Michelangelo Gruttadauria studied chemistry at the University of Palermo where he started his academic career in 1992 in the group of Prof. R. Noto. In 1994–1995 he joined the research group of Prof. Eric J. Thomas at the University of Manchester (U.K.) working on stereoselective synthesis with chiral allyl stannanes. Since 2006 he is Full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Palermo. His fields of interest have been heterocycle synthesis, physical organic chemistry and stereoselective synthesis using organoselenium chemistry, organocatalysis. His current interests include new recyclable materials for organocatalytic reactions and metal-catalyzed reactions, including ionic liquid-based materials, fullerene, carbon nanotube and carbon nanohorn-based materials, and POSS-based materials. He was the recipient of Research Award 2015 “Organic Chemistry in its synthetic aspects (methodologies and products)” assigned by the Division of Organic Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society.

• e-mail: michelangelo.gruttadauria@unipa.it

• ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6952-0712

Vincenzo Campisciano was born in 1985 in Palermo, Italy. He is a researcher at the University of Palermo. In 2016 he received his PhD degree in chemistry from University of Palermo under the supervision of Prof. M. Gruttadauria and Prof. F. Giacalone. In the same year, he was awarded for the best PhD thesis from Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale “Metodologie e Processi Innovativi di Sintesi” (CINMPIS). In 2017 the Young Group of Italian Chemical Society (SCI) included him among 10 finalists of Primo Levi award for the best scientific work produced in 2016. He was a postdoctoral researcher at University of Palermo until the end of 2021. His research interests are focused on chemical modification of carbon nanoforms, such as fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanohorns for a wide range of applications including heterogeneous catalysis and photovoltaics.

• e-mail: vincenzo.campisciano@unipa.it 

• ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6990-8290

Rossella Infantino was born in Castelvetrano (Trapani) in 1992. In 2019 she obtained her master’s degree in Chemical Sciences at the University of Florence. She received her PhD in 2023 in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences at University of Siena carrying out her experimental work in the laboratory of Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds (ICCOM) at Council of National Research (CNR) based in Florence. Her PhD research focused on design, synthesis, and characterization of some new organic materials able to improve the performance, in terms of efficiency and the long-term stability, of two important new generation photovoltaics: Dye-Sensitizer Solar Cells (DSSC) and Perovskite Solar Cells (PSC). During her PhD, from May 2022 to September 2022, she worked about the fabrication and testing of DSSC devices in the Freitag’s laboratory in Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK). In September 2023, she was awarded for the best Ph.D. thesis in Organic Chemistry for the environment, energy and nanoscience from the Italian Chemical Society. She is currently joined as a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Palermo under the supervisor of Prof. Delia Chillura Martino and Prof. Francesco Giacalone. Her research within the PNRR “SiciliAn MicronanOTeacH Research And Innovation CEnter- SAMOTRACHE focus on design, synthesis of characterization of carbon nanoforms-based hybrid materials for wastewater treatment.

• e-mail: rossella.infantino@unipa.it

• ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7975-2034  

Luca Consentino was born in Palermo (Italy) in 1994. He got his Master's Degree in Materials Chemistry at the University of Palermo in 2020, carrying out part of the experimental work of his master's thesis in the laboratories of the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wroclaw (Poland). He started to work at the CNR-ISMN Palermo in October 2020 with a two years research grant on "Development and study of NH3-SCR catalysts to overcome the NOx emitted by marine engines" and acquiring a good expertise in the field of heterogeneous catalysis. He is currently a Ph.D student (co-funded studentship by the Institute for the Study of Nanostructured Materials - CNR of Palermo and University of Palermo) under the supervision of Dr. L.F. Liotta and Prof. M. Gruttadauria. His research interests are focused on the development of catalysts for the abatement and valorisation of air pollutants like nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxides.

• e-mail: luca.consentino@unipa.it

• ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5915-1693

Silvia Orecchio was born in Palermo in 1995. In 2019 she got a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology by the University of Palermo, with a graduation thesis on novel food analysis. From September 2019 to February 2021 she worked by the University of Pavia, on a research project aimed to optimize the methods of analysis of hazardous trace compounds (PAHs) in matrices that have been contaminated as result of fires. She is currently a Ph.D  student at the University of Palermo, under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Giacalone and Prof. Bruno Pignataro. Her research interests are focused on the synthesis of molecular and polymeric systems as interface additives in organic and perovskite photovoltaic devices.

• e-mail: silvia.orecchio@unipa.it

Alessandro Mercadante was born in 1989 in Palermo, Italy. He obtained his BSc in Chemistry in 2015, and his MSc in Chemistry of Molecular Systems in 2018 at the University of Palermo. He is currently a Ph.D student at the University of Palermo under the supervision of Prof. M. Gruttadauria and Prof. F. Giacalone. He is an academic chemistry tutor at the University of Palermo since November 2019. His research interests are focused on the development of new methodologies for the covalent functionalization of carbon nanoforms, such as fullerene and carbon nanotubes, and on the use of these new strategies to prepare materials with specific functionalization to be applied in heterogeneous catalysis.

Carla Calabrese was born in Palermo in 1990. She obtained her B.Sc. (2012) and M.Sc. (2014) degrees in Chemistry at the University of Palermo. She received her European Ph.D. in Chemistry from both the University of Palermo and the University of Namur in February 2019. In the same year, she was awarded for the best Ph.D. thesis in Green Chemistry from the Italian Chemical Society. Her Ph.D. research focused on heterogeneous catalytic systems for carbon dioxide conversion and the C-C bond formation. From December 2018 to March 2019, she worked as academic tutor in general chemistry and stoichiometry at the University of Palermo. She is working as postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies. Her research interests cover heterogeneous catalysis, organic photovoltaics and mussel-inspired functional biopolymers in conjunction with the development of hybrid materials based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes, mesostructured silicas, and carbon nanostructures.

• ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8348-0764

Valerio Cinà was born in 1986 in Palermo, Italy. In 2013 he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and in 2016 reached his master’s degree in Chemistry of molecular systems both at the University of Palermo. In 2016 he started a PhD project in partnership between the University of Palermo and the University of Namur. In 2020 he received his PhD in chemistry from University of Palermo under the supervision of Prof. F. Giacalone and from the University of Namur under the supervision of Prof. Carmela Aprile. He worked as academic tutor in general chemistry at the University of Palermo from November 2019 to February 2020. His research interests are focused on chemical modification of carbon nanoforms, such as fullerenes, in the field of asymmetric catalysis and on the functionalization of organic-inorganic hybrid material based on polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (poss) for photo-physical applications.