Federico Bella awarded for innovative contribution to the field of electrochemistry

Professor Federico Bella (Electrochemistry Group at DISAT) is the winner of the “Tajima Prize” awarded annually by the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). This is one of the 14 prestigious awards assigned by ISE to outstanding electrochemists, and it is addressed to an under-40 chemist for cutting-edge contributions in the field of electrochemistry, i.e. the branch of chemistry focusing on the relationship between electrical potential difference and identifiable chemical reactions.

The jury has motivated the Tajima Prize assignment to Professor Bella for his innovative work in the field of advanced photoelectrochemical cells and post-lithium batteries. Indeed, he is a very active researcher working on materials chemistry approaches for electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices, from batteries to solar cells, from supercapacitors to electrocatalytic reactors. Along with his team, he has launched the first Italian research platform on potassium batteries, an emerging technology aiming at storing at low price the electricity produced by renewables. Furthermore, Prof. Bella’s team is exploring new strategies for the electrochemical production of fertilizers and solar fuels by nitrogen species reduction; this represents a milestone activity within the ecological and energy transition of the industrial chemistry.

The awarding scientific society, i.e. ISE, was founded in 1949 by leading European and American electrochemists with the aim of making electrochemistry a modern scientific discipline, will therefore host a lecture by Professor Bella at the 2024 international conference in Montreal, Canada. At the event, Federico Bella will be celebrated by the association's members, around 3000 from more than 70 countries, for his recognised merits in the development of the discipline.