Paolo Fornasiero is full Professor in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Trieste and Scientific Responsible of the CNR Research Unit associated with the Institute of Chemistry of OrganoMetallic Compounds (ICCOM) of Florence. He obtained in 1992 the degree in Chemistry and in 1997 the PhD in heterogeneous catalysis.
The scientific interests of Professor Fornasiero are in the field of material chemistry, with attention to the design and development of multi-functional metal-oxide nanosystems for their advanced applications in energy related material science and environmental heterogeneous catalysis. Additional info at http://www.dsch.units.it/~fornasiero/staff_fornasiero_page.htm
Lecture – Research advances: Nanocatalysts for sustainable fuel production
Heterogeneous transition metal catalysts are generally based on nanoparticles, that nowadays can be synthesize with uniform size and shape. The extraordinary advances in material science support a new vision for nanoscale-inspired design and synthesis of industrially important catalysts. This precise structural and morphological control, coupled with the possibility to modulate the metal-support interactions, allowed us to have a step change increase in the activity, selectivity and stability of many industrially and environmentally important catalysts. Furthermore, single atom catalysts and metal-free based materials are becoming an essential strategy in sustainable catalysis. In this context, solar fuel production, H2 production, renewable energy conversion and CO2 transformation are the real challenge of the 21st century and the focus of the present talk.