Monica Santamaria

Monica Santamaria was born in 1973 in Licata (Italy). She held a M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering at University of Palermo (1997) and a Ph.D. (2001) in Electrochemical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano under the supervision of Prof. Francesco Di Quarto.

In 2010 she became Full Professor of Applied Electrochemistry at Department of Engineering of University of Palermo where she runs the Applied Electrochemistry research group with currently 15 researchers and Ph.D. students.

Her research deals with the use of photoelectrochemistry in the characterization of electronic properties of passive films and corrosion layers, as well as of oxides for advanced technological applications in the field of electronics or energy conversion and storage. Moreover, her research activity deals also with low temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells and electrochemical treatments for surface functionalization. More recently, she started working in the field of (photo)-electrochemical processes for high value added chemical and green hydrogen production.

Monica Santamaria has published more than 140 peer-reviewed publications, 8 book chapters and has an h-factor of 27. In 2006, she has been awarded the Hans-Jürgen Engell prize by International Society of Electrochemistry for her contribution on Electrodeposition, Corrosion and Surface Treatments. She was awarded a prestigious Fellowship for Research in Japan by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (June 2019) for her contributions in the advancement on Anodizing Science and Technology.

Monica Santamaria served as Vice President of Electrochemistry Division of Italian Chemical Society for the three-year period 2017 - 2019. She is now Past Chair of Division 4 “Electrochemical Materials Science” of the International Society of Electrochemistry. She has organized or co-organized fifteen symposia and conferences between 2012 and 2021, among them ten Symposia on ISE Annual Meetings.