Luca D'Amario

My research focuses on mechanistic investigation of photo- electrocatalysts for energy conversion/storage (water splitting, CO2 reduction, batteries). Presently, I am working on the development of physico-chemical characterization tools to help my investigations, pushing the boundaries of how and what we can learn about chemical reaction mechanisms (see D'Amario Chem Sci 2022). Feel free to contact me if you are interested in my research and want to know more! ;)

I grew up in a small town on the hills of the Abruzzo region in Italy, among carpenters, olive trees and home-made anything. I have bumped into chemistry at a technical high school for chemist, where at the age of 16 I performed my first lab tasks, like spectrophotometric analysis or a BOD. During my undergraduate studies at the University of Pisa I developed a love for renewable energies which eventually led me to Uppsala, where I arrived the first time as an Erasmus student. My interest for renewables, together with a natural inclination to solve technical problems, has shaped my research interests till now. It also led me to live and work in three different countries and has allowed me to met many interesting people. In my free time I like to give a second life to broken things and shoot some honestly rather ugly film photos.

Did you know that reactions driven by electrical potential are crazy important for everyday life? So called, electrochemical (e-chem) processes are at the basis of modern technology, enabling devices as batteries, electronic components, LEDs, sensors, etc. and are likely to become even more important in the near future. In a global economy based on renewable energy, i.e. where the primary source of energy is electrical, e-chem reactions are key to energy storage/transport, heavy-industry and fine chemical production.

Ok, e-chem reactions are very important, but how do they work?

Whe have still a lot to learn about them! Surprisingly, despite the extensive application of these reactions, their development is restrained by a lack of understanding, at a molecular level, of the dynamics of the chemistry occurring in close proximity of the electrode. The main reason of this limit resides on the absence of a physico-chemical investigation technique, able to interrogate the reaction steps in detail. During my postdoc I have developed the first technique able to provide time-resolved vibrational information on electrochemical reactions with sub-ms resolution. Contrary to classical time-resolved spectroscopy, where the reaction is triggered by a light pulse, in this technique the reaction is activated by an electric potential pulse. The reaction is then followed by Raman spectroscopy. In my current research I try to use this new tool and many others to understand so called electrocatalytic reactions in particular the oxygen evolving reaction (OER) and the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). The OER is used to produce hydrogen in the water splitting process. It is a challenging reaction due to the very oxidizing condition it operates. For this reason there are not many materials that can be used to catalyze it and most of them are made of precious elements (like Ru or Ir). My research involves the understanding of this reaction (now that I have the right tool for the job!), to make an efficient catalyst with Earth abundant elements (like Fe or Ni) which are sustainable. The CO2RR instead can be used to convert CO2 to fuels or to other viable chemicals. It is a challenging reaction to study due to its complexity; countless products can be produced, and they are produced all at the same time! My current research focuses on understanding what dictates the formation of a specific product in CO2RR in order to formulate a catalyst that helps the production of said product with high yield.

Last but not least, my research also involves the development of the physico-chemical tools that are used to investigate e-chem reactions, in particular the characterization of evolving electrochemical species. This quest often requires one to push the capability of specialty techniques like pulsed electrochemistry or x-ray spectroscopy to their limit and further, which has some thrill to it!