Fixed-term assistant professor
Department of Applied Science and Technology (DISAT)
Profile
Research interests
Biography
Graduated with honors in Chemical Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (1997), where she also earned a Ph.D. in Industrial Chemical Processes (2002). After graduation, she worked for Procter & Gamble in Italy and Belgium (1998–2003), and from 2003 to 2005 for General Electric (Netherlands and Spain), where she took part in the Edison Engineering Development Program, a two-year leadership program for young talents. During this time, she carried out process engineering projects in technical centers, pilot plants, and polycarbonate production sites, while also receiving advanced training in technical fields (Six Sigma, Design of Experiments) and managerial skills (project management, leadership, business skills). From 2006 to 2008, she completed a Master of Advanced Studies in Nano and Microtechnologies at the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland and began a postdoctoral fellowship at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where she remained until 2010, working on the development of polymer composites and nanocomposites for photovoltaic and automotive applications. After a maternity break and a short collaboration with CSEM (Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology) on inorganic coatings obtained through sol-gel processes, in 2013 she was awarded a Marie Heim-Vögtlin grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The project, carried out at EPFL (2013–2015), focused on the development of piezoelectric composites with a fluoropolymer matrix. She continued at EPFL until 2017 as a postdoc, working on fiber-reinforced polymer composites with thermoplastic and thermosetting matrices for applications in high-volume automotive production and the wind energy sector. In 2017, she was a research fellow at the Polytechnic University of Turin, contributing to the “Glass & Co.” project on materials for protecting glass from stress corrosion. In 2018, she was awarded a Marie Curie Individual Fellowship for the “ComBIOsites” project (2018–2020), dedicated to the development of sustainable and recyclable composite materials for packaging. Since 2021, she has been an Assistant Professor (fixed-term, type A) at the Polytechnic University of Turin. Her research focuses on the development of environmentally friendly thermosetting polymeric and composite materials, based on biomass-derived precursors and reinforcements, using low-energy crosslinking processes such as photopolymerization or reversible approaches to promote recycling. Within this context, she is also studying biomass-based thermosetting composites for Liquid Deposition Modeling 3D printing.
Scientific branch
(Area 0003 - Chemical Sciences)
Skills
ERC sectors
SDG
Teaching
Collegi of the degree programmes
- Collegio di Ingegneria Meccanica, Aerospaziale e dell'Autoveicolo. Componente invitato
Teachings
PhD
- FOTOPOLIMERI: DALLA CHIMICA AI PIU'RECENTI SVILUPPI APPLICATIVI. A.A. 2024/25, SCIENZA E TECNOLOGIA DEI MATERIALI. Teaching assistant
- Polimeri e radiazioni. A.A. 2020/21, SCIENZA E TECNOLOGIA DEI MATERIALI. Teaching assistant
Master of Science
- Challenge@PoliTo by Firms - Lavazza. A.A. 2022/23, INGEGNERIA GESTIONALE (ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT). Collaboratore del corso
Bachelor of Science
- Chemistry. A.A. 2025/26, INGEGNERIA DELL'AUTOVEICOLO (AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING). Collaboratore del corso
- Chemistry. A.A. 2024/25, INGEGNERIA DELL'AUTOVEICOLO (AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING). Collaboratore del corso
- Chemistry. A.A. 2023/24, INGEGNERIA DELL'AUTOVEICOLO (AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING). Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica organica e Fenomeni di trasporto (modulo di Chimica organica). A.A. 2022/23, INGEGNERIA DEI MATERIALI. Collaboratore del corso
- Chemistry. A.A. 2022/23, INGEGNERIA DELL'AUTOVEICOLO (AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING). Collaboratore del corso
- Fibre: preparazione, proprietà e tecnologie di trasformazione. A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica organica e Fenomeni di trasporto (modulo di Chimica organica). A.A. 2021/22, INGEGNERIA DEI MATERIALI. Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica organica per l'ingegneria chimica e alimentare. A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica organica, fenomeni di trasporto e sicurezza (modulo di Chimica organica). A.A. 2020/21, INGEGNERIA DEI MATERIALI. Collaboratore del corso
- Chimica organica, fenomeni di trasporto e sicurezza (modulo di Chimica organica). A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA DEI MATERIALI. Collaboratore del corso
- Fondamenti di chimica organica, biologia molecolare e microbiologia (modulo di Fondamenti di chimica organica). A.A. 2019/20, INGEGNERIA CHIMICA E ALIMENTARE. Collaboratore del corso
Research
Institute
Laboratories
Research projects
Projects funded by commercial contracts
- Materiali innovativi alta barriera per packaging flessibile, (2023-2024) - Responsabile Scientifico
Commercial Research
Supervised PhD students
- Andrea Riccioni. Programme in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali (39th cycle, 2023-in progress)
- John Vincent Tumaneng. Programme in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali (39th cycle, 2023-in progress)
- Jerome Matteo Capannelli. Programme in Scienza E Tecnologia Dei Materiali (36th cycle, 2020-in progress)
Publications
Last years publications
Last years publications View all publications in Porto@Iris
- Petroni, Simona; Orsini, Sara Fernanda; Bugnotti, Daniele; Callone, Emanuela; Dirè, ... (2025)
Photocrosslinkable starch cinnamyl ethers as bioinspired bio-based polymers. In: JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY. B, vol. 13, pp. 943-954. ISSN 2050-750X
Contributo su Rivista - Albertini, Edoardo; Dalle Vacche, Sara; Bongiovanni, Roberta; Bianco, Isabella; ... (2025)
Biobased and Reprocessable Vitrimers Based on Cardanol-Derived Epoxy for More Sustainable Thermosets. In: ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, vol. 13, pp. 2120-2131. ISSN 2168-0485
Contributo su Rivista - Dalle Vacche, Sara (2024)
Editorial. In: GREEN MATERIALS, vol. 12, pp. 1-2. ISSN 2049-1220
Contributo su Rivista - Kianfar, Parnian; Bakry, Ahmed; Dalle Vacche, Sara; Bongiovanni, Roberta; Vitale, ... (2024)
Suspension electrospinning of SBR latex combined with photo-induced crosslinking: control of nanofiber composition, morphology, and properties. In: JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE, vol. 59, pp. 3711-3724. ISSN 0022-2461
Contributo su Rivista - Kianfar, Parnian; Dalle Vacche, Sara; Bongiovanni, Roberta; Mollea, Chiara; Bosco, ... (2024)
Combining Electrospinning and Photoinduced Reactions to Fabricate Cytocompatible and Antibacterial Ag Nanoparticle-Decorated Polymeric Membranes. In: ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS, vol. 6, pp. 14749-14759. ISSN 2637-6105
Contributo su Rivista - Riccioni, Andrea; Dalle Vacche, Sara; Ronchetti, Silvia Maria; Bongiovanni, Roberta; ... (2024)
Nanocrystalline cellulose from different sources as bio-filler for sustainable rubber composites. In: XI edition of the French-Italian Chemistry Days, Torino (IT), 4-5 aprile 2024, pp. 134-134
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Dalle Vacche, S.; Molina-Gutierrez, S.; Ferraro, G.; Ladmiral, V.; Caillol, S.; ... (2024)
Biobased Composites from Eugenol- and Coumarin-Derived Methacrylic Latex and Hemp Nanocellulose: Cross-Linking via [2 + 2] Photocycloaddition and Barrier Properties. In: ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING, vol. 12, pp. 8741-8751. ISSN 2168-0485
Contributo su Rivista - Spessa, Alberto; Bakry, Ahmed; Hefni, Hassan; Dalle Vacche, Sara; Bongiovanni, Roberta; ... (2024)
Photo-induced crosslinking for green electrospinning processes. In: 32nd Leoben-Conference on Polymer Engineering and Science 2024, Leoben (AUSTRIA), 21-22 Novembre 2024
Contributo in Atti di Convegno (Proceeding) - Spessa, Alberto; Castiglione, Franca; Vitale, Alessandra; Bongiovanni, Roberta; Dalle ... (2024)
Fats and oils as a sustainable source of photopolymerizable monomers. In: POLYMERS, vol. 16. ISSN 2073-4360
Contributo su Rivista