EDUCATION

• 1998: Laurea Summa cum Laude in Chemistry, University of Calabria (UNICAL).

• 2002: PhD in Chemical Science, University of Calabria on "Development and characterization of solid polymer electrolytes for lithium battery technology".

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

• 2008-2017 Researcher (Area 03 – Chemistry, CHIM/02- Physical Chemistry), Department CTC - UNICAL.

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

• 2000 PhD stage at the School of Physics, University of Kent, Canterbury (UK).

• 2003/2007 Postdoctoral Researcher at the Dept. of Chemistry - UNICAL.

• 2005/2006 Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Dept. of Physics, Hunter College, CUNY (City University of New York), NY, USA.

RESEARCH

Prof. Isabella Nicotera is responsible of the PCAM-Laboratory (Physical Chemistry and Applied Materials). Her main research topic concerns Energetics sector, specifically materials for conversion and electrochemical energy storage devices, with particular reference to hydrogen and lithium (fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries). The scientific knowledge therefore focusses on the synthesis and evaluation of new materials, hybrid and nano-structured with specific properties and transport, aimed at the development of polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells and for solid state batteries.

The advanced techniques of the laboratory allow chemical-physical, rheological, electrochemical characterization of materials, and finally studies of the ionic and molecular transport mechanism through NMR spectroscopy (PFG technique, Relaxometry, micro-Imaging, solid state MAS-NMR). In the course of her research activity she established national and international collaborations with several research groups, as highlights from her publications, and she was involved in National and European research projects, some of them concerning conversion and storage of energy.