BioPhysics and Materials for Sustainability

Many cells in our tissues are continuously exposed to stretching stimuli and adjust their
behaviour by homeostatic processes if these stimuli change. In this proposal, stretching devices will be
developed in order to expose different cell types (cardiac fibroblasts, cells of the lung and other cells) to
cyclic stretching stimuli coupled with shear stress produced by fluid flow in a microfluidic set-up. The
devices will be characterized using FEA simulations and experimental investigations. In particular, the work
will concentrate on the analysis of the homeostatic reaction of the traction force applied by cells to
changing stimuli. To this aim, the Traction Force Microscopy technique will be implemented in the context
of the stretching devices. At the same time, particular relevance will be given to the live-imaging of the
mechanotrasduction processes from the substrate to the cell nucleus exploiting photolithographic
approaches to introduce confined migration of the cells. Among the different cells models, 3D cell
spheroids will be considered and the wetting properties on different supports will be studied.

Collaborations: Department of Life sciences Unimore, Eldor Lab (INBB Bologna)

References:
[1] A Fully Integrated Arduino-Based System for the Application of Stretching Stimuli to Living Cells and
Their Time-Lapse Observation: A Do-It-Yourself Biology Approach G Ragazzini, J Guerzoni, A Mescola, D Di Rosa, L Corsi, A Alessandrini, Annals of Biomedical Engineering 49 (9), 2243-2259, 2021
[2] The NF-Y splicing signature controls hybrid EMT and ECM-related pathways to promote aggressiveness
of colon cancer, Cancer Letters, Rigillo G et al, Cancer Lett, 2023, 567, 216262.
[3] A benzodiazepine-derived molecule that interferes with the bio-mechanical properties of glioblastoma-
astrocytoma cells altering their proliferation and migration, G Ragazzini, A Mescola, R Tassinari, A Gallerani, C Zannini, D Di Rosa, Claudia Cavallini, Martina Marcuzzi, Valentina Taglioli, Beatrice Bighi, Roberta Ettari, Vincenzo Zappavigna, Carlo Ventura, Andrea Alessandrini, Lorenzo Corsi, International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2025, 26 (6), 2767
[4] Cell stretching devices integrated with live cell imaging: a powerful approach to study how cells react to
mechanical cues, B Bighi, G Ragazzini, A Gallerani, A Mescola, C Scagliarini, C Zannini, Martina Marcuzzi,
Elena Olivi, Claudia Cavallini, Riccardo Tassinari, Michele Bianchi, Lorenzo Corsi, Carlo Ventura, Andrea
Alessandrini, Progress in Biomedical Engineering, 2025, 7 (1), 012005

Understanding the complex tribological processes occurring at the interface of materials is central to pure and applied sciences, as well as to many technological problems, including friction, adhesion, lubrication, wear, contact formation. In particular, the comprehension of the different tribological processes observed moving from the nano- to the macro-scale represents an important challenge. All the processes that may arise from sliding surfaces are strongly dependent on the nature of the involved materials.

1) The sliding between opportunely selected macro-materials can generate an electric current, leading to the development of new electric generators. However, the comprehension of the physico-chemical processes which are at the base of this phenomenon is still under debate, being dependent, among all, on the electrical characteristic of the pair. In this context, different tribo-pairs will be studied to give deeper insights [1,2].

Tutor: Alberto Rota – UNIMORE

2) The synergic effect of nano-objects (graphene, nanodiamonds, nanoscroll) together with C-based bulk materials (DLC) shows excellent properties in terms of extremely low friction and wear, but the mechanism and the role of the boundary conditions are still to be understood [3,4]. The appearance of this super lubricious regime will be studied in different conditions (load, humidity).

Tutor: Alberto Rota – UNIMORE
Co-tutor: Guido Paolicelli – CNR Nano

3) The proposed activity aims at exploring the lubricating properties of MXene nano sheets at the multiscale, starting from their effect at the macro-scale as additive for liquid lubricant, and ending to their fundamental properties at the nano-scale. With this purpose, standard tribometers and friction force AFM will be used, including morphological and chemical characterization techniques [5].

Tutor: Alberto Rota – UNIMORE

References:
[1] Z. Zhang et al “Tribovoltaic Effect: Origin, Interface, Characteristic, Mechanism & Application”, Advanced Sci. 11 (15) 2305460 (2024).
[2] M. Zheng et al “Photovoltaic effect and tribovoltaic effect at liquid-semiconductor interface”, Nano Energy 83 105810 (2021).
[3] D. Berman et al “Macroscale superlubricity enabled by graphene nanoscroll formation”, Science 348 1118 (2015)
[4] Mescola et al “Synergistic effect of graphene and nanodiamonds to achieve ultra-low friction on rough DLC coatings”, Diamond Rel. Mater. 145 111149 (2024).
[5] Rota et al. “Tribological behaviour of Ti3C2Tx nano-sheets: Substrate-dependent tribo-chemical reactions”, Friction 11, 1522 (2024).

The proposed activity stays within the development of technologies devoted to decarbonizing the energy production chain. It is a part of a wider project, addressing a high-value scientific and technological objective: solar-driven water splitting with lower kinetic losses and improved stability of photoactive interfaces. Green hydrogen is one of the cleanest vectors for storing renewable electricity, but the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) remains the most severe bottleneck because it combines slow four- electron proton-coupled chemistry for the generation of O 2 , together to unwanted parasitic pathways such as H 2 O 2 formation. Chirality can be an active design parameter for this problem, allowing to turn off the H 2 O 2 formation and the inefficient channel of O 2 evolution in its singlet state, favouring instead the triplet one. The project aims at exploiting chirality as a quantum-structural handle able to affect spin polarization, exciton delocalization, radical-pair dynamics, charge transfer and catalytic selectivity through the Chiral
Induced Spin Selectivity effect, CISS. Recently it’s possible to carry out X-ray spectroscopy during the device functioning, allowing the access to the microscopic details and to the understanding of the intimate mechanisms: the knowledge needed for performing informed developing. These operando measurements
(X-ray absorption and resonant photoemission spectroscopies) need to be performed at synchrotron
facilities, however activities will be carried out also on-campus, within a close-knit interdisciplinary group
that embraces experimental and theoretical-computational chemists and physicists with different
backgrounds.

References:
[1] M. Bogar et al “Capabilities of a novel electrochemical cell for operando XAS and SAXS investigations for PEM fuel cells and water electrolysers” Journal of Power Sources 615, 235070, (2024)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.235070
[2] A.Nicolini et al “Metal Hydroxide Organic Frameworks (MHOFs) for Oxygen Evolution by Intercalation of
Dicarboxylate Linkers Into β-Ni(OH)2: Impact of Host Crystallinity” ChemCatChem 2025, 17, e00931,
https://doi.org/10.1002/cctc.202500931
[3] “CFD modelling of cathode conditions and membrane crossover flux in PEM water electrolysis” International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 256 127971 (2026) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2025.127971
[4] S.Pollastri et al “ Probing Ni hydroxide and oxyhydroxide: advances from soft and hard X-ray absorption
spectroscopy” in preparation

The development of high-performance p-type metal oxide semiconductors is one of the most critical frontiers in modern electronics. While n-type oxides (like InGaZnO) are widely successful, their p-type counterparts lag significantly behind due to a fundamental electronic bottleneck: the valence band maximum (VBM) is dominated by localized oxygen 2p orbitals, leading to high hole effective mass and low hole mobility.

Current research focuses on two main pillars to overcome this limitation: 
– Doping Strategies: Achieving stable, high-density p-type doping remains challenging. Research investigates novel extrinsic dopants and defect chemistry to suppress self-compensation effects from oxygen vacancies.

– Device Integration: The ultimate goal is realizing energy-efficient complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology entirely based on oxides, enabling next-generation transparent electronics, flexible displays, and robust neuromorphic computing hardware.

The search of reliable p-type semiconductors will be carried out in two steps: starting with theoretical simulation at atomic scale (co-tutoring: Prof. M. Govoni, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia – Department of Physics, Informatics and Mathematics); next, as-simulated p-type semiconductors will be deposited, characterized and employed in this-film flexible electronics.

Envisioned collaboration include: QNTY Electronics (DuPont de Nemours, Inc. group); Free University of Bozen-Bolzano (Italy); IMEC (Belgium); Pragmatic Semiconductor (United Kingdom)

References:
[1]  L Petti, N Münzenrieder, C Vogt, H Faber, L Büthe…, Metal oxide semiconductor thin-film transistors for flexible electronics, Applied Physics Reviews, 2016
[2] E. Fortunato, P. Barquinha, and R. Martins, Oxide semiconductor thin‐film transistors: a review of recent advances, Advanced Materials 24.22 (2012): 2945-2986