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Surname: 
Cantarella
Firstname: 
Maria
Position: 
Temporary
Profile: 
Researcher
Phone: 
0953785310
Activity: 
Realization of polymer nanocomposites with photocatalytic properties for application in water treatment. Synthesis of molecularly imprinted materials (polymers or inorganic semiconductors) for the recognition and the removal of organic pollutants.
Curriculum: 

Maria Cantarella attained her Master Degree in Materials Chemistry with full marks (110/110 cum laude) at the University of Catania in 2011. She worked with a fellowship at the CNR-IPCB institute of Catania since September 2012 to December 2013. In January 2014, she started the Ph.D. course in Materials Science and Nanotechnology at the University of Catania and CNR-IMM. During this period, her research activity was focused on the realization of photocatalytic polymer nanocomposites for water treatment. Furthermore, she spent part of her PhD course at Linnaeus University (Kalmar, Sweden), with an Erasmus grant, working on the synthesis and characterization of molecularly imprinted polymers for the removal of emerging contaminants from water. She attained the Ph.D. (cum laude) in March 2017. Currently, she is a post-doc at the CNR-IMM, working on the synthesis of molecularly imprinted materials. 

She has a remarkable expertise in several characterization techniques and methodology, such as photodegradation tests, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical measurements, contact angles measurements, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), total organic carbon analysis (TOC), flow-injection quartz crystal microbalance analysis (QCM).

She gave several oral contributions to national and international conferences, in particular she held one invited presentation at the XVI Brazilian-MRS.  She received one Young Scientist Award by the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS).

Maria Cantarella is author or co-author of several articles, published in international referred scientific journals. She is reviewer of several international scientific journals.

Scientific Productions

Massimo Zimbone, Maria Cantarella, Federico Giuffrida, Francesco La Via, Vittorio Privitera, Enrico Napolitani, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Laser crystallization of amorphous TiO2 on polymer

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing [Pergamon], Volume: 157 Pages: 107328

Massimo Zimbone, Maria Cantarella, Gianfranco Sfuncia, Giuseppe Nicotra, Vittorio Privitera, Enrico Napolitani, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Low-temperature atomic layer deposition of TiO2 activated by laser annealing: Applications in photocatalysis

Applied Surface Science [North-Holland], Volume: 596 Pages: 153641

Giuliana Gorrasi, Gianluca Viscusi, Giusy Curcuruto, Maria Cantarella, Alessandro Di Mauro, Paola Bernardo, Gabriele Clarizia, Andrea A Scamporrino, Sabrina Carroccio

EVA Films Loaded with Layered Double Hydroxide (LDH) Modified with Methacrylic Anion: Effect of the Nanohybrid Filler on the Photodegradation Phenomena

Polymers [Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute], Volume: 13 Issue: 15 Pages: 2525

Massimo Zimbone, Maria Cantarella, Giuliana Impellizzeri, Sergio Battiato, Lucia Calcagno

Synthesis and Photochemical Properties of Monolithic TiO2 Nanowires Diode

Molecules [Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute], Volume: 26 Issue: 12 Pages: 3636

Luigi Scrimieri, Luciano Velardi, Antonio Serra, Daniela Manno, Francesca Ferrari, Maria Cantarella, Lucio Calcagnile

Enhanced adsorption capacity of porous titanium dioxide nanoparticles synthetized in alkaline sol

Applied Physics A [Springer Berlin Heidelberg], Volume: 126 Issue: 12 Pages: 1-8

Elena Maria Scalisi, Antonio Salvaggio, Francesco Antoci, Antonio Messina, Roberta Pecoraro, Maria Cantarella, Giuliana Gorrasi, Giuliana Impellizzeri, Maria Violetta Brundo

Toxicity assessment of two-dimensional nanomaterials molybdenum disulfide in Gallus gallus domesticus

Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety [Academic Press], Volume: 200 Pages: 110772

Roberto Fiorenza, Alessandro Di Mauro, Maria Cantarella, Antonino Gulino, Luca Spitaleri, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Molecularly imprinted N-doped TiO2 photocatalysts for the selective degradation of o-phenylphenol fungicide from water

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing [Pergamon], Volume: 112 Pages: 105019

Roberto Fiorenza, Alessandro Di Mauro, Maria Cantarella, Carmelo Iaria, Elena Maria Scalisi, Maria Violetta Brundo, Antonino Gulino, Luca Spitaleri, Giuseppe Nicotra, Sandro Dattilo, Sabrina Carola Carroccio, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Preferential removal of pesticides from water by molecular imprinting on TiO2 photocatalysts

Chemical Engineering Journal [Elsevier], Volume: 379 Pages: 122309

Roberto Fiorenza, Alessandro Di Mauro, Maria Cantarella, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Selective photodegradation of 2, 4-D pesticide from water by molecularly imprinted TiO2

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry [Elsevier], Volume: 380 Pages: 111872

Maria Cantarella, Sabrina C Carroccio, Sandro Dattilo, Roberto Avolio, Rachele Castaldo, Concetto Puglisi, Vittorio Privitera

Molecularly imprinted polymer for selective adsorption of diclofenac from contaminated water

Chemical engineering journal [Elsevier], Volume: 367 Pages: 180-188

M Zimbone, G Cacciato, M Boutinguiza, A Gulino, M Cantarella, V Privitera, MG Grimaldi

Hydrogenated black-TiOx: A facile and scalable synthesis for environmental water purification

Catalysis Today [Elsevier], Volume: 321 Pages: 146-157

Maria Cantarella, Giuliana Gorrasi, Alessandro Di Mauro, Mario Scuderi, Giuseppe Nicotra, Roberto Fiorenza, Salvatore Scirè, Maria Elena Scalisi, Maria Violetta Brundo, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Mechanical milling: a sustainable route to induce structural transformations in MoS 2 for applications in the treatment of contaminated water

Scientific reports [Nature Publishing Group], Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-14

Martina Ussia, Mario Urso, Maria Miritello, Elena Bruno, Giusy Curcuruto, Daniele Vitalini, Guglielmo G Condorelli, Maria Cantarella, Vittorio Privitera, Sabrina C Carroccio

Hybrid nickel-free graphene/porphyrin rings for photodegradation of emerging pollutants in water

RSC advances [Royal Society of Chemistry], Volume: 9 Issue: 52 Pages: 30182-30194

Maria Cantarella, Alessandro Di Mauro, Antonino Gulino, Luca Spitaleri, Giuseppe Nicotra, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Selective photodegradation of paracetamol by molecularly imprinted ZnO nanonuts

Applied Catalysis B: Environmental [Elsevier], Volume: 238 Pages: 509-517

M Zimbone, G Cacciato, M Boutinguiza, A Gulino, M Cantarella, V Privitera, MG Grimaldi

Hydrogenated black-TiOx: a Facile and Scalable Synthesis for Environmental Water Purification

Catalysis Today [Elsevier],

M Cantarella, G Impellizzeri, V Privitera

Functional nanomaterials for water purification

La Rivista del Nuovo Cimento [Società Italiana di Fisica], Volume: 40 Pages: 595-632

Alessandro Di Mauro, Maria Cantarella, Giuseppe Nicotra, Giovanna Pellegrino, Antonino Gulino, Maria Violetta Brundo, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Novel synthesis of ZnO/PMMA nanocomposites for photocatalytic applications

Scientific reports [Nature Publishing Group], Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Pages: 1-12

Maria Elena Fragalà, Alessandro Di Mauro, Domenico A. Cristaldi, Maria Cantarella, Giuliana Impellizzeri, Vittorio Privitera

ZnO nanorods grown on ultrathin ZnO seed layers: Application in water treatment

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry [], Volume: 332 Pages: 497-504

Alessandro Di Mauro, Maria Cantarella, Giuseppe Nicotra, Vittorio Privitera, Giuliana Impellizzeri

Low temperature atomic layer deposition of ZnO: Applications in photocatalysis

Applied Catalysis B: Environmental [Elsevier], Volume: 196 Pages: 68-76

Maria Cantarella, Ruy Sanz, Maria Antonietta Buccheri, Francesco Ruffino, Giancarlo Rappazzo, Silvia Scalese, Giuliana Impellizzeri, Lucia Romano, Vittorio Privitera

Immobilization of nanomaterials in PMMA composites for photocatalytic removal of dyes, phenols and bacteria from water

Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry [Elsevier], Volume: 321 Pages: 1-11

Maria Cantarella, Ruy Sanz, Maria Antonietta Buccheri, Lucia Romano, Vittorio Privitera

PMMA/TiO 2 nanotubes composites for photocatalytic removal of organic compounds and bacteria from water

Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing [Pergamon], Volume: 42 Pages: 58-61

Cristina Tudisco, Valentina Oliveri, Maria Cantarella, Graziella Vecchio, Guglielmo G Condorelli

Cyclodextrin anchoring on magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles modified with phosphonic linkers

European Journal of Inorganic Chemistry [WILEY‐VCH Verlag], Volume: 2012 Issue: 32 Pages: 5323-5331