Research Group

Associate professor at the University of Bologna since 2016, he carries out experimental research in the field of materials physics and nanoscience. His research activity is mainly focused on the growth of nanoparticles and nanostructures by physical methods and on the investigation of structure-property relationships. His current interests include hydride materials for solid-state hydrogen storage and semiconducting oxide nanostructures for solar energy conversion.

Raffaello holds a PhD in chemistry and currently acts as Assistant Professor in condensed matter physics. His research focus is to explore the interface between these two worlds in the field of energy conversion materials and devices. His current leading interest is the development of nanostructured materials and structures for the the solar-induced photoelectrochemical conversion of renewable compounds, (e.g. water, carbon dioxide and biomass derivatives), into valuable chemicals. 

Alberto Piccioni is currently a Laboratory Technician at the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Bologna. He has a Master's Degree in Condensed Matter Physics and a PhD in Nanoscience for Medicine and the Environment. After the PhD he did a two-years postdoc fellowship within the European Research Project CONDOR Horizon 2020. His research background is based on the synthesis and characterization of nanostructured materials in form of thin films and nanoparticles for photoelectrochemical (PEC) conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. He is involved in the design and building of experimental setup for a wide variety of PEC characterizations, operando spectroscopic X-ray characterization and high-throughput synthesis of materials for solar energy conversion.

PhD student in Nanoscience for Medicine and the Environment, currently working at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna. Graduated at the Department of Chemistry “Giacomo Ciamician” in Bologna: Bachelor degree in “Chemistry and Material Chemistry” and Master degree in “Photochemistry and Molecular materials”.  Her research is mainly focused on the synthesis and the characterization of nanostructured materials -e.g., semiconductors- for the solar-driven energy conversion. Particularly, she is studying the photoelectrochemical (PEC) oxidation of biomasses into valuable chemicals, coupled with the hydrogen production and/or the CO₂ reduction.

Marco holds a bachelor degree in Physics and a master degree in Physics, curriculum Material Physics and Nanoscience, from the University of Bologna. His research focuses on the investigation of new semiconductors for photoelectrochemical water splitting, in particular on the use of magnetron sputtering for the combinatiorial fabrication of libraries of materials that allow a high throughput discovery of new promising candidates for PEC hydrogen production. 

Dario is currently a PhD student in Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna. In 2023 he obtained the Master Degree in Material Science and Nanotechnology at the University of Bologna.

His research aims at discovering new material for the storage of hydrogen in mild conditions, with a special focus on intermetallic compounds. The behaviour of class of materials is investigated using standard interaction with hydrogen gas, but also through the less paved way of electrochemical water splitting.

Evans is currently working as a research fellow at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna. He graduated in Physics in 2023, holding a bachelor's in Physics and a specialisation in Material Physics and Nanoscience obtained at the Physics department of Bologna.
His research, part of the Novel Materials for Hydrogen storage (NoMaH) project, is focused on the synthesis (through Arc Melting and Ball Milling) and characterisation (through XRD, SEM, Thermodynamic and Kinetic analysis) of novel intermetallic alloys with modified stoichiometry for hydrogen storage applications.

Antonio is currently a research fellow@N-REX. His research is focused on the development of throughput approaches for the synthesis and characterization of Cu-based alloys for electrochemical CO2 reduction.

Pierpaolo Vecchi (PhD student) - Current position: Postdoctoral associate at University of Chapel Hill (US)