Solid Catalysts for the Upgrading of Renewable Sources

 Nicoletta Ravasio, Ph.D., Received her degree in Chemistry from University of Milano in 1982 and her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bari (Italy) in 1987. She has been a Senior research Fellow at ISTM-CNR, Milano since 2001. Her activity is mainly devoted to the use of heterogeneous catalysis in organic synthesis and in renewable raw materials transformation, with special emphasis on vegetable oils and terpenes. In particular, she developed several selective hydrogenation and dehydrogenation processes based on supported Cu catalysts thanks to a particular preparation method that allows one to obtain very small Cu crystallites. Such nanoparticles can also show acidic properties and this dual nature of the metal particle can be exploited for the set-up of bifunctional processes to produce fine chemicals or biofuels, reducing the number of synthetic steps. She also investigates the use of amorphous solid acids, particularly showing Lewis character, for the sustainable synthesis of fine chemicals or oleochemicals. 

Federica Zaccheria, Ph.D., Received her degree in Organic Chemistry in 1998 from the University of Milan and her PhD in Industrial Chemistry in 2002. She is currently a Research Scientist at the Institute of Molecular Science and Technology of CNR in Milan. Presently, her main research topic is heterogeneous catalysis applied to the synthesis of fine chemicals and to renewable materials selective transformations. Research activity has been mainly focused on the study of heterogeneous nontoxic and non-noble catalysts as substitutes of traditional stoichiometric reagents for organic synthesis and on the development of solid catalysts for the upgrade of renewable sources, such as vegetable oils and cellulose. Now, a great part of the work is also devoted to the use of agro-industrial wastes and by-products for the preparation of chemicals and materials.