Meet The Team

Gianvito is a chemical engineer. His research combines methods across areas of chemistry and materials science to design innovative catalysts and catalytic technologies for sustainable applications. He also teaches classes for the BSc and MSc degree in chemical engineering at Politecnico di Milano.

Xiufang studied chemical engineering in China and completed her PhD on electrocatalysis at the University of Milan under the supervision of Prof. Alessandro Minguzzi. Her research focuses on operando X-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of (photo)electrode materials and she aims to advance our research on single-atom catalysts by providing valuable insights into the electronic and geometric structures of these catalysts during catalytic processes.

Vitthal is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow. He got his PhD in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai. He then underwent postdoctoral studies in South Korea, China, and Poland. He joined the group in December 2022 to work on novel applications of single-atom catalysis.

Theo is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow. He studied chemistry at Heriot-Watt University and did his PhD at the intersections of organic and inorganic synthesis at Cardiff University. Prior to joining our group, he was postdoctoral fellow at Keele University. He is engineering novel single-atom catalysts for selective applications.

Viktoriia studied chemistry in Russia and completed her PhD jointly at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces and the University of Cagliari under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Secci. She joined the group as a postdoctoral fellow and brings expertise in flow microreactor design and organometallic photocatalysis. Her research focuses on combining these areas with heterogeneous materials to develop novel earth-abundant continuous-flow catalytic methods for the production of fine chemicals.

Luis studied chemical engineering in Mexico and did his PhD in materials science at the University of Milan Bicocca, under the supervision of Prof. Gianfranco Pacchioni. Afterwards, he moved to Copenhagen, where he was postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Jan Rossmeis. He joined the group in February 2024 and he is applying theoretical methods to rationalize the structure and reactivity of catalytic processes.

Hushan studied technical chemistry and did his PhD at the Indian Institute of Technology under the supervision of Prof. Venkata Krishnan. He joined the group in April 2024 and he is now a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow. He is developing single-atom catalysts via rational catalyst design and exploiting organic materials, and using these catalysts in thermal reactions.

Agustin studied chemistry at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain, with a thesis on the synthesis of zeolites under the supervisor of Prof. Fernando Rey, and did his PhD at the same university with Prof. José Manuel Lopez Nieto working on metal oxides for the selective activation of hydrocarbons. He joined the group in September 2024 as a postdoctoral fellow and he is developing catalytic materials for the valorization of waste into value-added chemicals under new activation conditions.

Areti studied chemical engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and did her MSc thesis in the group of Prof. Angeliki Lemonidou, studying Pt-based catalysts for hydrogen production via bio-oil reforming. She joined the group in November 2022 as a doctoral student. Her research aims to optimize single-atom catalysts to enhance reaction efficiency and selectivity in the transformation of raw materials into high-value products.

Nicolò studied industrial biotechnology and did his MSc thesis under the supervision of Prof. Lorenzo Mino and Prof. Elena Groppo at the University of Turin, applying spectroscopy methods to study the structure and function of several zeolite catalysts. He joined the group in September 2022 as a doctoral student and he is exploiting microscopic and spectroscopy methods to understand the structure and reactivity of single-atom catalysts.

Milla studied industrial chemistry at CPE Lyon and during her MSc thesis, she investigated homogeneous organometallic systems to difunctionalize the C-C bond of a cyclopropenone. Prior to joining the group in November 2022, she also worked as an intern in the industrial catalysis department of Arlanxeo, in the Netherlands. She is now building on the group expertise to develop the field of single-atom electrocatalysis.

Jia studied chemical engineering in China. He joined the group in November 2022 as a doctoral student funded by a scholarship from the Chinese government. He is focusing on developing continuous processes for the catalytic conversion of feedstocks into valuable chemical intermediates using single-atom catalysts, with particular emphasis on scaling up catalyst synthesis and optimizing catalyst formulation. Additionally, he is investigating innovative manufacturing technologies for single-atom catalysts to enhance their catalytic performance.

Mert studied chemical engineering at Istanbul Technical University, where he performed a BSc thesis on the valorization of waste biomass. He then performed a MSc thesis at Bogazici University on CFD modeling and worked as an intern at Technical University of Denmark on anti-solvent crystallization. He joined the group in September 2023 as a doctoral student funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network. He is studying integrated multi-step continuous-flow processes with theoretical and experimental methods.

Miguel studied pharmacy in Granada and, after dedicating three years working as pharmacist in Spain and Ireland, did a MSc degree in organic chemistry at Stockholm University, driven by his passion for synthetic methods and green chemistry. He joined the group in October 2023 as a doctoral student funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie doctoral network. He is studying new light-driven conversion processes using heterogeneous and semi-heterogeneous photocatalysts.

Shilpa studied chemistry at the University of Calcutta in India, where she also completed her experimental MSc thesis on the physico-chemical characterization of photocatalysts. She joined the group as a doctoral student in December 2023, supported by the national PhD program in catalysis. Currently, she is researching innovative thermal and light-driven catalytic processes using single-atom catalysts. Her work encompasses developing sustainable methodologies for catalytic reactions and assessing their environmental impact to ensure that these processes are effective and environmentally responsible.

Kaan studied chemistry at Bilkent University, Turkey, and performed an experimental MSc thesis in the group of Prof. Emrah Özensoy focusing on the photocatalytic mechanism of methanol selective oxidation to formaldehyde. He has experience in conducting AP-XPS and AP-XANES/AP-NEXAFS experiments to examine morphology-dependent electronic changes during reaction. He joined the group in November 2024 and, in his PhD, he will exploit spectroscopy methods to understand the structure and reactivity of single-atom (photo)catalysts.

Ziqi studied energy engineering at Chongqin University, and started his PhD at the same university under the guidance of Prof. Zhongqing Yang. He is an expert in solar-driven photocatalysis and photothermal catalytic activation of carbon dioxide. Specifically, he integrates first principle calculations and operando spectroscopic methods to understand charge carrier migration in photocatalytic processes. He is interested in the group work on single-atom photocatalysis, and his visiting fellowship is funded by the Chinese government.