Maria Calbi

Our main research interests are in the area of surface physics, especially focused on adsorption processes, i.e., the processes by which particles from gases or liquids are attracted to solid surfaces and stick to them forming different kinds of films. The recent (and continuous) emergence of a variety of novel nanostructures that can act as adsorbents has boosted a remarkable amount of research in this field due to both its practical and fundamental implications: On one hand, the size and morphology of these structures make them especially efficient for gas storage and separation applications, including gas purification, environmental remediation and membrane technologies; on the other hand, particles adsorbed on nanostructures are constrained to be in environments of reduced dimensionality where their behavior can be significantly different from that of bulk matter. Both aspects pose important challenges and questions that our research program aims to address. The theoretical methods and models we use are based on combined approaches from statistical mechanics and chemical physics, including computer simulations. Particular efforts are made to formulate models that provide a fundamental understanding of the investigated phenomena, allowing at the same time direct comparison with experimental results. Some of our ongoing research projects include: Adsorption kinetics and transport in nanoporous structures, adsorption of polyatomic molecules on carbon nanotube bundles, and adsorption behavior in nanohorn aggregates.