The presence of ice on surfaces such as aircrafts, wind turbines and solar panels, is a major challenge that results in safety issues and economic losses. Current solutions to this problem include the use of hydrophobic and superhydrophobic surfaces, often based on fluorinated substances, which however are raising concerns for both human health and environment. An alternative could be to exploit the formation of a layer of quasi-liquid water on the surface of hydrophilic materials to gain a reduction in ice adhesion strength. 

University of Milano-Bicocca announces a competition for the awarding of the 1st “Elda Chierichetti”  Prize to students enrolled, in the 2025/26 academic year, in either the first or second year of the Master’s Degree Programme in Optometry and Vision Science at the University of Milano-Bicocca, as recognition of the quality of a research project idea and to support its implementation in the field of optometry.

The Department of Materials Science has decided to support young researchers and PhD students in preparing ERC Starting Grant proposals. Being awarded this grant is a mark of absolute excellence and provides substantial financial support to conduct innovative and independent research for up to 5 years.

Alessandro Abbotto and Ottavia Bettucci, in collaboration with Giorgia Salerno, Chiara Liliana Boldrini and Norberto Manfredi from the Department of Materials Science at University of Milano-Bicocca, and Vito Capriati from the University of Bari Aldo Moro, have authored an article in Communications Chemistry (Nature Portfolio, 2025) reporting a record efficiency for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) based on fully sustainable solvents,