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Despina Fragouli

Researcher
Technologist
Smart Materials
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Biografia

Despina Fragouli is a researcher of the Smart Materials group of Italian Institute of Technology, IIT. She graduated in 2001, with a Bachelor degree in Physics at the University of Crete in Greece, and in 2002 she got a Master of Science (MSc) in Applied Molecular Spectroscopy, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete. In 2007 she became Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the Department of Chemistry in University of Crete, Greece in collaboration with Foundation of Research and Technology – Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (FORTH-IESL). On February 2007 she became a Postdoctoral-Fellow at NNL-National Nanotechnology Laboratory, INFM-CNR in Lecce, Italy. From April 2009 to April 2011 she was a Senior Postdoctoral-Fellow at the Smart Materials Lab of the Network IIT-NNL in Lecce, Italy. After 2011 she became a team leader, and subsequently a researcher in the same lab. On 2012 she moved at Genova continuing her research activities in the same lab.

Currently, her group deals with the development of functional porous composites for water treatment, such as water-oil separation, removal of metal ions or organic pollutants, water harvesting etc. She is also focused on the development of porous colorimetric indicators for smart packaging and water technologies, and on the development of nanoplastics and the investigation of their interactions with other pollutants.

She is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed publications in international Journals, 8 book chapters, and 6 Patents. On 2011 she won the TR35 Award of top 10 Young innovators under 35 years old in Italy. She is participating in many industrial research projects dealing with the development of solutions for smart packaging, water remediation, functional nanocomposites etc.

Top Publications
2022
Kossyvaki D., Barbetta A., Contardi M., Bustreo M., Dziza K., Lauciello S., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Highly Porous Curcumin-Loaded Polymer Mats for Rapid Detection of Volatile Amines
ACS Applied Polymer Materials, vol. 4, (no. 6), pp. 4464-4475
Article Journal
2021
Vasquez L., Davis A., Gatto F., Ngoc An M., Drago F., Pompa P.P., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Multifunctional PDMS polyHIPE filters for oil-water separation and antibacterial activity
Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 255
2021
Zia J., Mancini G., Bustreo M., Zych A., Donno R., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Porous pH natural indicators for acidic and basic vapor sensing
Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 403
2020
Loo S.-L., Vasquez L., Paul U.C., Campagnolo L., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Solar-Driven Freshwater Generation from Seawater and Atmospheric Moisture Enabled by a Hydrophilic Photothermal Foam
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 12, (no. 9), pp. 10307-10316
2018
Magri D., Sanchez-Moreno P., Caputo G., Gatto F., Veronesi M., Bardi G., Catelani T., Guarnieri D., Athanassiou A., Pompa P.P., Fragouli D.
Laser ablation as a versatile tool to mimic polyethylene terephthalate nanoplastic pollutants: Characterization and toxicology assessment
ACS Nano, vol. 12, (no. 8), pp. 7690-7700
All Publications
2024
Politano A., Al-Juboori R.A., Alnajdi S., Alsaati A., Athanassiou A., Bar-Sadan M., Beni A.N., Campi D., Cupolillo A., D'Olimpio G., D'Andrea G., Estay H., Fragouli D., Gurreri L., Ghaffour N., Gilron J., Hilal N., Occhiuzzi J., Carvajal M.R., Ronen A., Santoro S., Tedesco M., Tufa R.A., Ulbricht M., Warsinger D.M., Xevgenos D., Zaragoza G., Zhang Y.-W., Zhou M., Curcio E.
2024 roadmap on membrane desalination technology at the water-energy nexus
JPhys Energy, vol. 6, (no. 2)
2024
Dziza K., Binas V., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
A 3D Cryogel Filter for Oily Wastewater with Metal Ion Fluorosensing Properties
ACS Applied Polymer Materials, vol. 6, (no. 7), pp. 3654-3665
Article Journal
2024
Zafar M.S., Zych A., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Carbonized coffee-based 3D polymeric xerogels for freshwater recovery by solar steam generation
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, vol. 12, (no. 5)
Article Journal
2024
Elli G., Ciocca M., Shkodra B., Petrelli M., Costa Angeli M.A., Altana A., Carzino R., Fragouli D., Petti L., Lugli P.
Electrolyte-Gated Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistor-Based Sensors for Nanoplastics Detection in Seawater: A Study of the Interaction between Nanoplastics and Carbon Nanotubes
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Article Journal
2024
Bonga K.B., Bertolacci L., Contardi M., Paul U.C., Zafar M.S., Mancini G., Marini L., Ceseracciu L., Fragouli D., Athanassiou A.
Mycelium Agrowaste-Bound Biocomposites as Thermal and Acoustic Insulation Materials in Building Construction
Macromolecular Materials and Engineering, vol. 309, (no. 6)
Dissemination
2021
Fragouli D.
Water first – le tecnologie per il recupero e il trattamento della nostra risorsa più importante
Il Salone della CSR e dell’innovazione sociale
Public Event
2017
Fragouli D., Bayer I.S., Athanassiou A.
Materiali intelligenti per un ambiente pulito: riduzione di rifiuti plastici e bonifica dell’acqua
Festival della Comunicazione Camogli
Outreach
Scientific Talks
2023
Fragouli D., Athanassiou A.
Polymer based hydrogels for water treatment.
E-MRS Spring Meeting
Conference
2021
Vasquez L., Dziza K., Loo S. L., Athanassiou A., Fragouli D.
Functional and hydrophilic polymer composites for water technologies
Italy-Taiwan Bilateral Symposium on Emergent Crystalline Materials
Workshop/Symposium
2021
Fragouli D.
Porous polymeric composites for water-oil separation
NewTimes – New Trends in Materials Science and Engineering
Conference
2018
Athanassiou A., Perotto G., Heredia Guerrero J. A., Bayer I. S., Fragouli D.
Biocomposites in food packaging, water remediation and wound management
Imagine Nano 2018 (Bilbao, Spain - March 13-15 2018)
Conference
2018
Fragouli D.
Materials engineering for a sustainable world
Summer School on Sustainable Development-Siena
School (Summer school, ...)
Awards and Achievements
2024
Fragouli D.
Premio Internazionale Le Tecnovisionarie® 2024 XVIII EDIZIONE: “TRANSIZIONE ECOLOGICA: LE PROTAGONISTE DI UNA NUOVA CULTURA DELL’ACQUA”
2016
PINTO J., FRAGOULI D., ATHANASIOU A., CINGOLANI R.
Reusable sorbent sponges, their method of production and their use for the in-situ remediation of oil spills
2015
ATHANASIOU A., PAUL U.C., MELE E., FRAGOULI D., BAYER I., CINGOLANI R.
Packaging material with barrier properties against migration of mineral oils and process for its preparation
2014
BAYER I., MELE E., FRAGOULI D., CINGOLANI R., ATHANASIOU A.
Process For Producing A Hydrophobic Composite Bioelastomer Comprising Starch
2014
BAYER I., MELE E., FRAGOULI D., CINGOLANI R., ATHANASIOU A.
Process for the production of a biodegradable plastic material, obtained from vegetable waste materials
Organized Events
2023
Fragouli D.
Polymer Based Hydrogels for Water Treatment
2022
Fragouli D., Athanassiou A.
Reconsidering and Redeveloping Materials for a Sustainable Future
2022
Fragouli D.
The problem of Micro and Nanoplastics: Origin, environmental impact and potential solutions
2021
Contardi M., Suarato G., Perotto G., Bayer I., Fragouli D., Athanassiou A.
Development and Engineering of Biocomposites for applications in Wound Management and Water Treatment
2021
Fragouli D.
Functional and hydrophilic polymer composites for water technologies