Elisa Borfecchia

UNIVERSITY OF TORINO

Coordinator

Phone :+39011-6707541

e-mail : elisa [dot] borfecchiaunito [dot] it

Prof. Borfecchia obtained her PhD degree in Science and Technology of Materials in 2013, at the University of Turin. During her PhD and afterward, her activity has centered on the application of synchrotron-based techniques to the characterization of nanomaterials and heterogeneous catalysts, using advanced time- and space-resolved methods and in situ/operando X-ray spectroscopies. In the 2016-2018 period she worked as Industrial Researcher, coordinating a joint research project carried out at the University of Turin and the company Haldor Topsøe A/S. In 2018, she has been awarded a Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship to join the Catalysis group at Oslo University. From 2019, she has been Assistant Professor at the Chemistry Dept. of the University of Turin, and from 2022 she is Associate Professor in Physical Chemistry in the same Department.
Prof. Borfecchia has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed papers on international peer-reviewed journals ad conference proceeding papers, as well as  8 book chapters mostly focusing on the applications of synchrotron-based techniques in chemistry and catalysis, cited more than 4500 times in the literature, with h-index of 31 (Google Scholar, 02/2022 - https://scholar.google.it/citations?hl=it&user=Eh3JOegAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&authuser=2).
She has been invited speaker at several international conferences and referee for many international scientific journals, including Nature, Nat. Chem, Nat. Catal., J. Am. Chem. Soc, Angew. Chem. Int. Edit., ACS Catalysis, J. Catal., J. Phys. Chem. C, and Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. Throughout her career, she has proposed and performed more than 60 experiments at international synchrotron sources, mostly at the ESRF but also at Elettra, Soleil, Diamond, MAX II/IV, APS. From 2019 she is member of the PRC of the Photon Science Division of the PSI, in the Hard-XAS sub-committee, while from April 2022 she will join the ESRF Beamtime Allocation Panel, in the sub-panel C11.
She received the 2018 Dale Sayers outstanding young scientist awards for applications of XAFS from the IXAS society and the 2019 ESRF Young Scientist award, in recognition of her achievements in the application of X-ray spectroscopy to study the reactivity of metals sites in catalysts. Since 2020, she is member of the Executive Committee of the Italian Synchrotron Light Society (SILS).
 

Currently, prof. Borfecchia is responsible for courses in physical chemistry, X-ray spectroscopy and characterization of materials for the Bachelor’s Degree Course in Biotechnology (Physical Chemistry, 5 ECTS) and for the Master’s Degree Course in Materials Science (Structural Characterization and Modelling, 4 ECTS; X-ray Spectroscopy for the Characterization of Molecules and Materials, 4 ECTS) at the University of Turin. She commonly gives a one-day lecture about X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (1 ECTS) at the MaMaSELF Summer School.

Research Borfecchia

Prof. Borfecchia’s research interests include the integration of in situ and operando synchrotron techniques (mainly X-ray Absorption and Emission spectroscopies) with laboratory techniques and computational modelling to unravel the local structural and electronic properties of transition metal centres in heterogeneous catalysts. Key investigated systems/processes include Cu-exchanged zeolites for deNOx applications and selective oxidation of methane to methanol, redox-active metal sites in metal organic frameworks, combined catalytic systems for CO2 valorisation. She is also involved in developing innovative experimental setups (e.g., ambient pressure NEXAFS, quasi-simultaneous multi-technique collection) and data analysis methods (e.g., multivariate/statistical analysis, Machine Learning, EXAFS Wavelet Transform Analysis) for X-ray spectroscopy.

Currently, Prof. Borfecchia participates into several international and national research projects, including:
•    H2020 RIA “COZMOS - Efficient CO2 conversion over multisite zeolite-metal nanocatalysts to fuels and olefins” (https://www.aspire2050.eu/cozmos)
•    ERC Synergy “CUBE - Copper Based catalysts for selective C-H activation” (https://www.cube-synergy.eu/)
•    MSCA-ITN “CHASS - Cu-CHA zeolite-based catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx in exhaust diesel gas: addressing the issue of Sulfur Stability” (https://www.chass-itn-project.eu/)

1. Martini, M.; Negri, C.; Bugarin, L.; Deplano, G.; Abasabadi, R.K.; Lomachenko, K. A.; Janssens, T.V.W.; Bordiga, S.; Berlier, G.; Borfecchia, E.*, Assessing the influence of zeolite composition on oxygen-bridged diamino dicopper(II) complexes in Cu-CHA DeNOx catalysts by machine learning-assisted X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2022, 13, 6164–6170.
2. Salusso, D.; Borfecchia, E.*; Bordiga, S., Combining X-ray Diffraction and X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy to unveil Zn local environment in Zn-doped ZrO2 catalysts. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 22249-22261.
3. Negri, C.; Martini, A.; Lomachenko, K. A.; Janssens, T. V. W.; Borfecchia, E.*; Berlier, G.; Bordiga. S., Investigating the role of Cu-oxo species in Cu-nitrates formation over Cu-CHA catalysts. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2021, 23, 18322-18337.
4. Negri, C.; Selleri, T.; Borfecchia, E.; Martini, A.; Lomachenko, K.A.; Janssens, T.V.W.; Cutini, M.; Bordiga, S.; Berlier, G.; Structure and reactivity of oxygen-bridged diamino dicopper (II) complexes in Cu-CHA catalyst for NH3-SCR, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 15884-15896.
5. Martini, A.; Signorile, M.; Negri, C.; Kvande, K.; Lomachenko, K.A.; Svelle, S.; Beato, P.; Berlier, G.; Borfecchia, E.*; Bordiga, S., EXAFS wavelet transform analysis of Cu-MOR zeolites for the direct methane to methanol conversion, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2020, 22, 18950-18963
6. Pappas, D. K.; Martini, A.; Dyballa, M.; Kvande, K.; Teketel, S.; Lomachenko, K. A.; Baran, R.; Glatzel, P.; Arstad, B.; Berlier, G.; Lamberti, C.; Bordiga, S.; Olsbye, U.; Svelle, S.; Beato, P.; Borfecchia, E.*, The nuclearity of the active site for methane to methanol conversion in Cu-mordenite: a quantitative assessment, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2018, 140, 45, 15270-15278.
7. Borfecchia, E.; Beato, P.; Svelle, S.; Olsbye, U.; Lamberti, C.; Bordiga, S., Cu-CHA – a model system for applied selective redox catalysis, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2018, 47, 8097-8133.
8. Pappas, D. K.; Borfecchia, E.*; Dyballa, M.; Pankin, I.; Lomachenko, K. A.; Martini, A.; Signorile, M.; Teketel, S.; Arstad, B.; Berlier, G.; Lamberti, C.; Bordiga, S.; Olsbye, U.; Lillerud, K. P.; Svelle, S.; Beato, P., Methane to methanol: structure-activity relationships for Cu-CHA. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 14961-14975.
9. Martini, A.; Borfecchia, E.*; Lomachenko, K. A.; Pankin, I.; Negri, C.; Berlier, G.; Beato, P.; Falsig, H.; Bordiga, S.; Lamberti, C., Composition-driven Cu-speciation and reducibility in Cu-CHA zeolite catalysts: a multivariate XAS/FTIR approach to complexity. Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 6836-6851.
10. Lomachenko, K. A.; Borfecchia, E.*; Negri, C.; Berlier, G.; Lamberti, C.; Beato, P.; Falsig, H.; Bordiga, S., The Cu-CHA deNOx Catalyst in Action: Temperature-Dependent NH3-Assisted Selective Catalytic Reduction Monitored by Operando XAS and XES. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 12025-12028.