Address book

Contacts

Staff Structures

ANDREA BIFFIS

Back to the list

Position

Professore Ordinario

Address

VIA F. MARZOLO, 1 - PADOVA

Telephone

0498275216

Andrea Biffis studied chemistry at the University of Padova, Italy. After a half-year postgraduate period at the Technical University of Bratislava, Slovak Republic, he joined the group of Prof. G. Wulff at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany, where he obtained his PhD in 1998. In 1995 he was also a visiting researcher at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, in the group of Prof. N. B. Graham. In 1998 he moved to the University of Essen, Germany, to take up a postdoctoral position in the group of Prof. G. Schmid, after which he returned to Padova, where in 2001 he was appointed assistant professor and in 2011 associate professor.
Prof. Biffis has at present coauthored more than 90 publications and 5 chapters in monographs, with an h index equal to 30. He has presented his results at numerous national and international congresses and has given invited lectures at italian and foreign universities (Tehcnical University of Dresden, 2008; University of Muenster, 2014; University of Udine, 2016), national schools (VIII Seminario Italiano di Catalisi, Verbania, 2005), and chemical companies (Miteni SpA, Italy, 2004; Henkel KGaA, Germany, 2007).
Prof. Biffis was awarded the Enichem study prize (1990, 1991, 1992), the Enichem Thesis prize (1993), the “Padova Ricerche” consortium Thesis prize (1994)and the "Dott. Comm. Alceste Mion" study prize (2008). He was granted scolarships from the “Ing. A. Gini” foundation (1994) and from the University of Padova (1998).
Prof. Biffis was the recipient of individual research grants from the University of Padova (Progetti giovani ricercatori, 1999) and of CNR (Agenzia 2000 - Progetti giovani ricercatori, 2000). He was coordinator of a local project funded by the University of Padova (Progetti di Ateneo 2002, 2010, 2017) and participated in other nationally funded projects (PRIN 2003, 2006; Progetti Strategici di Ateneto 2008). He was local coordinator of the european Marie Curie Research Training Network “NASCENT” (Nanomaterials for Applications in Sensors, Catalysis and Emerging Technologies, 2006-2010). Finally, he has been scientific coordinator of collaborative projects with Zhermack SpA, Italy (2005-2006) and with Henkel KGaA, Germany (2006-2007). Prof. Biffis is a member of the Italian Chemical Society.

Notices

Teachings

Research Area

The research interests of Prof. Biffis cover various aspects of catalysis and polymer chemistry. Currently, the main focus is on the development of late transition metal catalysts (metal nanoparticles, metal complexes) for the synthesis of fine chemicals, on the development of novel strategies for catalyst recovery and recycling and on the preparation, characterisation and application of inorganic nanoparticles inside soluble crosslinked polymer nanoparticles (microgels).

Thesis proposals

Topic 1.
Reactivity of metal complexes with chelating N-heterocyclic dicarbene ligands with a pyridyl bridge: role of the bridge in the stabilization of the possible oxidation states of the metal and its implications for the efficiency of catalytic processes promoted by the complexes (C-H bond functionalization, C-C couplings)
Rif. Organometallics 2012, 31, 3527.

Topic 2. N-phosphorylated, N-heterocyclic carbenes as novel bidentate ligands in organometallic chemistry: synthesis of mono- and dinuclear metal complexes, characterization of their physico-chemical properties and of their catalytic potential.
Rif. Organometallics 2012, 31, 8257; Organometallics 2013, 32, 718; Organometallics 2016, 35, 762.

Topic 3. Preparation of soluble crosslinked polymers (microgels) bearing functional groups: their use for anchoring metal precursors (palladium(II), gold(III)) and as exotemplates and stabilizers in the subsequent reduction of the precursors to mono- and bimetallic metal nanoclusters of controlled size; sinthesis of ternary nanocomposites containing nanoparticles of inorganic oxides able to interact with the metal nanoclusters, stabilizing them and promoting their reactivity; catalytic application of the resulting nanocompositesto in technologically relevant reactions.
Rif. Adv. Mater. 2003,15, 1551.