Papers by Alberto Zanelli
Structural studies in solid and solutions of copper(II) complexes with nitroimidazole and glucosamine heteroscorpionate ligands
BioMet11, 11th workshop on PharmacoBioMetallics, 2011
World
The growing interest in energy storage devices, both batteries and capacitors, could lead to the ... more The growing interest in energy storage devices, both batteries and capacitors, could lead to the improvement of electrochemical properties such as extended charge/discharge cycles, high specific capacitance, and power density. Furthermore, the use of easily available raw materials for the production of carbon electrodes has attracted interest due to the criticality of the resources related to the current technologies of high-performance capacitors. The present article reviews carbon-based materials for supercapacitors derived from affordable coal deposits or crop waste with appropriate characteristics in terms of specific surface area, electrical conductivity, and charge/discharge stability. In addition, the substitution of organic liquids electrolytes with less dangerous solutions, such as aqueous electrolytes containing high concentrations of salt, is a valuable strategy for the design of green devices that is discussed in this review. Finally, the present article reviews the elec...
Water Science and Technology, 2017
Many emerging contaminants pass through conventional wastewater treatment plants, contaminating s... more Many emerging contaminants pass through conventional wastewater treatment plants, contaminating surface and drinking water. The implementation of advanced oxidation processes in existing plants for emerging contaminant remediation is one of the challenges for the enhancement of water quality in the industrialised countries. This paper reports on the production of a TiO2 nano-layer on quartz wool in a relevant amount, its characterisation by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, and its use as a photocatalyst under ultraviolet radiation for the simultaneous mineralisation of five emerging organic contaminants (benzophenone-3, benzophenone-4, carbamazepine, diclofenac, and triton X-100) dissolved in deionised water and tap water. This treatment was compared with direct ultraviolet photolysis and with photocatalytic degradation on commercial TiO2 micropearls. The disappearance of every pollutant was measured by high performance liquid chromatography and mineralisation was...
Graphene: The Exfoliation of Graphene in Liquids by Electrochemical, Chemical, and Sonication-Assisted Techniques: A Nanoscale Study (Adv. Funct. Mater. 37/2013)
Advanced Functional Materials, Oct 1, 2013
ABSTRACT The different exfoliation routes of graphite to produce graphene by sonication in solven... more ABSTRACT The different exfoliation routes of graphite to produce graphene by sonication in solvent, chemical oxidation and electrochemical oxidation are compared. The exfoliation process and roughening of a flat graphite substrate is directly visualized at the nanoscale by scanning probe and electron microscopy. The etching damage in graphite and the properties of the exfoliated sheets are compared by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis. The results show the trade-off between exfoliation speed and preservation of graphene quality. A key step to achieve efficient exfoliation is to couple gas production and mechanical exfoliation on a macroscale with non-covalent exfoliation and preservation of graphene properties on a molecular scale.
Circumneutral concentrated ammonium acetate solution as water-in-salt electrolyte
Electrochimica Acta
Young Raw Matters Ambassadors: High School Students Act as Science Communicators
Frontiers in Education
Nowadays communication skills are essential for the successful future career of undergraduate stu... more Nowadays communication skills are essential for the successful future career of undergraduate students, as well as to develop a mindset able to face new challenges linked to a sustainable development and to adopt sustainable strategies with respect to finite resources on Earth allowing the transition to the circular economy (CE) model. Here we present the experience of seven classes of teenagers involved in learning paths linked to researches in the field of material science aiming at developing more sustainable materials. The expected output was oriented toward the common goal of creating a communication tool targeting an external audience. The paths were proposed as a work-based experience in the framework of Raw Matters Ambassadors at Schools (RM@Schools), a European project which aims at raising awareness on the sustainable use of raw materials as well as increasing the interest in STEM disciplines, able to allow the future transition toward a low-carbon society. By using a comb...
Journal of Materials Chemistry C
Here is reported the synthesis of a family of thiophene-based heptamers alternating electron dono... more Here is reported the synthesis of a family of thiophene-based heptamers alternating electron donor (D) and acceptor (A) units in a D–A′–D–A–D–A′–D sequence. Their multiple roles as active materials in BHJ solar cells are presented.
Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells: The Role of Alkyl Side Chain on Nanoscale Morphology of Sulfur Over-rich Regioregular Polythiophene/Fullerene Blends
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Regioregular HH-TT poly(3,3′-thioalkylbithiophene)s-bearing branched or linear alkyl side-chain s... more Regioregular HH-TT poly(3,3′-thioalkylbithiophene)s-bearing branched or linear alkyl side-chain substituents (PT2SR) have been synthesized and characterized to investigate their behavior, when used as electron-donor components in blend with a fullerene derivative [[6,6]-phenyl-C61-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)] as an electron acceptor, in air-processed photovoltaic solar cells with bulk heterojunction architecture. The optoelectronic characteristics, energy gap, nanoscale morphology, and crystallinity of the blends (PT2SR/PCBM) were examined by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We demonstrate that thioalkyl substituents are able to influence the PCBM self-assembly and the morphology of the polymeric film, important parameters to maximize the efficiency of the solar cell. In particular, the presence of chemical branching in the side chain of the sulfur over-rich polythiophene backbone favors the formation of PCBM clus...
Nanoscale Characterization and Unexpected Photovoltaic Behaviour of Low Bandgap Sulfur-Overrich-Thiophene/Benzothiadiazole Decamers and Polymers
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2015
Highly soluble air-stable conjugated decamers and polymers (compounds 1–6) with alternating “sulf... more Highly soluble air-stable conjugated decamers and polymers (compounds 1–6) with alternating “sulfur-overrich” bis(3,4′-S-alkyl)-2,2′-bithiophenes as the donor units and 2,1,3-benzothiadiazoles as the acceptor units were designed and expediently synthesized with the aid of microwave and ultrasound enabling technologies. Solid-state cyclovoltammetry showed that 1–6 had oxidation and reduction potentials in the range 0.6–0.9 V and −1/–1.2 V (vs SCE), respectively, with energy gaps below 2 eV. The electronic properties of spin-coated films of pure 1–6 were investigated with nanoscale resolution by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). KPFM measurements showed that charge generation and separation were obtained for all films under illumination. Consequently, 1–6 were tested on single-material organic solar cells (SMOCs). In agreement with KPFM results, photovoltaic behavior was observed for all compounds with power conversion efficiencies in line with the best results obtained so far for the few donor–acceptor...
International Trade Fair of Material & Energy Recovery and Sustainable Development Advanced Oxida... more International Trade Fair of Material & Energy Recovery and Sustainable Development Advanced Oxidation Processes for the remediation of water contaminated by emerging pollutants SUMMARY The destruction of selected emerging pollutants (pharmaceuticals and UV filters) in spiked water has been achieved by means of Advanced Oxidation Processes. The energy transmitted with these processes interacts mainly with water molecules generating hydroxyl free-radicals that react with organic molecules leading to their degradation and eventually mineralization. The oxidative processes can be improved by photocatalysts (e.g. TiO 2), or chemical additives (e.g. H 2 O 2). Here we show a study on the decomposition of a water solution of four emerging pollutants, ofloxacin (OFX), benzophenone-3 (BP-3), benzophenenone-4 (BP-4) and carbamazepine (CBZ), by means of UV, UV+TiO 2 , and UV+H 2 O 2 . The system was studied monitoring the concentration of the said compounds by HPLC/UV-vis and measuring the tota...
The present study reports the photodegradation of surfactants, facing the issue in two steps. Ini... more The present study reports the photodegradation of surfactants, facing the issue in two steps. Initially, anionic, non ionic, and cationic surfactants have been treated separately. The second step performed the treatment of second rinsing water from laundry machine. This effluent contained traces of standard dirt, anionic, non ionic, and other detergent components. The aim is the implementation of a new technology to improve the eco-compatibility of domestic laundry machine which would allow to reuse the treated water in a new washing cycle. Thus it would be possible to decrease the amount of surfactant introduced in the environment and to reduce water consumption at the same time. The treatments have been carried out using UV light and TiO2 particles. UVC radiation (254 nm) has been used in the case of single surfactants, while for real laundry machine wastewater low power UVA radiation (365 nm) has been employed in view of future technological application. In order to evaluate the ...
Poly(3-buthyl-co-3,4-dibuthylthiophene)s: synthesis and electrochromic characterization
Synthetic Metals, 1995
We have prepared a series of soluble, processable copolymers containing both 3-buthylthiophene an... more We have prepared a series of soluble, processable copolymers containing both 3-buthylthiophene and 3,4-dibuthylthiophene units in well defined percentages. The modification of the copolymer composition produces materials with various π-electron conjugation length and with diverse electrochromic properties tested for applications in electrochromic devices.
A lithium metal battery with a composite polymer electrolyte
The present study reports the progress to date of ALPE, an Italian R & D project on lithium m... more The present study reports the progress to date of ALPE, an Italian R & D project on lithium metal polymer batteries (LPB) for electric Vehicle power supply. Some characteristics of the components of the LPB-PEO 20 LiCF 3 SO 3 -20w/o (weight per cent) γ-LiAlO 2 composite polymer electrolyte prepared by a dry procedure, and of the LiMn 2 O 4 -based composite cathode electrode operating at 3V vs. Li-as well as the performance of the prototypes are presented. Even under non-optimized battery design, the ALPE batteries delivered at C/3 rate and at 94°C 40-30% of theoretical capacity over 100 charge-discharge cycles. This promising result is linked to the high lithium metal/dry ceramic composite electrolyte interface stability.
Solid lithium batteries with polymer components-The ALPE project in Italy
Versatile Bisethynyl[60]fulleropyrrolidine Scaffolds for Mimicking Artificial Light-Harvesting Photoreaction Centers
Chemistry - A European Journal, 2014
Fullerene-based tetrads, triads, and dyads are presented in which [60]fulleropyrrolidine synthons... more Fullerene-based tetrads, triads, and dyads are presented in which [60]fulleropyrrolidine synthons are linked to an oligo(p-phenyleneethynylene) antenna at the nitrogen atom and to electron-donor phenothiazine (PTZ) and/or ferrocene (Fc) moieties at the α carbon of the pyrrolidine cycle through an acetylene spacer. Cyclic voltammetry and UV/ Vis absorption spectra evidence negligible ground-state electronic interactions among the subunits. By contrast, strong excited-state interactions are detected upon selective light irradiation of the antenna (UV) or of the fullerene scaffold (Vis). When only PTZ is present as electron donor, photoinduced electron transfer to the fullerene unit is unambiguously detected in benzonitrile, but this is not the case when Fc is part of the multicomponent system. These results suggest that Fc is a formidable energy transfer quencher and caution should be used in choosing it as electron donor to promote efficient charge separation in multicomponent arrays.
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Papers by Alberto Zanelli