Associate Professor (L. 240)
Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT)
- Member of Interdepartmental Center CWC - CleanWaterCenter@PoliTo
Profile
Research interests
Biography
Simelys Hernández got the degree in Chemical Engineering, with highest honors (Lode) at both Politecnico di Torino (Polito, Turin, Italy) and at Universidad Central de Venezuela (Caracas, Venezuela) in 2004 and completed her PhD in Chemical Engineering at Polito in November 2009. She has been Assistant Professor (RTD-B) of the courses of Catalysis for the Energy and the Environment, Industrial Chemistry, Green Chemistry Products and Processes, and Photo-Electro-Catalytic Technologies for a Sustainable Chemical Industry at the DISAT department (Polito) and, from February 2021, she will Associated Professor leading a course on Oil & Gas Processing. She is responsible of the research team: CO2 reduction for a low-carbon economy (CREST group). She is collaborator at the CSFT of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT@Polito), member of the RSC, MRS, ISE and SCI (Electrochemical Division). She is technical coordinator of the EU H2020 project SunCoChem (https://suncochem.eu/), principal investigator of the H2020 project OCEAN (https://www.spire2030.eu/ocean), vice-coordinator of the EU H2020 project RECODE (https://www.recodeh2020.eu/) and has worked in the coordination and scientific teams of other EU Projects (CELBICON, SOLHYDROMICS, MCWAP, ArtipHyction, ECO2CO2 and TERRA) related to the development of Novel Sustainable Photo-Electro-Chemical Processes for the capture and conversion of the CO2 from lab-scale (TRL2/3) to Pilot scale (TRL5/6). She is Associate Editor of the Journals Frontier in Chemistry (section Catalysis and Photocatalysis) and Nanomaterials (mdpi). She is reviewer of high-level international scientific journals such as Nature Catalysis, Appl. Cat. B: Environm., Adv. Energy Mat., ChemSusChem and Green Chemistry, among others.
Scientific branch
(Area 0009 - Industrial and information engineering)
Research topics
- Development and scale-up of catalysts, electrodes and photo-electro-chemical reactors for the CO2 conversion and green hydrogen production.
- Development of electrocatalytic and photocatalytic systems for the conversion of CO2 to commercial products, production of energy carriers (e.g. H2) and for pollutants abatement.
Skills
ERC sectors
SDG
Fellowships
- Effective member - Società Chimica Italiana, Italia (2018-)
Editorial boards
- NANOMATERIALS (2020-2021), Guest Editor of magazine or editorial series
- CRYSTALS (2020-2021), Guest Editor of magazine or editorial series
- MATERIALS SCIENCE IN SEMICONDUCTOR PROCESSING (2017-2018), Guest Editor of magazine or editorial series
- FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY (2017-), Director
- FRONTIERS IN CHEMISTRY (2017-), Associate Editor of magazine or editorial series
Teaching
Collegi of the PhD programmes
- INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2024/2025 (40. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO - INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2023/2024 (39. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO - INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2022/2023 (38. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO - INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2021/2022 (37. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO - INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2020/2021 (36. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO - INGEGNERIA CHIMICA, 2019/2020 (35. ciclo)
Politecnico di TORINO
Collegi of the degree programmes
- Collegio di Ingegneria Chimica e dei Materiali. Componente invitato
- Collegio di Ingegneria Elettrica ed Energetica. Componente invitato
- Collegio di Ingegneria per l'Ambiente e il Territorio. Componente
Teachings
PhD
- Photo-Electro-Catalytic Technologies for a Sustainable Chemical Industry: Fundamentals and Applications. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA. Main teacher
- Photo-Electro-Catalytic Technologies for a Sustainable Chemical Industry: Fundamentals and Applications. A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA. Main teacher
- Photocatalysis: Fundamentals and Applications. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA. Teaching assistant
- Photo-Electro-Catalytic Technologies for a Sustainable Chemical Industry & in-situ microscopy/spectroscopic to study new photo-electrocatalyst materials (didattica di eccellenza). A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA. Main teacher
Master of Science
- Operazioni Unitarie nei processi chimici industriali. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Oil&Gas processing and surface facilities. A.A. 2024/25, GEORESOURCES AND GEOENERGY ENGINEERING. Titolare del corso
- Multiphase chemical reactors for sustainable processes. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Fixation and recycle of CO2 for greenhouse effect mitigation. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Catalisi per l'ambiente e l'energia. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Operazioni Unitarie nei processi chimici industriali. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA ENERGETICA E NUCLEARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Oil&Gas processing and surface facilities. A.A. 2023/24, GEORESOURCES AND GEOENERGY ENGINEERING. Titolare del corso
- Fixation and recycle of CO2 for greenhouse effect mitigation. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Catalisi per l'ambiente e l'energia. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Oil&Gas processing and surface facilities. A.A. 2022/23, GEORESOURCES AND GEOENERGY ENGINEERING. Titolare del corso
- Petroleum technology. A.A. 2021/22, PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING (INGEGNERIA DEL PETROLIO E MINERARIA). Titolare del corso
- Fixation and recycle of CO2 for greenhouse effect mitigation. A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Catalisi per l'ambiente e l'energia. A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Fondamenti di impianti biochimici. A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Petroleum technology. A.A. 2020/21, PETROLEUM AND MINING ENGINEERING (INGEGNERIA DEL PETROLIO E MINERARIA). Titolare del corso
- Catalisi per l'ambiente e l'energia. A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Fondamenti di impianti biochimici. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
- Catalisi per l'ambiente e l'energia. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E DEI PROCESSI SOSTENIBILI. Collaboratore del corso
Bachelor of Science
- Impianti per l'industria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Impianti per l'industria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Laboratorio di processi dell'industria alimentare I. A.A. 2021/22, TECNOLOGIE PER L'INDUSTRIA MANIFATTURIERA (CORSO PROFESSIONALIZZANTE). Titolare del corso
- Impianti per l'industria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Impianti per l'industria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Impianti per l'industria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica industriale. A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
Research
Institute
Research groups/teams
Laboratories
Research projects
Projects funded by competitive calls
- ENDURION: Efficient and Durable Pressurised Anion Exchange Membrane Electrolyser with Novel Triple-Boundary and Stack Designs, (2025-2028) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - JTI - Clean Hydrogen - CSP - Trapezio - WASTE4VALUE: Innovative bio-based chains for NLBM waste valorization to added-value chemicals and polymers, (2024-2024) - Responsabile Scientifico
Corporate-funded and donor-funded research - SuPERCO2 - Surface Polarization, Evolution, and Reconstruction for CO2 Reduction, (2024-2026) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - HE - Excellent Science - MSCA - interface - AtomIc scale eNgineering of metal halide perovskiTEs suRFace towards exceptionally stAble and highly seleCtive photoElectrodes for CO2 conversion into fuels, (2023-2025) - Responsabile Scientifico
Nationally funded research - PRIN - CO2Synthesis - CO2-based electro-synthesis of high added-value products by smart designed electrocatalysts, (2022-2024) - Responsabile Scientifico
Corporate-funded and donor-funded research - SunCoChem - CE-NMBP-25-2019, (2020-2024) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - H2020 - Industrial Leadership – LEIT - NANOTECHNOLOGIES - OCEAN - SPIRE-10-2017, (2017-2021) - Responsabile Scientifico
UE-funded research - H2020 - Cross-cutting activities - IND
Projects funded by commercial contracts
- Feasibility studies on CO2 capture solvents as electrolytes for CO2 reduction, (2023-2024) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research - Stable Noble-Metal-Free Oxygen Evolution Electrodes for PEM Electrolysis , (2022-2023) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research - Validazione di un assemblaggio membrana-elettrodo con una membrana anionica per la produzione di H2, (2022-2022) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research - Riduzione della CO2 a metanolo, (2021-2022) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research - Studio relativo al sistema foto-elettro-catalitico per la conversione dell’acqua e la CO2 a H2 e altri prodotti sostenibili, (2020-2020) - Responsabile Scientifico
Consulting - Riduzione della CO2 e Metanolo per vie Elettrocatalitica e Termocatalitica: Ottimizzazione di Catalizzatori e Confronto Energetico e di Performance fra i due Processi, (2019-2020) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research - CO2 Meta, (2019-2019) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research
Supervised PhD students
- Miguel Amaro Ferreira. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (40th cycle, 2024-in progress)
- Matteo Ginepro. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (40th cycle, 2024-in progress)
- Fehad Nabi Khan. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (40th cycle, 2024-in progress)
- Giulia Cuatto. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (38th cycle, 2022-in progress)
- Mario Gallone. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (37th cycle, 2021-in progress)
Thesis: Coupling electrochemical CO2 reduction with hydroformylation reactions in Ionic Liquid-based electrolytes: Feasibility and Stability assessment - Noemi Pirrone. Programme in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali (37th cycle, 2021-in progress)
Thesis: Electrochemical Reduction of Nitrogenous Compounds to Ammonia and Organonitrogen Fertilizers - Francesco Vanzetti. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (37th cycle, 2022-in progress)
- Federica Zammillo. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (37th cycle, 2021-in progress)
Thesis: Electrochemical conversion of CO2 on Gas Diffusion Electrodes: bridging the gap between research and industrial application - Alessia Fortunati. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (35th cycle, 2019-2023)
Thesis: Electrochemical CO2 reduction in ionic and poly-ionic liquids-based systems - Maddalena Zoli. Programme in Ingegneria Chimica (35th cycle, 2019-2023)
Thesis: Development and advanced characterization of Cu-based catalysts for the electro and photo-electrocatalytic CO2 reduction
Publications
Publications by type
PoliTO co-authors
Last years publications
Latest publications View all publications in Porto@Iris
- Gutiérrez-Roa, M.; Sebastián, D.; Guzmán, H.; Zammillo, F.; Gallone, M.; Hernández, S.; ... (2025)
Tuning the activity and selectivity of CuPt/C catalysts for the electrochemical CO2 reduction. In: JOURNAL OF CO2 UTILIZATION, vol. 95. ISSN 2212-9820
Contributo su Rivista - Gallone, Mario; Fortunati, Alessia; Hernández, Simelys (2025)
Assessing the CO2 Capture and Electro-Reduction in Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids: Role of the Ion Exchange Membrane. In: CATALYSTS, vol. 15. ISSN 2073-4344
Contributo su Rivista - Vanzetti, Francesco; Guzmán, Hilmar; Hernández, Simelys (2025)
Solid-State Reaction Synthesis of CoSb2O6-Based Electrodes Towards Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Acidic Electrolytes: Effects of Calcination Time and Temperature. In: CATALYSTS, vol. 15, pp. 1-13. ISSN 2073-4344
Contributo su Rivista - Di Francia, E.; Guzman, H.; Pugliese, D.; Hernandez, S.; Tulliani, J. -M. (2024)
Nanostructured Cu/Zn/Al-based oxide as a new sensing material for NO2 detection. In: SENSORS AND ACTUATORS. B, CHEMICAL, vol. 420. ISSN 0925-4005
Contributo su Rivista - GARCIA BALLESTEROS, Sara; Pirrone, Noemi; Hernandez, Simelys; Bella, Federico (2024)
Green Ammonia Electrosynthesis From Nitrate-Polluted Waters. In: 245th ECS Meeting, San Francisco (USA), 26-30/05/2024
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Dattila, Federico; Fortunati, Alessia; Zammillo, Federica; Guzmán, Hilmar; López, Núria; ... (2024)
Descriptors for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction in Imidazolium-Based Electrolytes. In: ACS CATALYSIS, vol. 14, pp. 16166-16174. ISSN 2155-5435
Contributo su Rivista - GARCIA BALLESTEROS, Sara; Pirrone, Noemi; Hernández, Simelys; Bella, Federico (2023)
Electrochemical Nitrogen and Nitrate Reduction Reactions on a MoS2 Catalyst: Towards a Sustainable Production of Ammonia and Fertilizers. In: Materials for Sustainable Development Conference (MATSUS23), Torremolinos (Spain), 16th to the 20th October 2023
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - GARCIA BALLESTEROS, Sara; Pirrone, Noemi; Hernández, Simelys; Bella, Federico (2023)
Aqueous electrolyte effect on the electrochemical green ammonia production. In: FARADAY DISCUSSIONS: Sustainable Nitrogen Activation, Lodon (UK), 27 - 29 March 2023. ISBN: 978-1-83767-090-1
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - GARCIA BALLESTEROS, Sara; Pirrone, Noemi; Hernández, Simelys; Bella, Federico (2023)
Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction Reaction on a MoS2 Catalyst: Exploring Aqueous Electrolytes. In: 74th Annual ISE Meeting, Lyon (Fance), 3 to 8 September 2023
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Pirrone, Noemi; GARCIA BALLESTEROS, Sara; Hernández, Simelys; Bella, Federico (2023)
Green ammonia electrosynthesis in aqueous electrolyte: a preliminary study. In: Second Enerchem School, Florence (Italy), 13-17 February 2023
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding)
Society and Enterprise
Patents and other intellectual properties
- Poly-ionic liquids for CO2 electrochemical conversion. international Patent
Inventors: Simelys Pris Hernandez Ribullen