Francesco Greco (Post-Doc)

Biography

Francesco Greco received his M.S. degree (with honours) in Materialsfrancesco_greco_fototessera Science in 2004 at the University of Pisa. In January 2009 he obtained his PhD in Chemical Sciences from University of Pisa, School of Doctorate Galileo Galilei, with a work on “Monomer and polymer indole-derived systems having NLO properties for very high optical gain photorefractive materials. The role of the electrostatic interactions”. During his PhD he joined the Macromolecules Group of Prof. Francesco Ciardelli at the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry of the University of Pisa, under the supervision of Prof. A. Colligiani (University of Napoli “Federico II”), Prof. G. Ruggeri and having as an external advisor Prof. V. Schettino (University of Florence). His research interests were primarily involved on synthesis and electro-optic characterization of photoconductive and photorefractive organic materials. In particular, he devoted much of his research efforts towards the comprehension of the complex behaviour of organic photorefractive materials due to electrostatic interactions among highly polar and polarizable  NLO species, through their characterization in an Asymmetric Two-Beam Coupling experiment and through various spectroscopic and calorimetric techniques. In 2006 he also spent some months in SOPRA S.A. Research Laboratories (Bois-Colombes, France) as a guest researcher working on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry of photorefractive organic thin films poled by means of strong electric fields.  Other research interests included Physical Chemistry of  light-responsive polymers, industrial applications of epoxy resins, polyurethanes, elastomers. In May 2009 he joined CRIM Lab (Center of Research in Microengineering) of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, under the supervision of Prof. Paolo Dario. He started working on two different projects on the development of novel nanostructured hydrogen sensors and on Polymeric  Smart Materials for Microactuation and MicroRobotics. In November 2009 he joined IIT  accepting a Post-Doc Junior position at Center for Micro-BioRobotics IIT@SSSA in Pontedera (PI).

He is currently working on Smart Materials Platform in the team leaded by Virgilio Mattoli. His research interests are about the development of novel polymeric, composite, hybrid materials and material systems for microrobotics actuation and biomimetics. His work is mainly focused on the study of conjugated polymers, LC elastomers, EAPs for the development of materials for light/electric field/temperature control of actuation at micro and meso scale. He is starting a new research project on chemical locomotion of miniaturized artifacts.

 

Publications

International Journals

  1. “A very efficient and stable supramolecular organic blend having a very high value of the optical gain for photorefractivity applications”; R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, P. Masi, A. Romano, G. Ruggeri, J.-L. Stehlé, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. (2009), accepted, In Press.
  2. "The Relevance of the Collaborative Effect in Determining the Performances of Photorefractive Polymer Materials" R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, P. Masi, A. Romano, G Ruggeri, CHEMPHYSCHEM (2009), accepted, In Press.
  3. “A confirmation of the importance of the intermolecular interactions on the behaviour of low-Tg photorefractive materials”; R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, P. Masi, A. Romano, G Ruggeri, Appl. Opt. (2009), sent for publication.
  4. “Unconditionally stable indole-derived glass blends having very high photorefractive gain. The role of intermolecular interactions”; R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, P. Masi, A. Romano, G. Ruggeri, J-L Stehlé, Appl. Opt., 47, 6680 (2008).
  5. “An indole-based low molecular weight glass-former giving materials with high cooperative photorefractive optical gain”; R. Angelone, M. Angiuli, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, A. Romano, G. Ruggeri, and E. Tombari, , in Organic Optoelectronics and Photonics II, P. L. Heremans, M. Muccini, E. A. Meulenkamp, eds., Proc. SPIE 6192, 483-494 (2006).
  6. “The photorefractivity of poly-N-vinylindoles-based materials as compared with that of poly-N-vinylcarbazole based blends”; M. Angiuli, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, A. Romano, G. Ruggeri, E. Tombari, Appl. Opt., 45, 7928 (2006).
  7. “Synthesis and electrooptical characterization of polysiloxanes containing indolyl groups acting as photoconductive substrates for photorefractive materials”; R. Angelone, C. Castè, V. Castelvetro, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, A. Mazzotta, G. Ruggeri, e-Polymers, n. 075 (2004).

Communications at conferences

  1. E -MRS 2009 Spring Meeting, June 8-12 2009, Strasbourg (France); “A very efficient and stable supramolecular organic blend having a very high value of the optical gain for photorefractivity applications”, A. Colligiani, P. Masi, A.Romano, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, J.L. Stehle.
  2. E-MRS 2008 Spring Meeting, May 26 – 30 2008, Strasbourg (France); “The study of the intermolecular interactions in indolyl derivatives characterized by very high values of the photorefractive optical gain”,  A. Colligiani, P. Masi, A.Romano, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, J.L. Stehle.
  3. AIM 2007, XVIII Convegno Nazionale Associazione Italiana Macromolecole, 16-20 Settembre 2007, Catania; “The Relevance of the intermolecular interactions to obtain very high photorefractive optical gains in polymer blends”, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, A. Colligiani, F. Greco, P. Masi, A. Romano, G. Ruggeri.
  4. EUROMAT 2007, 10-13 September 2007, Nürnberg (Germany); “The Selection of the Polymer  Component in High-Gain Photorefractive Amorphous Organic Blends by Optimization of the Intermolecular Interactions”, A. Colligiani, P. Masi, A. Romano, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri.
  5. E-MRS 2007 Spring Meeting, May 28 – June 1 2007, Strasbourg (France); “The relevance of the intermolecular interactions in obtaining photorefractive materials with very high optical gain Γ and long shelf lifetime”, A. Colligiani, P. Masi, A.Romano, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri.
  6. XXII Congresso della Società Chimica Italiana- 35° Congresso Nazionale della Divisione di Chimica Fisica,10-15 Settembre 2006, Firenze; “The Intermolecular Cooperative Effect to obtain Glass Materials with Exceptionally High Values of the Photorefractivity and Shelflife Time” A. Colligiani, R. Angelone, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, A. Romano, M. Angiuli, E. Tombari.
  7. E-MRS IUMRS ICEM 2006 Spring Meeting, 29 May -3 June 2006, Nice, France; “Inherently stable and trasparent photorefractive films characterized by unusually high values of the optical gain” A. Colligiani, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, M. Angiuli, E. Tombari.
  8. PHOTONICS Europe – SPIE, 3-7 April 2006, Strasbourg, France; “Indolyl-based high optical gain photorefractive glass films having indefinitely long shelf-life time” A. Colligiani, A. Romano, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, M. Angiuli, E. Tombari.
  9. EUROMAT 2005, 5-8 September 2005, Prague, Czech Republic; “Indole-Based Low-Molecular-Weight Glass-Forming Photorefractive Materials having a High Value of the Optical Gain”, A. Colligiani, A. Romano, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, M. Angiuli, E. Tombari.
  10. E-MRS 2005 Spring Meeting, Strasbourg, May 31 – June 3, 2005; Symposium E. “Very high photorefractive optical gain and cooperative effects of amorphous blends based on poly-N-vinylindoles”, A.Colligiani, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri, M. Angiuli, E. Tombari.
  11. XXXIII Congresso Nazionale Società Chimica Italiana - Divisione di Chimica Fisica,  21 - 25 Giugno 2004, Napoli, Italy; “Polymer-based Photorefractive Blends having High Optical Gain and Long Shelf-life”, A.Colligiani, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri.
  12. 7th International Conference on Nanostructured Materials, June 20 – 24 2004, Wiesbaden, Germany; “Poly-2,3-dimethyl-N-vinylindole as a Valid Alternative to Poly-N-vinylcarbazole in Photorefractive Materials”, A. Colligiani, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri.
  13. E-MRS 2004 Spring Meeting, May 24-28 2004, Strasbourg, France; SYMPOSIUM F: Supramolecular approaches to organic electronics and nanotechnology; “Poly-N-Vinylindoles-Based photorefractive materials: a favourable comparison with poly-N-vinylcarbazole”, A. Colligiani, F. Ciardelli, F. Greco, G. Ruggeri.