Achille Damasco | Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II" (original) (raw)
Papers by Achille Damasco
Sustaining Resources for Tomorrow, 2019
The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinat... more The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinate but not negligible problem, the energy storage. The most important sources of clean energy, related to solar and wind power plants, are in fact intermittent and therefore require their management in energy collection, even more in the long term. Additionally, electromobility and several other applications may need huge peak power. All this kind of problems cannot be solved always by electrochemical batteries. An alternative to them is represented by supercapacitors (SCs), energy storage devices specialized in high power, exhibiting also a very long life cycle. In this chapter, we will illustrate the state of the art of their operation, typologies, applications and all that a wide-ranging interdisciplinary literature offers us about how this type of technology could be used more and more in the near future.
Chemical engineering transactions, 2021
Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-pow... more Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-power charge and discharge process and long-cycle life. Their main drawback, when compared to more common devices such as batteries, consists in a low energy density. The performances of SCs can however be improved with the coupling of additives to the main active material, which usually is an Activated Carbon. The most common additive is instead Carbon Black (CB), while more recently also Graphene-derived materials have been successfully exploited for this purpose, as the reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO). However, besides raw materials choice, details related to the manufacturing have a leading importance in the attempt to obtain novel active materials with an industrial-ready process which also looks toward the needs of more environmental friendly and economically convenient solutions. In this work, a physical-chemical analysis is performed to show temperature effects on CB, GO and on a CB/GO...
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2020
Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Co-treatment MoS 2 NSs Cell Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Post treatment MoS 2 ... more Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Co-treatment MoS 2 NSs Cell Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Post treatment MoS 2 NSs Pre-treatment GO NSs Co-treatment GO NSs Cell Pre-treatment GO NSs Post treatment GO NSs The interaction of 2DM with the virus is associated with color code starting from hot red being the strongest interaction to lighter until white being the weakest interaction.
ACS Omega, 2020
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) per... more Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) performances due to its industrial-ready manufacturing process and ease of processing. In this work, rGO was used as an active binder for the manufacture of carbon black (CB) and rGO-based SCs. Being able to form a stable suspension in water, graphene oxide (GO) was initially exploited as a dispersing agent to fabricate a homogeneous slurry with CB having exclusively water as a low-cost and environment-friendly solvent. After casting on a suitable substrate, the material was subjected to thermal treatment allowing the reduction of GO to rGO, which was successively confirmed by chemical−physical analysis. An innovative current collector, consisting of high-quality rGO paper, was also proposed ensuring an improved adhesion between the active material and the substrate and a reduction of the whole weight with respect to devices fabricated using common metallic current collectors. Due to the interesting electrochemical performances, with a high specific power of 32.1 kW kg −1 and a corresponding specific energy of 8.8 Wh kg −1 at a current of 1 A g −1 , and the improved manufacturing process, the described "all-graphene-based" device represents a valuable candidate for the future of SCs.
Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2020
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2017
Sustaining Resources for Tomorrow, 2019
The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinat... more The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinate but not negligible problem, the energy storage. The most important sources of clean energy, related to solar and wind power plants, are in fact intermittent and therefore require their management in energy collection, even more in the long term. Additionally, electromobility and several other applications may need huge peak power. All this kind of problems cannot be solved always by electrochemical batteries. An alternative to them is represented by supercapacitors (SCs), energy storage devices specialized in high power, exhibiting also a very long life cycle. In this chapter, we will illustrate the state of the art of their operation, typologies, applications and all that a wide-ranging interdisciplinary literature offers us about how this type of technology could be used more and more in the near future.
Academia Letters, 2021
Biological evolution theory has gone through many changes during last decades, trying to adapt to... more Biological evolution theory has gone through many changes during last decades, trying to adapt to new observations and data, even with not-strictly Darwinian approaches [1]. In this perspective, new insights can come from external disciplines as Physics. In particular, a previous work of mine proposed a model that uses the math of resonance phenomena to describe the non-linear behaviour of evolution [2]. However, a purely abstract work with a highly physicists-oriented language may make an interdisciplinary application a hard task. Different disciplines have not only different topics, but also different habits, premises, and even different jargons. Fortunately, in our case, an experimental work acts as practical example [3]. Nonetheless, too many details on a specific experiment may go to the detriment of versatility of a new conceptual tool. This work, after a summary of the theoretical and experimental results, will propose how to generalize them for potential new biological works. This proposal will avoid any excessive sectoral languages, in the limits of scientific correctness. The resonance-based model describes every living species like a system that can remain unchanged generation after generation; otherwise, it can change in a small and almost random way or in a specific and relatively fast way. This model mainly describes the third case. Every species lives in an ambient that provides it nutriment, habitat, stimuli, and often obstacles. Focusing on stimuli, they could have an oscillating behaviour over time, for natural reasons or as experimental setting. We can think to periodicity of many environmental phenomena as seasons. If a studied species responds in a very strong way only to a stimulus with a specific period (or frequency), then such response can be considered a resonance. More precisely, our
Conference Paper, 2021
Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-pow... more Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-power charge and discharge process and long-cycle life. Their main drawback, when compared to more common devices such as batteries, consists in a low energy density. The performances of SCs can however be improved with the coupling of additives to the main active material, which usually is an Activated Carbon. The most common additive is instead Carbon Black (CB), while more recently also Graphene-derived materials have been successfully exploited for this purpose, as the reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO). However, besides raw materials choice, details related to the manufacturing have a leading importance in the attempt to obtain novel active materials with an industrial-ready process which also looks toward the needs of more environmental friendly and economically convenient solutions. In this work, a physical-chemical analysis is performed to show temperature effects on CB, GO and on a CB/GO water-based slurry with helpful results about GO reduction and CB/GO nanocomposite formation.
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) per... more Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) performances due to its industrial-ready manufacturing process and ease of processing. In this work, rGO was used as an active binder for the manufacture of carbon black (CB) and rGO-based SCs. Being able to form a stable suspension in water, graphene oxide (GO) was initially exploited as a dispersing agent to fabricate a homogeneous slurry with CB having exclusively water as a low-cost and environment-friendly solvent. After casting on a suitable substrate, the material was subjected to thermal treatment allowing the reduction of GO to rGO, which was successively confirmed by chemical−physical analysis. An innovative current collector, consisting of high-quality rGO paper, was also proposed ensuring an improved adhesion between the active material and the substrate and a reduction of the whole weight with respect to devices fabricated using common metallic current collectors. Due to the interesting electrochemical performances, with a high specific power of 32.1 kW kg −1 and a corresponding specific energy of 8.8 Wh kg −1 at a current of 1 A g −1 , and the improved manufacturing process, the described "all-graphene-based" device represents a valuable candidate for the future of SCs.
Interactions of novel bi-dimensional nanomaterials and live matter such as bacteria and viruses r... more Interactions of novel bi-dimensional nanomaterials and live matter such as bacteria and viruses represent an extremely hot topic due to the unique properties of the innovative nanomaterials, capable in some cases to exhibit bactericide and antiviral actions. The interactions between bacteria and viruses and two dimensional nanosheets are here investigated. We extensively studied the interaction between a gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, and a gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, with two different types of 2D nanoflakes such as MoS 2 , belonging to the Transition Metal Dichalcogenides family, and Graphene Oxide. The same two types of nanomaterials were employed to study their antiviral action toward the Herpes simplex virus type-1, (HSV-1). The experimental results showed different bactericide impacts as well as different antiviral power between the two nanomaterials. The experimental findings were interpreted in bacteria on the base of the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory. A simple kinetic model of bacterial growth in the presence of the interacting nanosheets is also elaborated, to explain the observed results. The experimental results in viruses are really novel and somewhat surprising, evidencing a stronger antiviral action of Graphene Oxide as compared to MoS 2. Results in viruses are complicated to quantitatively interpret due to the complexity of the system under study, constituted by virus/host cell and nanoflake, and due to the lack of a well assessed theoretical context to refer to. Thus, these results are interpreted in terms of qualitative arguments based on the chemical properties of the interactors in the given solvent medium.
journal of biomolecilar structure and dynamics, 2020
The mutual interaction between environment and life is a main topic of biological sciences. An in... more The mutual interaction between environment and life is a main topic of biological sciences.
An interesting aspect of this interaction is the existence of biological rhythms spanning all the levels of organisms from bacteria to humans. On the other hand, the existence of a coupling between external oscillatory stimuli and adaptation and evolution rate of biological systems is a still unexplored issue. Here we give the demonstration of a substantial increase of heritable phenotypic changes in yeast, an organism lacking a photoreception system, when growing at 12h light/dark cycles, with respect to both stable dark (or light) or non-12+12 hours cycling. The model system was a yeast strain lacking a gene whose product is at the crossroad of many different physiological
regulations, so ruling out any simple explanation in terms of increase in reverse gene mutations.
The abundance of intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDPRs) in both deleted gene product and in its vast ensemble of interactors supports the hypothesis that resonance with the environmental
cycle might be mediated by intrinsic disorder-driven interactions of protein molecules. This result opens to the speculation of the effect of environment/biological resonance phenomena in evolution
and of the role of protein intrinsically disordered regions as internal mediators.
• A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is des... more • A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is described as a resonance phenomenon. • It presents a hypothesis for the so-called Cambrian Explosion. • The model provides also an explanation for periods of evolutionary stasis. a b s t r a c t We propose a coarse grained physical model of evolution. The proposed model 'at least in principle' is amenable of an experimental verification even if this looks as a conundrum: evolution is a unique historical process and the tape cannot be reversed and played again. Nevertheless, we can imagine a phenomenological scenario tailored upon state transitions in physical chemistry in which different agents of evolution play the role of the elements of a state transition like thermal noise or resonance effects. The abstract model we propose can be of help for sketching hypotheses and getting rid of some well-known features of natural history like the so-called Cambrian explosion. The possibility of an experimental proof of the model is discussed as well.
• A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is des... more • A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is described as a resonance phenomenon. • It presents a hypothesis for the so-called Cambrian Explosion. • The model provides also an explanation for periods of evolutionary stasis. a b s t r a c t We propose a coarse grained physical model of evolution. The proposed model 'at least in principle' is amenable of an experimental verification even if this looks as a conundrum: evolution is a unique historical process and the tape cannot be reversed and played again. Nevertheless, we can imagine a phenomenological scenario tailored upon state transitions in physical chemistry in which different agents of evolution play the role of the elements of a state transition like thermal noise or resonance effects. The abstract model we propose can be of help for sketching hypotheses and getting rid of some well-known features of natural history like the so-called Cambrian explosion. The possibility of an experimental proof of the model is discussed as well.
Sustaining Resources for Tomorrow, 2019
The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinat... more The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinate but not negligible problem, the energy storage. The most important sources of clean energy, related to solar and wind power plants, are in fact intermittent and therefore require their management in energy collection, even more in the long term. Additionally, electromobility and several other applications may need huge peak power. All this kind of problems cannot be solved always by electrochemical batteries. An alternative to them is represented by supercapacitors (SCs), energy storage devices specialized in high power, exhibiting also a very long life cycle. In this chapter, we will illustrate the state of the art of their operation, typologies, applications and all that a wide-ranging interdisciplinary literature offers us about how this type of technology could be used more and more in the near future.
Chemical engineering transactions, 2021
Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-pow... more Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-power charge and discharge process and long-cycle life. Their main drawback, when compared to more common devices such as batteries, consists in a low energy density. The performances of SCs can however be improved with the coupling of additives to the main active material, which usually is an Activated Carbon. The most common additive is instead Carbon Black (CB), while more recently also Graphene-derived materials have been successfully exploited for this purpose, as the reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO). However, besides raw materials choice, details related to the manufacturing have a leading importance in the attempt to obtain novel active materials with an industrial-ready process which also looks toward the needs of more environmental friendly and economically convenient solutions. In this work, a physical-chemical analysis is performed to show temperature effects on CB, GO and on a CB/GO...
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2020
Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Co-treatment MoS 2 NSs Cell Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Post treatment MoS 2 ... more Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Co-treatment MoS 2 NSs Cell Pre-treatment MoS 2 NSs Post treatment MoS 2 NSs Pre-treatment GO NSs Co-treatment GO NSs Cell Pre-treatment GO NSs Post treatment GO NSs The interaction of 2DM with the virus is associated with color code starting from hot red being the strongest interaction to lighter until white being the weakest interaction.
ACS Omega, 2020
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) per... more Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) performances due to its industrial-ready manufacturing process and ease of processing. In this work, rGO was used as an active binder for the manufacture of carbon black (CB) and rGO-based SCs. Being able to form a stable suspension in water, graphene oxide (GO) was initially exploited as a dispersing agent to fabricate a homogeneous slurry with CB having exclusively water as a low-cost and environment-friendly solvent. After casting on a suitable substrate, the material was subjected to thermal treatment allowing the reduction of GO to rGO, which was successively confirmed by chemical−physical analysis. An innovative current collector, consisting of high-quality rGO paper, was also proposed ensuring an improved adhesion between the active material and the substrate and a reduction of the whole weight with respect to devices fabricated using common metallic current collectors. Due to the interesting electrochemical performances, with a high specific power of 32.1 kW kg −1 and a corresponding specific energy of 8.8 Wh kg −1 at a current of 1 A g −1 , and the improved manufacturing process, the described "all-graphene-based" device represents a valuable candidate for the future of SCs.
Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 2020
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2017
Sustaining Resources for Tomorrow, 2019
The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinat... more The research and application of renewable energy sources and electromobility implies a subordinate but not negligible problem, the energy storage. The most important sources of clean energy, related to solar and wind power plants, are in fact intermittent and therefore require their management in energy collection, even more in the long term. Additionally, electromobility and several other applications may need huge peak power. All this kind of problems cannot be solved always by electrochemical batteries. An alternative to them is represented by supercapacitors (SCs), energy storage devices specialized in high power, exhibiting also a very long life cycle. In this chapter, we will illustrate the state of the art of their operation, typologies, applications and all that a wide-ranging interdisciplinary literature offers us about how this type of technology could be used more and more in the near future.
Academia Letters, 2021
Biological evolution theory has gone through many changes during last decades, trying to adapt to... more Biological evolution theory has gone through many changes during last decades, trying to adapt to new observations and data, even with not-strictly Darwinian approaches [1]. In this perspective, new insights can come from external disciplines as Physics. In particular, a previous work of mine proposed a model that uses the math of resonance phenomena to describe the non-linear behaviour of evolution [2]. However, a purely abstract work with a highly physicists-oriented language may make an interdisciplinary application a hard task. Different disciplines have not only different topics, but also different habits, premises, and even different jargons. Fortunately, in our case, an experimental work acts as practical example [3]. Nonetheless, too many details on a specific experiment may go to the detriment of versatility of a new conceptual tool. This work, after a summary of the theoretical and experimental results, will propose how to generalize them for potential new biological works. This proposal will avoid any excessive sectoral languages, in the limits of scientific correctness. The resonance-based model describes every living species like a system that can remain unchanged generation after generation; otherwise, it can change in a small and almost random way or in a specific and relatively fast way. This model mainly describes the third case. Every species lives in an ambient that provides it nutriment, habitat, stimuli, and often obstacles. Focusing on stimuli, they could have an oscillating behaviour over time, for natural reasons or as experimental setting. We can think to periodicity of many environmental phenomena as seasons. If a studied species responds in a very strong way only to a stimulus with a specific period (or frequency), then such response can be considered a resonance. More precisely, our
Conference Paper, 2021
Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-pow... more Supercapacitors (SCs) are energy storage devices with a growing interest thanks to their high-power charge and discharge process and long-cycle life. Their main drawback, when compared to more common devices such as batteries, consists in a low energy density. The performances of SCs can however be improved with the coupling of additives to the main active material, which usually is an Activated Carbon. The most common additive is instead Carbon Black (CB), while more recently also Graphene-derived materials have been successfully exploited for this purpose, as the reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO). However, besides raw materials choice, details related to the manufacturing have a leading importance in the attempt to obtain novel active materials with an industrial-ready process which also looks toward the needs of more environmental friendly and economically convenient solutions. In this work, a physical-chemical analysis is performed to show temperature effects on CB, GO and on a CB/GO water-based slurry with helpful results about GO reduction and CB/GO nanocomposite formation.
Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) per... more Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) is an ideal candidate for the improvement of supercapacitor (SC) performances due to its industrial-ready manufacturing process and ease of processing. In this work, rGO was used as an active binder for the manufacture of carbon black (CB) and rGO-based SCs. Being able to form a stable suspension in water, graphene oxide (GO) was initially exploited as a dispersing agent to fabricate a homogeneous slurry with CB having exclusively water as a low-cost and environment-friendly solvent. After casting on a suitable substrate, the material was subjected to thermal treatment allowing the reduction of GO to rGO, which was successively confirmed by chemical−physical analysis. An innovative current collector, consisting of high-quality rGO paper, was also proposed ensuring an improved adhesion between the active material and the substrate and a reduction of the whole weight with respect to devices fabricated using common metallic current collectors. Due to the interesting electrochemical performances, with a high specific power of 32.1 kW kg −1 and a corresponding specific energy of 8.8 Wh kg −1 at a current of 1 A g −1 , and the improved manufacturing process, the described "all-graphene-based" device represents a valuable candidate for the future of SCs.
Interactions of novel bi-dimensional nanomaterials and live matter such as bacteria and viruses r... more Interactions of novel bi-dimensional nanomaterials and live matter such as bacteria and viruses represent an extremely hot topic due to the unique properties of the innovative nanomaterials, capable in some cases to exhibit bactericide and antiviral actions. The interactions between bacteria and viruses and two dimensional nanosheets are here investigated. We extensively studied the interaction between a gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli, and a gram-positive bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus, with two different types of 2D nanoflakes such as MoS 2 , belonging to the Transition Metal Dichalcogenides family, and Graphene Oxide. The same two types of nanomaterials were employed to study their antiviral action toward the Herpes simplex virus type-1, (HSV-1). The experimental results showed different bactericide impacts as well as different antiviral power between the two nanomaterials. The experimental findings were interpreted in bacteria on the base of the Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek theory. A simple kinetic model of bacterial growth in the presence of the interacting nanosheets is also elaborated, to explain the observed results. The experimental results in viruses are really novel and somewhat surprising, evidencing a stronger antiviral action of Graphene Oxide as compared to MoS 2. Results in viruses are complicated to quantitatively interpret due to the complexity of the system under study, constituted by virus/host cell and nanoflake, and due to the lack of a well assessed theoretical context to refer to. Thus, these results are interpreted in terms of qualitative arguments based on the chemical properties of the interactors in the given solvent medium.
journal of biomolecilar structure and dynamics, 2020
The mutual interaction between environment and life is a main topic of biological sciences. An in... more The mutual interaction between environment and life is a main topic of biological sciences.
An interesting aspect of this interaction is the existence of biological rhythms spanning all the levels of organisms from bacteria to humans. On the other hand, the existence of a coupling between external oscillatory stimuli and adaptation and evolution rate of biological systems is a still unexplored issue. Here we give the demonstration of a substantial increase of heritable phenotypic changes in yeast, an organism lacking a photoreception system, when growing at 12h light/dark cycles, with respect to both stable dark (or light) or non-12+12 hours cycling. The model system was a yeast strain lacking a gene whose product is at the crossroad of many different physiological
regulations, so ruling out any simple explanation in terms of increase in reverse gene mutations.
The abundance of intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDPRs) in both deleted gene product and in its vast ensemble of interactors supports the hypothesis that resonance with the environmental
cycle might be mediated by intrinsic disorder-driven interactions of protein molecules. This result opens to the speculation of the effect of environment/biological resonance phenomena in evolution
and of the role of protein intrinsically disordered regions as internal mediators.
• A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is des... more • A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is described as a resonance phenomenon. • It presents a hypothesis for the so-called Cambrian Explosion. • The model provides also an explanation for periods of evolutionary stasis. a b s t r a c t We propose a coarse grained physical model of evolution. The proposed model 'at least in principle' is amenable of an experimental verification even if this looks as a conundrum: evolution is a unique historical process and the tape cannot be reversed and played again. Nevertheless, we can imagine a phenomenological scenario tailored upon state transitions in physical chemistry in which different agents of evolution play the role of the elements of a state transition like thermal noise or resonance effects. The abstract model we propose can be of help for sketching hypotheses and getting rid of some well-known features of natural history like the so-called Cambrian explosion. The possibility of an experimental proof of the model is discussed as well.
• A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is des... more • A model relies on forced harmonic oscillator for evolution is proposed. • Macroevolution is described as a resonance phenomenon. • It presents a hypothesis for the so-called Cambrian Explosion. • The model provides also an explanation for periods of evolutionary stasis. a b s t r a c t We propose a coarse grained physical model of evolution. The proposed model 'at least in principle' is amenable of an experimental verification even if this looks as a conundrum: evolution is a unique historical process and the tape cannot be reversed and played again. Nevertheless, we can imagine a phenomenological scenario tailored upon state transitions in physical chemistry in which different agents of evolution play the role of the elements of a state transition like thermal noise or resonance effects. The abstract model we propose can be of help for sketching hypotheses and getting rid of some well-known features of natural history like the so-called Cambrian explosion. The possibility of an experimental proof of the model is discussed as well.