Fabiana D'Isanto

Ph.D. in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali , 32nd cycle (2016-2019)

Ph.D. obtained in 2020

Dissertation:

New oxidation protective coatings for thermoelectric materials (Abstract)

Tutors:

Milena Salvo Federico Smeacetto

Research presentation:

Poster

Profile

Research topic

Design and development of oxidation protective glass- ceramic coatings for thermoelectric materials

Research interests

Materials for energy / Materiali per l'energia
Glasses / Vetri
Ceramics / Ceramici

Biography

Studies carried out in Materials Engineering at Politecnico di Torino, where I obtained a bachelor’s degree. During the Master course, I discovered a great interest in the field of advanced ceramics, therefore, for my final thesis, I chose an experimental project based on innovative ceramics for energy-storage. During this research, I worked on the development of various novel electro-ceramics and glass-ceramics. Particular attention was given to the optimization of the synthesis and sintering conditions, which was performed based on the analyses of crystal structure, microstructure and thermal characterization. I developed an extensive experience in powder processing by solid state reaction and in the preparation of glass-ceramics by melt-quenching route. Additionally, I gained confidence in the use of several characterization techniques, including X-Ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Heating Microscopy, Differential Thermal Analysis and Dilatometry.
The intense work carried out during my Master thesis significantly strengthened my knowledge, as well as my confidence and conviction to research in materials science, at the point that I decided to apply for the PhD program on coating and joining of dissimilar materials. The versatility of these techniques and their important implications in offering practical solutions for industrial problems persuaded me to apply for this project. From a preliminary survey, in fact, I realized that joining techniques allow overcoming the limitations of traditional processing methods in the preparation of large size and complex shape objects and therefore they can be useful in different field of applications, including energy, environment, nuclear and aerospace engineering, among others. On the other hand, the development of efficient coating systems is also very important for the protection of the components from the exposure to external agents, which could cause undesired degradation processes (i.e. oxidation).
Areas of research include the design, development and characterization of innovative glass- ceramics for joining and coating ceramic and composite materials, with the purpose of maximizing the adhesion and strength of the interfaces and preventing oxidation at high temperature. One of the main field of interest concerns the manufacturing of glass- based coatings for materials for energy, in particular thermoelectric materials, which have the ability through the Seebeck effect of generating electrical energy in response to a temperature gradient. More recently my research has been focused also on the joining and coating of ceramics and ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) which exhibit excellent high temperature mechanical properties and for this reason they are considered interesting thermo- structural materials for different applications which require extreme high temperatures. Among CMCs, carbon and silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites (C/SiC and SiC/SiC) show great resistance to harsh environments, thermal shock resistance and radiation stability, which makes them potential candidate materials for high temperature applications, such as for examples in the aerospace and nuclear industries.
http://www.composites.polito.it/coatings/joining/2017/04/20/Joining-and-coating-of-thermoelectrics.html

Teaching

Collegi of the degree programmes

Teachings

Master of Science

MostraNascondi A.A. passati

Research

Institute

Supervised PhD students

  • Andrea Baggio. Programme in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali (cycle 37, 2021-in progress)

Publications

Works published during the Ph.D. View all publications in Porto@Iris