Inorganic Chemistry Seminar: Professor Claudio Pellecchia, University of Salerno
About the Seminar
Metal Catalyzed Polymerization at the University of Salerno: From Stereoregular Poly(a-olefins) to Biodegradable/Bio-renewable Polymers and Copolymers
Metal-catalyzed polymerizations are by far the largest industrial chemical processes, accounting for most of the 400 million tons/year of plastics produced worldwide. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Salerno (UNISA) was founded 40 years ago by the late Professor Adolfo Zambelli, a former coworker of Giulio Natta at the times of the original discoveries and a pioneer of the mechanistic investigation of the stereospecific polymerization of olefins.
Over the years, research at UNISA has focused on the mechanism of steric control in the polymerization of a-olefins, conjugated dienes and styrene promoted by Ziegler-Natta, metallocene and “post-metallocene” catalysts, and on the synthesis and characterization of novel organometallic complexes and the study of their stoichiometric and catalytic reactions with unsaturated monomers.
Following the increasing socio-economical pressure toward more sustainable plastics, we have directed more and more efforts in the field of polymerization of monomers deriving from renewable sources, using different catalytic techniques, such as Ring Opening Polymerization, to produce bio-based, bio-degradable alternatives to fossil-based polymers.
This seminar will present a journey into the recent research of our group in the field of metal-catalyzed polymerization, addressing how the competences developed for olefin polymerization catalysts can be used as well to respond to the current challenge of plastic sustainability, including the development of bio-based and/or biodegradable polymers and co-polymers, as well as the management of end-of-life plastics through chemical recycling to monomers, in the context of a circular economy. In particular, some recent results will be presented concerning the synthesis of thermoplastic elastomers and thermosets based on poly(lactic acid), that can be subjected to chemical recycling at the end of their life.
About the Speaker
Claudio Pellecchia obtained his doctorate degree (“summa cum laude”) in Industrial Chemistry at the University of Naples in 1984. Following three years as a post-doctoral fellow with Professor Adolfo Zambelli, and several periods at the USX Chemical Research Center (Pittsburgh, USA) as a visiting scientist, he obtained a lecturership at the University of Salerno. In 1998 he was appointed Associate Professor and in 2001 Professor of Inorganic Chemistry. He has founded and directed undergraduate and graduate degree programs in Environmental Science. He is currently Head of the Department of Chemistry and Biology and member of the Academic Senate of the University of Salerno.