Development of innovative ceramic materials for electrocatalysis

The main goal of this work is to synthetize and characterize new and innovative ceramic materials that can be used for energetic catalysis. The work is split in two main branches, the first one focused on TiOxCy ceramics, the second one on Max phases. Both of them appear to be excellent anodic materials for fuel cells, with the first one specifically developed within the European DECORE Project. The titanium oxycarbide was developed to work at the anode of direct ethanol fuel cells because of its predicted stability in acidic and moderate high temperature ambient. The initial requirements that have to be satisfied for the European project were to have a pure powder with high surface area, that can be scaled easily to industrial scale. Several and different paths were used to satisfy and outdo the starting requirements, obtaining a process and the resulting powder that show excellent results in terms of purity, surface area, reproducibility and scalability. All of the requirements were fully satisfied. New catalysts were also synthetized to optimize the efficiency of the anode, using platinum and platinum-tin nanoparticles. Especially the latter showed very promising results, that have to be further analysed with more complete and in-depth experiments. The Max phases are a class of innovative ceramics with nanolamitated structures. They mix the best properties of the ceramics, like acid and high temperature resistance, with the best ones of the metals, as electrical conductivity and malleability. They were studied in the last two decades, but few works aimed to discover their utility in fuel cells. Due to their very promising qualities we tried to produce them for future works aimed to use them as catalyst support. We concentrated our work on Ti3SiC2, Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2 due to their ease of synthesis, but we obtained pure powders barely, so additional and further studies are needed. On that powders, we made a preliminary study on the feasibility of decoration with platinum nanoparticles and on the electrochemical behaviour in mild conditions. The results were promising, but require more experiments

Potential use of human periapical cyst-mesenchymal stem cells (hPCy-MSCs) as a novel stem cell source for regenerative medicine applications

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are attracting growing interest by the scientific community due to their huge regenerative potential. Thus, the plasticity of MSCs strongly suggests the utilization of these cells for regenerative medicine applications. The main issue about the clinical use of MSCs is related to the complex way to obtain them from healthy tissues; this topic has encouraged scientists to search for novel and more advantageous sources of these cells in easily accessible tissues. The oral cavity hosts several cell populations expressing mesenchymal stem cell like-features, furthermore, the access to oral and dental tissues is simple and isolation of cells is very efficient. Thus, oral-derived stem cells are highly attractive for clinical purposes. In this context, human periapical cyst mesenchymal stem cells (hPCy-MSCs) exhibit characteristics similar to other dental-derived MSCs, including their extensive proliferative potential, cell surface marker profile and the ability to differentiate into various cell types such as osteoblasts, adipocytes and neurons. Importantly, hPCy-MSCs are easily collected from the surgically removed periapical cysts; this reusing of biological waste guarantees a smart source of stem cells without any impact on the surrounding healthy tissues. In this review, we report the most interesting research topics related to hPCy-MSCs with a newsworthy discussion about the future insights. This newly discovered cell population exhibits interesting and valuable potentialities that could be of high impact in the future regenerative medicine applications

A Perspective on AI-Based Image Analysis and Utilization Technologies in Building Engineering: Recent Developments and New Directions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a trending topic in many research areas. In recent years, even building, civil, and structural engineering have also started to face with several new techniques and technologies belonging to this field, such as smart algorithms, big data analysis, deep learning practices, etc. This perspective paper collects the last developments on the use of AI in building engineering, highlighting what the authors consider the most stimulating scientific advancements of recent years, with a specific interest in the acquisition and processing of photographic surveys. Specifically, the authors want to focus both on the applications of artificial intelligence in the field of building engineering, as well as on the evolution of recently widespread technological equipment and tools, emphasizing their mutual integration. Therefore, seven macro-categories have been identified where these issues are addressed: photomodeling; thermal imaging; object recognition; inspections assisted by UAVs; FEM and BIM implementation; structural monitoring; and damage identification. For each category, the main new innovations and the leading research perspectives are highlighted. The article closes with a brief discussion of the primary results and a viewpoint for future lines of research

Consumption of energy drinks among Italian University students : a cross-sectional multicenter study

Purpose The aim of the study was to evaluate the caffeinated Energy Drinks (EDs) consumption among a large sample of Italian undergraduates and its association with some of the major lifestyle risk factors. Methods Students attending twelve public Italian universities were involved between October 2021 and May 2022. Information on socio-demographic characteristics, ED consumption, and on health-related behaviors of participants was collected by the use of a web-based questionnaire. Results A total of 2165 students participated in the study and 15.2% of them reported having used caffeinated EDs in the last six months, mainly once a month (41.5%). In comparison with non-users, ED users showed a higher proportion of males (p < 0.001) and a higher father’s educational level (p = 0.003), came mainly from Northern universities (p = 0.004) and life sciences degree courses (p < 0.001). Besides, ED users reported higher BMI values (p = 0.003), more particular dietary regimens (p < 0.001), higher levels of weekly moderate–vigorous physical activity (p < 0.001) and participation in sports (p < 0.001) and in team sports (p = 0.003), and higher proportion of smokers (p < 0.001) and alcohol drinkers (p = 0.005). ED use was negatively related with female gender (OR 0.546; 95% CI 0.374–0.798), the Mediterranean diet (OR 0.587; 95% CI 0.362–0.951) and coming from the center of Italy (OR 0.500; 95% CI 0.275–0.909) and positively associated with tobacco smoke (OR 1.712; 95% CI 1.176–2.492) and participation in a team sport (OR 1.686; 95% CI 1.051–2.707). Conclusion These findings could encourage figures engaged in education to increase the students’ awareness on this issue in order to prevent the excessive use of EDs and associated unhealthy behaviors, especially in the most interested subgroups

Development of innovative ceramic materials for electrocatalysis

The main goal of this work is to synthetize and characterize new and innovative ceramic materials that can be used for energetic catalysis. The work is split in two main branches, the first one focused on TiOxCy ceramics, the second one on Max phases. Both of them appear to be excellent anodic materials for fuel cells, with the first one specifically developed within the European DECORE Project. The titanium oxycarbide was developed to work at the anode of direct ethanol fuel cells because of its predicted stability in acidic and moderate high temperature ambient. The initial requirements that have to be satisfied for the European project were to have a pure powder with high surface area, that can be scaled easily to industrial scale. Several and different paths were used to satisfy and outdo the starting requirements, obtaining a process and the resulting powder that show excellent results in terms of purity, surface area, reproducibility and scalability. All of the requirements were fully satisfied. New catalysts were also synthetized to optimize the efficiency of the anode, using platinum and platinum-tin nanoparticles. Especially the latter showed very promising results, that have to be further analysed with more complete and in-depth experiments. The Max phases are a class of innovative ceramics with nanolamitated structures. They mix the best properties of the ceramics, like acid and high temperature resistance, with the best ones of the metals, as electrical conductivity and malleability. They were studied in the last two decades, but few works aimed to discover their utility in fuel cells. Due to their very promising qualities we tried to produce them for future works aimed to use them as catalyst support. We concentrated our work on Ti3SiC2, Ti2AlC and Ti3AlC2 due to their ease of synthesis, but we obtained pure powders barely, so additional and further studies are needed. On that powders, we made a preliminary study on the feasibility of decoration with platinum nanoparticles and on the electrochemical behaviour in mild conditions. The results were promising, but require more experiments.L'obiettivo principale di questo lavoro è la sintesi e la caratterizzazione di nuovi ed innovativi materiali ceramici che possono essere utilizzati per catalisi energetica. Il lavoro è diviso in due rami principale, il primo focalizzato sulle ceramiche TiOxCy, il secondo sulle Max Phases. Entrambe sembrano essere ottimi supporti anodici per celle a combustibile, con il primo sviluppato espressamente all'interno del progetto europeo DECORE. L'ossicarburo di titanio è stato sviluppato per lavorare all'anodo di celle a combustibile a etanolo per la sua stabilità in ambienti acidi e a medie-alte temperature. Le richieste iniziali da soddisfare per il progetto europeo erano di avere una polvere pura con grande area superficile, che può essere prodotta in grande scala facilmente. Differenti e varie strade sono state percorse per soddisfare e superare gli obiettivi iniziali, ottenendo un processo e una polvere finale che mostrano eccellenti risultati in purità, area superficiale, riproducibilità e scalabilità. Tutte le richieste sono state soddisfatte. Nuovi catalizzatori sono stati sintetizzati per ottimizzare l'efficienza dell'anodo, usando nanoparticelle di platino e di platino-stagno. Le ultime in particolare hanno mostrato risultati promettenti che devono essere analizzati ulteriormente con studi più completi e dettagliati. Le MAX phases sono una classe di ceramici innovativi con strutture nanolaminate. Uniscono le migliori proprietà dei metalli, come la conducibilità elettrica e malleabilità, con quelle dei ceramici, come la resistenza agli acidi e alle alte temperature. Sono state studiate negli ultimi venti anni, ma pochi lavori si sono focalizzati sul loro uso nelle celle a combustibile. Ci siamo concentrati su Ti3SiC2, Ti2AlC e Ti3AlC2 per la loro facilità di sintesi, ma abbiamo ottenuto scarsi risultati. Per questo sono richiesti ulteriori studi. Sulle polveri ottenute abbiamo svolto uno studio preliminare per la decorazione con nanoparticelle di platino e per il comportamento elettrochimico in condizioni blande. I risultati sono incoraggianti, ma richiedono un studio più approfondito

Automatic construction of structural meshes from photographic and laser surveys

The focus of this paper is the analyses of various work pipelines, allowing to manage the transition from in-situ surveys to cloud of points and geometric meshes optimized for structural purposes. This topic is very challenging, and today is almost always performed through homemade, uncontrolled, approaches, requiring the passage of information between numerous codes. These unsupervised workflows often compromise the integrity and the reliability of the results. Here two experimental case studies are reported to check the performances of two pipelines, based on photographic and laser surveys, respectively. The proposed comparison is used to outline significant indications on how properly manage the transformation, in order to create a “true” digital twin of the given structure

Metis naviga verso lo scafo riciclabile!

Il gruppo di studenti universitari M\ue8tisVelaUnipd (www.metisvela.dii.unipd.it), nato nel 2008, si inserisce all\u2019interno del progetto 1001VelaCup (www.1001velacup.eu), che prevede la progettazione, realizzazione e conduzione di scafi a vela da regata per un confronto tra vari atenei italiani ed europei sulla base di un regolamento che impone la lunghezza fuori tutto (4.6 m), la superficie velica complessiva (33 m2) e i materiali utilizzabili, lasciando liberi gli altri parametri di progetto, e favorendo quindi la ricerca di nuove soluzioni creative. La regola principale e pi\uf9 restrittiva riguarda i materiali: il 70% in peso dello scafo deve avere origine animale o vegetale. Le prime due imbarcazionidel gruppo padovano, Argo (2008) e Aura (2009), sono state costruite in legno mentre le due successive, Aret\ue9 (2012) e Ate (2016), sono prodotte con un composito con fibra di lino e core in balsa

Antioxidant activity and sensory properties of an artisanal ice-cream functionalised using extra virgin olive oil

Ice cream is one of the most consumed dairy products in the world, even if it is generally poor in functional ingredients such as polyphenols and vitamin E. This research aimed to improve the nutritional attributes of ice-cream using extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) as a functional ingredient providing known added health benefits (unsaturated fatty acids, biophenolic antioxidants, tocopherols, squalene, phytosterols) and characteristic sensory notes. For this purpose, we investigated the chemical-physical and sensory properties of an artisanal ice-cream made by adding an EVOO characterised by high content of biophenols (420 mg kg-1) and an herbaceous flavour with a moderate bitter taste. A sorbet, where milk is missing, was also produced as a control, to study the possible binding effect of milk proteins toward the natural EVOO phenolic and aroma compounds. The extractability of phenolic compounds and the antioxidant activity of the EVOO-ice-cream was lower compared to the sorbet, suggesting an interaction of polar antioxidants with milk proteins and also some trapping effects of the ice-cream emulsion. The antioxidant activity of the EVOO-ice-cream was 0.8 mmol Trolox L-1, which was lower than that of EVOO (51 mmol L-1). However, the use of EVOO in the ice-cream allowed obtaining an antioxidant activity 5 times higher than a regular ice-cream (~0.2 mmol L-1). The sensory analysis also indicated an attenuation effect of the EVOO bitter-pungent note and herbaceous aroma in ice-cream compared to the sorbet. These findings could lead to the formulation of ice-creams in which EVOO can be used to partially replace the milk fat, so that their nutritional profile is improved and new flavours can be created, without the addition of artificial flavouring agents. However, when EVOO aroma is not desired in ice cream, it can be masked using other ingredients (hazelnut, chocolate, fruits) as natural aromas

Nitrogen and Sulfur Doped Mesoporous Carbon as Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for the in Situ Production of Hydrogen Peroxide

Mesoporous carbons (MCs) are highly porous materials, which offer high surface area and higher electrochemical performance than traditional carbon materials. Doped carbons are particularly interesting materials due to their possible use as metal-free ORR catalysts. In this paper, nitrogen and sulfur doped or co-doped MCs were prepared according to a hard template approach consisting in pyrolysis of powders obtained by liquid impregnation of mesoporous silica with different heterocyclic condensed aromatic precursors. The synthetized MCs show round shaped particles with mesoporosity of 3-4 nm diameter, a BET surface area higher than 850 m2/g and nitrogen and sulfur contents ranging between 3-8 % and 4-14%, respectively. Final doping has been demonstrated by core level photoemission spectra. The effect of the pyrolysis temperature on the physico-chemical properties of the resulting MCs has been investigated as well as the role of the dopant heteroatoms on their catalytic performances towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Electrochemical tests show that both the oxygen-, sulfur- and nitrogen-containing groups can induce an electrocatalytic activity of MCs for ORR. The catalytic activity shows a linear dependence from the nitrogen content and a prevalent 2 electron reduction process leading to the formation of hydrogen peroxide, both in acid and alkaline solution