Research Patrizio Raffa

Patrizio Raffa obtained his Ph.D in Chemistry in 2009 from the prestigious Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa (Italy), working on synthesis  and applications of metal nanoparticles.

He pursued post-doctoral research in polymeric materials in Pisa until 2011, and then at the University of Groningen until 2016. As of January 2017 he is an assistant professor at the University of Groningen in the group of professor Francesco Picchioni.

His main research line focusses on the design of new (biobased) polymeric materials with tailored structures, optimized for industrial applications. Particular emphasis is given to relevant fields, such as:

enhanced oil recovery

preparation of detergents, coatings and products for agriculture, cosmetics and industries

composite materials with sensing and/or actuation properties

Structural control is achieved through the use of controlled radical polymerization techniques, such as ATRP and RAFT. This allows the establishment of clear structure-properties relationships, which are very interesting from a fundamental point of view and are also crucial to match the desired requirements for a given application.

Currently, the exploitation of monomers derived from natural sources is under investigation with the goal of designing more sustainable polymeric products for industrial uses.

Other systems under study include rubbers and thermosets characterized by thermal reversibility.