible and modular system that offers increased energy density and seamless integration of heat-pump capabilities. The novel TESS will unlock new avenues of application across energy-intensive industries — from manufacturing, textile, food processing, and construction materials, to transportation, energy and environmental services industries.

A TESS allows for efficient storage and usage of thermal energy, providing flexibility, energy management, cost savings, as well as environmental benefits as it can integrate renewable energy sources. The operation of this system involves receiving thermal energy input from various sources like waste/excess heat, solar thermal collectors, electricity, and storing it in a suitable medium, such as a thermo-chemical or a phase-change material. When the stored energy is needed, the TESS transfers it to the desired application at the required temperature level.

This groundbreaking initiative aligns with multiple Sustainable Development Goals, facilitating access to clean energy while simultaneously mitigating the carbon footprint associated with various industries. By emphasizing material development and optimization, as well as system level innovation, the project is committed to achieving high performance while minimizing environmental impact to the greatest extent possible.

The novel TESS will also serve as a cutting-edge thermal battery, enabling the efficient capture, storage, and usage of waste heat generated during industrial processes. Thus, the system not only curtails energy waste, but also mitigates the environmental impact associated with greenhouse gas emissions.

The Politecnico di Milano leverages its expertise in innovation and technology management to prioritize energy efficiency, technological assessment, and renewable solutions for the industrial sector. In collaboration with Swisspod and EURAC Research, we are going to conduct interviews and gather market insights on the application scenarios of TESS, while analyzing the system’s integration into a broader ecosystem.

Polimi considers it extremely important to perform an analysis on the potential markets of the technology that Consortium is going to develop. The activity aims at analyzing technological and economic fit of the TESS in different application sectors as well as evaluating its environmental and economic impacts.
Simone Franzò, Senior Assistant Professor

New laboratories for the design of advanced and sustainable materials

Posted on 15/11/202206/08/2024 by Erik Franco

The new laboratories for research, innovation and technology transfer of the Politecnico di Milano, developed thanks to the collaboration agreement with Regione Lombardia,have been inaugurated today.

Laboratories are the soul and heart of research. They are structures of excellence that allow our university to position itself among the best in Europe and to grow in our territory by focusing on innovation as a characterising element.

The aim of the laboratories is the design of advanced and sustainable materials at the service of two great challenges for advanced manufacturing: the development of new solutions for 3D printing in the biomedical field and the study of innovative solutions for energy storage in support of energy transition. The laboratories are among the most advanced infrastructures in Europe for the study of nanomaterials, thanks to the installation of one of the first 3D bioprinting systems in the world for vascularised tissues and state-of-the-art X-ray labs.

Lombardy, one of the four engines of Europe, invests in development looking ahead to great challenges such as advanced materials, which represents an essential advantage for the growth of the manufacturing industry. This agreement further strenghten the collaboration between Politecnico di Milano and Regione Lombardia, which represents a solid understanding on cutting-edge issues.
Prof. Donatella Sciuto, Deputy Vice Rector of Politecnico di Milano with responsibility for Research and Rector elected for the six-year term 2023/2028.

Within the laboratories it will be possible to design advanced, innovative and sustainable materials through the so-called Crystal Engineering, namely an investigation on the crystalline structure at the service of optimising the properties of advanced materials, which are relevant for the most advanced technological applications. Specifically, the laboratories are specialised in 3D bioprint and in electrochemical technologies for energy storage.

With this intervention, which Regione Lombardia has supported with 1.7 million Euros, we have given our university system the opportunity to equip itself with cutting-edge equipment and unique technologies in Europe. Thanks to it, we can compete with the best international research centres.
Fabrizio Sala, Vice-President of Regione Lombardia.

Opening of the Permanent Demonstration Laboratory

Posted on 03/08/202206/08/2024 by Erik Franco

Italyum and the Politecnico di Milano open the Permanent Demonstration Laboratory (Laboratorio Dimostrativo Permanente – LDP), located at the Itelyum Regeneration plant in Pieve Fissiraga (Lodi).

The objective of the new facility, which will host both researchers from the Politecnico and engineers from Itelyum, is to test the innovative “Acid Gas to Syngas” technology, which, with a view to a circular economy, involves the conversion of hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide into syngas, thus successfully adding value to two polluting compounds of poor economic influence, with no additional use of fossil fuels or renewables.

The two substances can in fact be converted into a mixture rich in hydrogen and carbon monoxide (syngas), which acts as the basis for the production of chemicals and advanced biofuels.

The new laboratory will also study Plastbreaking technology, which transforms non-recyclable plastics (plasmix) into hydrogen and lubricants using conventional processes.

Finally, thanks to the use of advanced simulation software, a digital twin of the current plant will be created, enabling the implementation of high performance process simulators for energy efficiency.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Marco Codognola, CEO and General Manager of Itelyum, Francesco Gallo, Director of Operations, MariaPia Pedeferri, Director of the ‘Giulio Natta’ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, Ivano Ciceri, Head of the Research Enhancement Service (TTO) at the Politecnico di Milano, and Prof. Flavio Manenti.

The Permanent Demonstration Laboratory will allow us to study and understand new phenomena and reactions that would otherwise be very challenging to research at normal academic facilities, due to normally requiring huge investments, long set-up schedules and security systems that are not very feasible nowadays.
Prof. Flavio Manenti

More efficient perovskite-based solar cells thanks to supramolecular chemistry

Posted on 24/03/202206/08/2024 by Erik Franco

Supramolecular chemistry (which deals with multimolecular systems), and in particular halogen bonding, i.e., the intermolecular interaction involving halogen atoms (I, Br and Cl) in organic molecules, can help improve the performance of perovskite-based solar cells, enabling them to achieve high levels of efficiency and high stability.

This is the conclusion of researchers at the Politecnico di Milano who have published in the prestigious Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites – ionic compounds consisting of small organic cations and metal halides – have been known about since the 19th century, but they have only recently been used in optoelectronics for the construction of lasers, diodes, photodetectors and solar cells. In particular, the first perovskite-based photovoltaic cell was produced in 2009 and since then there has been intensive research into achieving an efficiency of more than 25%, which would surpass even the silicon that currently dominates the photovoltaic market.

The low cost and excellent performance of perovskites make them very attractive for photovoltaic applications, but there are still a number of problems that prevent these materials from entering the market. First of all, there is their low stability when it comes to air and humidity. In addition, the presence of defects, i.e., imperfections in the crystal lattice, can generate ‘trap states’ that interfere with the movement of charge carriers (electrons and holes) generated by light within the material, trapping them and causing electrical energy losses. Generally, these trap states are unbound halide ions that can move under the effect of an electric field and recombine with holes.

The study conducted at the Politecnico showed that the use of additives capable of forming halogen bonds with the halide ions present in perovskites provides significant advantages for the development of solar cells with better crystallinity and greater stability. Halogen bonding enables fluorinated molecules to be introduced, which passivate the surface halides to produce hydrophobic and water-repellent perovskites. In this way, trap states are blocked and efficiency is increased.

In addition, the surface modification of perovskite with bifunctional molecules capable of forming halogen bonds enables better integration of the perovskite within the solar cell, facilitating the generation of electrical current.

From the data reported, it appears that halogen bonding has considerable potential for the development of a new generation of solar cells based on perovskites. However, a better atomic/molecular understanding of these materials is needed to fully exploit the advantages of halogen bonding.

The paper was written by Gabriella Cavallo, Giancarlo Terraneo and Pierangelo Metrangolo of the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering ‘Giulio Natta’ of the Politecnico di Milano in collaboration with Laura Canil and Antonio Abate (an alumnus of the Politecnico di Milano) of the Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin fur Materialen und Energie.

Read the paper on Angewandte Chemie International Edition

Sinergy: the metal-polysulfide flow cell battery

Posted on 03/03/202206/08/2024 by Erik Franco

Sinergy is a patent developed by the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering.

It consists of a metal-polysulfide flow cell battery that uses inexpensive, abundant and non-toxic materials.

These characteristics are crucial for application of the technology for storing stationary-type energy that can support the intermittent production of renewable energy. Another advantage is the possibility of making use of sulphur-rich waste, creating a virtuous circle of circular economy.

The inventors are Luca Magagnin, Gabriele Panzeri, Eugenio Gilbertini, Alessandra Accogli, Matteo Salerno, Luca Bertoli.

Sinergy won the Intellectual Property Award (IPA) in the “alternative energy” sector, as announced at the Italian Pavilion of Expo Dubai. It is the competition for Italian technological patents resulting from public research organised by the Ministry of Economic Development in collaboration with Netval (Network for Research Valorisation).

A total of 217 innovative patents developed by Universities, Research Centres and Scientific Hospitalisation and Treatment Institutions were considered for the competition; and 35 of these were selected for the final stage in Dubai.

At the end of the process, the award-winning projects were those able to propose innovations with the greatest economic and social impact in 7 technological areas of reference for the global ecological and digital transition: agritech and agrifood, cybersecurity, green tech, life science, future mobility, aerospace, and alternative energy.

Chemistry: Study Published in Science Advances

Posted on 22/12/202106/08/2024 by Erik Franco

The prestigious journal ‘Science Advances’ has published a study resulting from a collaboration between the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering ‘Giulio Natta’ at the Politecnico di Milano and the Department of Physics at the ‘La Sapienza’ University of Rome. The research was conducted under the PRIN project ‘Soft Adaptive Networks’, for which Francesco Sciortino (La Sapienza) is the national principal investigator and Roberto Piazza is the Politecnico unit head.

The research regarded gels composed of DNA ‘nanostars’, nanostructures consisting of multiple arms connected by a common core. Such systems can form two types of gel. The first is due to phase separation, as normally occurs in colloidal systems. In the second, ‘equilibrium gels’, the network forms progressively and continuously.

The latter, predicted theoretically by Prof. Sciortino for ‘reduced valence’ particles, that is, those that interact only through a limited number of surface sites, were first observed in this work using a new optical correlation technique called ‘2D Photon Correlation Imaging’. This technique was originally developed by Enrico Lattuada in the Soft Matter lab in the Department of Chemistry at the Politecnico, later moving to La Sapienza, where Dr Lattuada is currently a postdoc researcher.

The research, with first author Enrico Lattuada, is co-authored by Debora Caprara, Francesco Sciortino (La Sapienza) and Roberto Piazza (Politecnico di Milano).

Find the full-text article here.

Eni Award 2020 to Bi-Rex project

Posted on 19/10/202106/08/2024 by Erik Franco

The Eni Award ceremony has taken place at the Palazzo del Quirinale in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella, of Eni Chairman Lucia Calvosa and of Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.

The Award, now in its 13th year, is also known as the “Nobel Prize for Energy” and has become an internationally recognised award for research in the energy and environment sectors. The Scientific Commission, which evaluated the applicants’ research, is made up of scientists belonging to the most advanced research institutes in the world and over the years has seen the participation of six Nobel Laureates.

In association with Joule, Eni’s business school, the company this year created an additional award for teams, university spin-offs and start-ups, with a view to encouraging technology use, enhancement and transfer,while promoting the creation of a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

One of the projects awarded with this important prize is Bi-Rex an early stage start-up (TRL 4) that has developed a green process for biopolymer production. A significant example of female entrepreneurship, it was founded by Monica Ferro and Greta Colombo Dugoni, two researchers from the Politecnico di Milano, and is in the process of industrial development thanks to the support of a business angel. Recognised by Joule at the 2020 “StartCup Lombardia”, it has benefitted since January 2021 from a customised incubation scheme led by Polihub, with the methodological support of Joule.

Bi-Rex, was born in the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” from the union of two research projects: study of new green and non-toxic solvents, and study of biopolymers, in particular of cellulose.

Despite being born only a year and a half ago, Bi-Rex led to four patents and the winning of important funding. In fact, after being selected among the winners of the 11th edition of Switch2Product Innovation Challenge, it has won the € 30,000 grant and the acceleration path within Polihub. Furthermore, thanks to the skills acquired, Bi-Rex obtained a pre-seed grant of € 160.000 from Poli360, an investment fund managed by 360 Capital Partners, a leading European venture capital company.

The project is about an innovative and eco-sustainable treatment of different biomass deriving from agri-food processing normally considered and managed as waste, in order to recover high added value products, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, chitin, silica. The project is fully part of the circular economy, also recognized by Legambiente with the special mention in the Innovazione Amica dell’ambiente 2019 Award.

The pre-seed grant will allow to validate the proof of concept by tackling the scale up from the laboratory to the pilot plant. This will allow to study technical feasibility and economic sustainability on an industrial scale.