Dr. Laura Calvillo
Current position:
Assistant professor in Inorganic Chemistry since 2016.
Teaching:
- Laboratory of Preparation and Characterization of Materials
- Materials and Technologies for a Sustainable Development
Research lines:
• Synthesis and characterization of Pt-based and Pt-free electrocatalysts for low and intermediate temperature fuel cells: The main objective is to improve the efficiency and durability of fuel cell catalysts. I am investigating two different strategies.
- Development of new support materials: This research line involves both the study of non-conventional carbon materials with controllable physical and chemical properties, and the study of new materials with high resistance to corrosion, such as transition metal carbides.
- Study of Pt-based and Pt-free catalysts: This research line includes the study of different bimetallic nanoarchitectures (Pt-based nanoparticles), as well as non-noble metal (Pt-free) catalysts, such as molybdenum or tungsten carbides.
• Synthesis and characterization of electrocatalysts for water splitting and alkaline fuel cells: The main objective is to find efficient and stable Pt-free materials and determine the chemical changes induced by the electrochemical work and establish the real active sites.
- Hydrogen evolution reaction: This research line involves the study of transition metal sulphides and carbides.
- Oxygen reduction and evolution reactions: This research line involves the study of oxides with spinel structure as bifunctional catalysts.
Two different approaches are adopted for both research lines. On one hand, the study of model catalysts in UHV using the in situ combined photoemission/electrochemical measurements. On the other hand, the preparation of real materials and their characterisation by in operando XAS with the aim of determining the chemical and structural changes, as well as the stability of these materials.
Assistant professor in Inorganic Chemistry since 2016.
Teaching:
- Laboratory of Preparation and Characterization of Materials
- Materials and Technologies for a Sustainable Development
Research lines:
• Synthesis and characterization of Pt-based and Pt-free electrocatalysts for low and intermediate temperature fuel cells: The main objective is to improve the efficiency and durability of fuel cell catalysts. I am investigating two different strategies.
- Development of new support materials: This research line involves both the study of non-conventional carbon materials with controllable physical and chemical properties, and the study of new materials with high resistance to corrosion, such as transition metal carbides.
- Study of Pt-based and Pt-free catalysts: This research line includes the study of different bimetallic nanoarchitectures (Pt-based nanoparticles), as well as non-noble metal (Pt-free) catalysts, such as molybdenum or tungsten carbides.
• Synthesis and characterization of electrocatalysts for water splitting and alkaline fuel cells: The main objective is to find efficient and stable Pt-free materials and determine the chemical changes induced by the electrochemical work and establish the real active sites.
- Hydrogen evolution reaction: This research line involves the study of transition metal sulphides and carbides.
- Oxygen reduction and evolution reactions: This research line involves the study of oxides with spinel structure as bifunctional catalysts.
Two different approaches are adopted for both research lines. On one hand, the study of model catalysts in UHV using the in situ combined photoemission/electrochemical measurements. On the other hand, the preparation of real materials and their characterisation by in operando XAS with the aim of determining the chemical and structural changes, as well as the stability of these materials.
Assistant Professor
Office: DISC, room 00215 01 056
Tel. 0039 0498275167
e-mail: laura.calvillolamana@unipd.it
Tel. 0039 0498275167
e-mail: laura.calvillolamana@unipd.it
She has been working on materials for fuel cells since she started her PhD in 2004. She was awarded a European PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Zaragoza, Spain, in 2008, which received two awards to the best Doctoral Thesis finished in 2008-2009 in this University. During this period, her work was focused on the development of new non-conventional carbon materials with controllable physical and chemical properties to improve the catalytic performance of Pt-based electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cells. In 2009 she moved to the University of La Laguna, Spain, with Prof Elena Pastor, and in 2010 she began to work at the University of Southampton, UK, with Prof Andrea E. Russell where she was awarded a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship. At this point, she focused her investigation in the study of different metal nanoarchitectures and their influence on the activity, selectivity and stability of Pt-based catalysts towards the electrooxidation of alcohols. Since then, an important part of her work is focused on the use of in situ and/or in operando techniques for the study of electrocatalytic materials under working conditions. In 2013, she started to work at the University of Padova with Prof Gaetano Granozzi, where she continues investigating new materials for fuel cells. Recently, she has extended her interests to other important electrochemical reactions like the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions or the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline conditions.
