Ascolta

CURRICULUM VITAE

PERSONAL DATA

Born: 30 November 1973, Licata (Italy)
Nationality: Italian

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Electrochemical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (2001)
Experimental work partly carried out at the Corrosion and Protection Centre, UMIST – University of Manchester (UK), under the supervision of Prof. G. Thompson

M.Sc. Degree in Chemical Engineering, University of Palermo, Italy (1997), 110/110 summa cum laude

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

Full Professor of Applied Physical Chemistry, Department of Engineering, University of Palermo (2010–present)

Assistant Professor of Applied Physical Chemistry, Department of Engineering, University of Palermo (2002–2010)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Courses taught at the University of Palermo include:

• Applied Electrochemistry (M.Sc. Chemical Engineering, 2017–present)
• Corrosion and Protection of Metallic Materials (M.Sc. Building Engineering, 2014–present)
• Physical Chemistry for Biomedical Engineering (B.Sc. Biomedical Engineering, 2022–present)
• Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage (M.Sc. Chemical Engineering, 2003–2022)
• Corrosion and Protection of Aerospace Materials (M.Sc. Aerospace Engineering, 2015–2018)

RESEARCH INTERESTS

As Head of the Applied Electrochemistry Laboratory within the Department of Engineering, Monica Santamaria leads research activities focused on the engineering and development of sustainable electrochemical processes and advanced functional materials, with particular attention to scalability, industrial implementation, and environmental and economic sustainability at high Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). The laboratory combines process engineering, materials design, and application-oriented optimization, bridging fundamental research and real industrial applications. Across all research lines, strong expertise in corrosion science and electrochemical durability is exploited to guide material selection and surface engineering strategies, ensuring long-term stability and reliability under operating conditions.

The main research lines include:

1) Electrolysis for green hydrogen production: design and fabrication of high-surface-area electrodes for both anodic and cathodic reactions in alkaline membrane electrolyzers, with emphasis on PGM-free electrocatalytic materials, optimized morphology, and scalable fabrication strategies for efficient and durable hydrogen production.

2) Photoelectrolysis and solar-driven valorization processes: development of large-area, PGM-free photoanodes for the photoelectrochemical conversion of biomass-derived compounds, coupling hydrogen production with the selective generation of value-added chemicals as alternatives to oxygen evolution.

3) Surface functionalization of metals and alloys: development and optimization of electrochemical and surface engineering treatments for automotive, aerospace, and especially biomedical applications, aimed at tailoring corrosion resistance, bioactivity, mechanical behaviour, and surface functionality. Research activities involve both conventionally manufactured metallic materials and components produced through advanced manufacturing technologies, including 3D printing/additive manufacturing, superplastic forming, and related innovative fabrication processes. Part of these activities has reached industrial implementation and TRL 9 validation through operation in full-scale industrial plants.

The laboratory activities strongly benefit from long-standing collaborations with national and international industrial partners, who continuously support and co-finance the research programs. These collaborations promote technology transfer, industrial validation, and the joint development of patented technologies and processes.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow (2019)
• Hans-Jürgen Engell Prize, International Society of Electrochemistry (2006)

EDITORIAL ACTIVITY

• Topical Editor, Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry (Springer)
• Associate Editor and Special Issue Editor, Electrochimica Acta (Elsevier)

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

• International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE)
• Italian Chemical Society (SCI), Electrochemical Division
• GRICU – Chemical Engineering University Group

RESEARCH METRICS

More than 170 peer-reviewed journal publications and 3 book chapters.

Bibliometric indicators (Scopus, May 2026):

• Indexed publications: 195
• Citations: 4,200
• h-index: 35

RESEARCH FUNDING

Research activities have been supported by both private companies and public national and international funding agencies. Industrial partners have included Becromal S.p.A. (Milan, Italy), Novelis Global Technology Center (Kingston, Canada), Roche Diagnostics GmbH (Germany), APCE Service (Italy), Società Chimica Bussi S.p.A. (Italy), Engitec Technologies S.p.A. (Milan, Italy), TDK Foil Italia (Italy), and CMC Ravenna (Italy). Public funding has been provided by the Italian Ministry of Education, the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MISE), the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition (MiTE), regional research and development agencies, and the US Army.

Current and recent competitive research projects include the AMBITION project, focused on the functionalization of Porous Transport Layers (PTLs) for anodes and cathodes in alkaline membrane electrolyzers and on the study of their performance and long-term durability. The project is funded within the framework of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 2 “Green Revolution and Ecological Transition”, Component 2 “Renewable Energy, Hydrogen, Grid and Sustainable Mobility”, Investment 3.5 “Research and Development on Hydrogen”, funded by MiTE with €2.5 M (2024–present, Principal Investigator).

Additional funded projects include the optimization and scale-up of hard anodizing processes for magnesium alloys for bioresorbable prostheses, funded through a Proof of Concept call by MISE with €66 k (2023, Principal Investigator); a project on traceability, reuse and recovery of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), funded by MiTE with €600 k (2022–2026, Principal Investigator); and the surface treatment of galvanized steel to improve adhesion to concrete and paintability through pilot-plant scale-up, funded by a MISE Proof of Concept call with €33 k (2021, Principal Investigator).

 

Participation in national collaborative projects also includes THALASSA (“TecHnology And Materials for Safe Low Consumption and Low Life Cycle Cost Vessels and Crafts”), funded within the PON Ricerca e Innovazione 2014–2020 program by MIUR, with a managed budget of €150 k (2021–2023, research unit member), and NAUSICAA (“Efficient Ships through Innovative and Low-Carbon Technological Solutions”), funded within the same program with a managed budget of €120 k (2021–2023, research unit member).

 

Recent industrial research collaborations include projects funded by Società Chimica Bussi S.p.A. on low-environmental-impact electrochemical processes for the electrosynthesis of adiponitrile and hydrogenation to hexamethylenediamine (€510 k, 2023–2024, Principal Investigator), and on the replacement of sodium dichromate with non-REACH Annex XIV substances for chlorate production (€178 k, 2021–2022, Principal Investigator).

Research collaborations with TDK Foil Italia focused on the characterization of aluminium oxides and the correlation between their morphological, structural and compositional properties and their electrical and electronic behaviour (€30 k, 2020–2021, Principal Investigator), as well as on the optimization of electrochemical etching processes of aluminum foils for electrolytic capacitors aimed at aluminium recovery (€80 k, 2022–2023, Principal Investigator).

Collaborations with Whydron S.r.l. addressed hydrogen production from organic substrates through thermocatalytic processes (€10 k, 2021, Principal Investigator), optimization of hydrochloric acid purification processes derived from the synthesis of etidronic acid in batch reactors (€20 k, 2023, Principal Investigator), and the assessment of operating conditions for hydrochloric acid purification in aqueous acetic acid mixtures through distillation (€20 k, 2025, Principal Investigator).

Additional industrial collaborations include studies on the passivity conditions of steel under cathodic protection funded by APCE S.r.l. (€15 k, 2020–2022, Principal Investigator), and the design and engineering of plants for surface treatments of medical devices funded by GeMeS S.r.l. – General Medical Supplies (€20 k, 2025, Principal Investigator).

CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

More than 100 contributions at international and national conferences in electrochemistry, corrosion science, surface engineering, electrolysis, photoelectrochemistry, and functional materials.

INVITED, KEYNOTE AND PLENARY LECTURES

“Photocurrent Spectroscopy Applied to the Characterization of Compositionally and Structurally Graded Materials: from Thin Films to Nanostructures” — E-MRS 2010 Fall Meeting, Warsaw, Poland, 13–17 September 2010. Keynote Lecture

“The Influence of Surface Treatment on the Kinetics of Growth of Anodic Films on Magnesium in Alkaline Solution” — 61st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Nice, France, 26 September – 1 October 2010. Invited Lecture

“Effect of Thermal Treatment on the Physico-Chemical Properties of Porous Anodic Films on Iron” — 64th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Querétaro, Mexico, 8–13 September 2013. Invited Lecture

“Effect of Incorporation of Foreign Species on the Solid-State Properties of Anodic Films on Ti” — 2nd International Symposium on Anodizing Science and Technology, Sapporo, Japan, 4–7 June 2014. Invited Lecture

“Synergistic Use of Electrochemical Impedance and Photoelectrochemical Measurements for Studying Solid-State Properties of Anodic HfO₂” — ECS PRiME 2016, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 2–7 October 2016. Invited Lecture

“Anodizing: an Effective Process to Prepare Oxides for Advanced Technological Applications” — 3rd International Symposium on Anodizing Science and Technology, Awaji Island, Japan, 2–5 June 2019. Keynote Lecture

“Electrochemical Surface Treatments to Improve Corrosion Resistance of Light Alloys” — XXVII Congresso Nazionale della Società Chimica Italiana, 14–23 September 2021. Keynote Lecture

“Improvement of Corrosion Resistance of Light Alloys by Electrochemically Grown Coatings” — SCI Forum – 3rd Coatings and Interfaces Conference, 24–26 November 2021. Keynote Lecture

“Biomass Valorization toward Value-Added Products and Hydrogen Production in Photoelectrochemical Cells” — Giornate Italiane dell’Elettrochimica 2022 (GEI2022), Orvieto, Italy, 11–15 September 2022. Keynote Lecture

“Interplay between Electronic Properties and Corrosion Resistance of Passive Films on Different Stainless Steel Grades” — MAPEX Symposium 2022: Electrochemical Material Processes, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany, 5 October 2022. Keynote Lecture

“Anodizing as an Effective Process to Fabricate Anodes for Electrolysis and Photoelectrolysis of Biomass-Containing Solutions” — 4th International Symposium on Anodizing Science and Technology, Chiba, Japan, 1–4 June 2025. Keynote Lecture

“Electrochemical Processes on Metallic Bioimplants for Tuning Their Corrosion Resistance and Providing Specific Functionalities” — 76th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Mainz, Germany, 7–12 September 2025. Keynote Lecture

“Electrochemical Technologies for Green Hydrogen Production and Biomass Valorization” — International Conference on “Science and Practice in Innovative Materials and Green Technologies for Sustainable Development”, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria, 5–7 November 2025. Invited Lecture

“Engineering Passivity in Titanium Biomedical Implants: From Native Oxides to Functional Anodic Films” — 11th International Symposium on the Passivation of Metals and Semiconductors and the Properties of Thin Oxide Layers, Nara Kasugano International Forum, Nara, Japan. Plenary Lecture

INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS

“Photocurrent Spectroscopy Applied to the Characterization of Passive Films on Metals and Alloys” — POLITEHNICA University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, June 2002.

“Photocurrent Spectroscopy Applied to the Characterization of Compositionally and Structurally Tailored Materials: from Thin Films to Nanostructures” — Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany, June 2013.

“Synergistic Use of Photoelectrochemical and Impedance Measurements for the Characterization of Anodic Oxides” — Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, 31 May 2019.

“Anodizing and Anodic Oxides for Corrosion Protection” — Osaka University, Osaka, Japan, 6 June 2019.

“Anodizing and Anodic Oxides for Advanced Technological Applications” — Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, 7 June 2019.

“Anodizing and Anodic Oxides for Advanced Technological Applications” — Kogakuin University, Tokyo, Japan, 10 June 2019.

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE

Institutional Roles

• Representative for the Academic Scientific Sector of Applied Physical Chemistry, National University Council (CUN), 2020–present
• Vice Head of Department, Civil, Environmental, Aerospace and Materials Engineering, University of Palermo (2017–2018)
• Member, University Patent Committee (2021–present)

Scientific Societies

• President, Electrochemistry Division, Italian Chemical Society (2023–2025)
• Vice President, Electrochemistry Division, Italian Chemical Society (2017–2019)
• Chair, Division 4 “Electrochemical Materials Science”, International Society of Electrochemistry (2016–2022)
• Executive Committee Member, International Society of Electrochemistry (2023–present)
• Chair, ISE Award Committee for Electrochemical Materials Science Prize (2018–2022)

Evaluation and National Roles

• Member, REPRISE Register of Expert Peer Reviewers (MIUR), 2017–present
• Member, Scientific Committee for academic recruitment in Chemical Engineering (2016–2018; 2023–2026)

 

CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION

Chair of the organizing committee of the symposium “Corrosion Science and Engineering” during the 63rd annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (19-24 August, 2012, Prague, Czech Republic).

Member of the organizing committee of the symposium “Corrosion, Passivity and Oxide Films” during the 65th annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (31August – 5 September, 2014, Lausanne, Swiss).

Member of the organizing committee of the 17th Topical Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, “Multi-scaled Analysis of Electrochemical Systems” (31May - 3 June 2015, Saint- Malo, France).

Member of the organizing committee of the symposium on “Advanced Materials for Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers”, during the E-MRS fall meeting (19 September - 22 September 2016, Warsaw, Poland).

Member of the scientific committee of the 8th Aluminium Surface Science and Technology Symposium (27 - 31 May 2018, Helsingør, Denmark).

Member of the scientific committee of the symposium on “Corrosion, Passivation, and Protection Strategies”, during the 69th annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, (2-7 September 2018, Bologna, Italy).

Co-Chair of the scientific committee of the"1st International Spring School of Electrochemistry - ISSE" on "Smart Materials for and from Electrochemistry", organized by the Italian Electrochemical Division of SCI, Castellammare del Golfo (Italy), May 2019.

Member of the scientific committee of the “3rd International Symposium on “Anodizing Science and Technology”, (2 - 5 June 2019, Awaji Island, Hyogo, Japan).

Chair of the organizing committee of “Giornate Nazionali della Corrosione”, (3-5 July 2019, Palermo, Italy).

Chair of the organizing committee of the symposium “The Science, Technology and Engineering of Corrosion”, during the 70th annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, (4-9 August 2019, Durban, South Africa).

Chair of the scientific committee of the “Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage: from thermodynamics and kinetics to devices”, organized by GRICU (July 6 -9, 2022, Ischia, Italy).

Member of the scientific committee of the symposium “Integrated electrocatalyst and electrode engineering for sustainable electrochemical processes”, during the 74th annual meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, (3-8 September 2023, Lyon, France)

Chair of the scientific and organizing committee delle “Giornata nazionali dell’Elettrochimica Italiana” of the Italian Electrochemical Division of SCI (September, 17-21, 2023, Cefalù, Italy).

Member of the Coordinators Committee, Flash Presentation Section, COMBUSTIBILI DI SINTESI (E-Fuels) Congress, organized by Accademia dei Lincei, October 3–4, 2024

PATENTS AND PATENT APPLICATIONS

Granted Patents

• EP 0 966 008 A2 (1999): Process for the production of an anode for electrolytic capacitors
• US 6,325,831 (2001): Process for the production of an anode for electrolytic capacitors
• US 6,452,783 (2002): Process for the production of an anode for electrolytic capacitors
• IT 102019000023586: Magnesium alloys for biomedical applications
• IT 102019000023661: Treatment of galvanized steel
• IT 102020000023767: Anticorrosion coatings on aluminium alloys

Patent Applications

• IT 102022000025551 (2022)
• WO2024/127271 A1 (2024)
  Process for chlorate production