Description
Research project description
Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is attracting increasing interest as a technology for freshwater production by exploiting the large amounts of water vapour residing in the atmosphere at any time. Among the approaches proposed, the use of metal-organic frameworks MOFs for sorbent-based processes has shown promise for application in arid regions, i.e., with relative humidity (RH) below 20%. To enhance the energy efficiency of the water harvesting cycle, the affinity between the sorbent and water must be fine-tuned, finding an ideal trade-off between the ability to uptake large amounts of water and a mild heat of water adsorption.
In this project, the affinity of the MOF’s internal surface for water will be tuned by modifying the inorganic part of the framework to combine large working capacity and low energy penalty for regeneration. The project involves the synthesis and post-synthetic modification of MOFs, their structural characterisation with diffraction techniques and the characterisation of their water adsorption behaviour using gas/vapour sorption analysis and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Research group
The Modular Framework Materials Chemistry (MoFMatCh) Laboratory, led by Prof. Marco Taddei, is hosted by the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry (https://mofmatch.dcci.unipi.it/). The group has a strong expertise in the synthesis of innovative and cost-effective porous materials for application as solid sorbents for gas separations: metal-organic frameworks for post-combustion CO2 capture, biogas upgrading and water harvesting, polymeric sorbents for direct air capture of CO2. The research activity of MoFMatCh Lab is supported by the following equipment:
- State-of-the-art laboratories for synthesis;
- Powder X-ray diffractometer, infrared spectrometer, UV-Vis spectrometer;
- Access to shared instruments (elemental analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, liquid state nuclear magnetic resonance, inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectroscopy; https://www.dcci.unipi.it/organizzazione.html)
- Access to UniPi Center for Instrument Sharing, including single crystal X-ray diffraction, gas and vapour sorption analysis, solid state nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning and transmission electron microscopy (https://cisup.unipi.it/).
The project also involves a secondment to the Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds of the National Research Council (ICCOM-CNR) to perform solid state nuclear magnetic studies under the supervision of Dr. Lucia Calucci.
Eligibility criteria
Applicants must have a PhD degree at the time of the deadline for applications (10th September 2025). Applicants who have successfully defended their doctoral thesis but who have not yet formally been awarded the doctoral degree will also be considered eligible to apply.
At the call deadline, the applicant must have a maximum of 8 years experience in research, from the date of the award of their PhD degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks will not count towards the above maximum, nor will years of experience in research in third countries, for nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries who wish to reintegrate to Europe.
Mobility Rule: The applicant may be of any nationality (European Fellowships) or nationals or long-term residents of EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries (Global Fellowships) but must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Italy (for European Fellowships) or the host organisation for the outgoing phase (in case of Global Fellowship) for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately before 10th September 2025.
Application procedure
Expressions of interest must be sent by email to marco.taddei@unipi.it no later than May 9th, 2025 and must consist of two pdf files:
- Complete and updated CV, clearly demonstrating all 3 eligibility requirements.
- Motivation letter, maximum one page.
