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This review examines the central role of hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen from renewable sources, in the global search for energy solutions that are sustainable and safe by design. Using the hydrogen square, safety measures across the hydrogen value chain—production, storage, transport, and utilisation—are discussed, thereby highlighting the need for a balanced approach to ensure a sustainable and efficient hydrogen economy. The review also underlines the challenges in safety assessments, points to past incidents, and argues for a comprehensive risk assessment that uses empirical modelling, simulation-based computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) for hydrogen dispersion, and quantitative risk assessments. It also highlights the activities carried out by our research group SaRAH (Safety, Risk Analysis, and Hydrogen) relative to a more rigorous risk assessment of hydrogen-related systems through the use of a combined approach of CFD simulations and the appropriate risk assessment tools. Our research activities are currently focused on underground hydrogen storage and hydrogen transport as hythane.

A nanostructured sensing platform was developed by integrating gold-decorated lignin nanoparticles (AuLNPs) into electrospun polylactic acid (PLA) fibre mats. The composite material combines the high surface-to-volume ratio of PLA nanofibres with the chemical functionality of lignin—a polyphenolic biopolymer rich in hydroxyl and aromatic groups—enabling selective interactions with volatile amines through hydrogen bonding and Van der Waals forces. The embedded gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) further enhance the sensor’s electrical conductivity and provide catalytic sites for improved analyte interaction. The sensor exhibited selective adsorption of amine vapours, showing particularly strong affinity for dimethylamine (DMA), with a limit of detection (LOD) of approximately 440 ppb. Relative humidity (RH) was found to significantly influence sensor performance by facilitating amine protonation, thus promoting interaction with the sensing surface. The developed sensor demonstrated excellent selectivity, sensitivity and reproducibility, highlighting its potential for real-time detection of amines in environmental monitoring, industrial safety and healthcare diagnostics.

Energy and environmental issues are of great importance in the present era. The transition to renewable energy sources necessitates technological, political, and behavioral transformations. Hydrogen is a promising solution, and many countries are investing in the hydrogen economy. Global demand for hydrogen is expected to reach 120 million tonnes by 2024. The incorporation of hydrogen for efficient energy transport and storage and its integration into the transport sector are crucial measures. However, to fully develop a hydrogen-based economy, the sustainability and safety of hydrogen in all its applications must be ensured. This work describes and compares different technologies for hydrogen production, storage, and utilization (especially in fuel cell applications), with focus on the research activities under study at SaRAH group of the University of Naples Federico II. More precisely, the focus is on the production of hydrogen from bio-alcohols and its storage in formate solutions produced from renewable sources such as biomass or carbon dioxide. In addition, the use of materials inspired by nature, including biowaste, as feedstock to produce porous electrodes for fuel cell applications is presented. We hope that this review can be useful to stimulate more focused and fruitful research in this area and that it can open new avenues for the development of sustainable hydrogen technologies.

The recycling of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRPs), particularly carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy polymers (CFREPs), is a challenging problem because of their broad application spectrum, the amount of laminates produced per year, and the cost per kg of the carbon fiber fabric. Recently, several papers were published on the recycling of CFREPs through solvothermal methods that allow the recovery of the carbon fiber fabrics with a relatively low environmental impact. In the present paper, for the first time, the effect of the presence of flame retardants is discussed. A carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy polymer (CFREP) charged with P-, Zn-, B- and Al-based flame retardants, supplied by the aerospace industry, was subjected to a double-step solvothermal treatment. The epoxy matrix was successfully dissolved in monoethanolammine after a preswelling step in acetic acid. The experimental results show that the proposed process allows the full recovery of the carbon fabric with its original sizing layer without injury to the fiber. As confirmation, CFREP laminates produced with the recycled carbon fiber fabrics exhibited mechanical properties close to that of laminates obtained from the virgin epoxy/carbon prepreg. Contrary to what is reported in the literature, the present paper also shows that, in the studied case, whilst acetic acid treatment promotes swelling, it also causes the formation of a degraded surface layer that would impede complete removal of the polymeric matrix and full recovery of the carbon fabric if only acetic acid was used. On the basis of the known mechanism of flame retardancy of phosphates and borates, the degraded layer formation is attributed to the acidic character of the acetic acid. It is worth pointing out that the paper suggests, therefore, that the presence of flame retardants may strongly affect the solvothermal processes.

Melanins are a group of dark insoluble pigments found widespread in nature. In mammals, the brown-black eumelanins and the reddish-yellow pheomelanins are the main determinants of skin, hair, and eye pigmentation and play a significant role in photoprotection as well as in many biological functions ensuring homeostasis. Due to their broad-spectrum light absorption, radical scavenging, electric conductivity, and paramagnetic behavior, eumelanins are widely studied in the biomedical field. The continuing advancements in the development of biomimetic design strategies offer novel opportunities toward specifically engineered multifunctional biomaterials for regenerative medicine. Melanin and melanin-like coatings have been shown to increase cell attachment and proliferation on different substrates and to promote and ameliorate skin, bone, and nerve defect healing in several in vivo models. Herein, the state of the art and future perspectives of melanins as promising bioinspired platforms for natural regeneration processes are highlighted and discussed.

Bioconjugation of a recently developed photoacoustic nanoprobe, based on silica-templated eumelanin-silver hybrid nanoparticles (MelaSil_Ag-NPs), with human serum albumin (HSA) is disclosed herein as an efficient and practical strategy to improve photostability and to perform SPARC mediated internalization in breast cancer cells. Modification of NPs with HSA induced a slight viability decrease in breast cancer cells (HS578T) and normal breast cells (MCF10a) when incubated with HSA-NPs up to 100 μg/mL concentration for 72 h and a complete suppression of hemotoxicity for long incubation times. Uptake experiments with MelaSil_Ag-HSA NPs indicated very high and selective internalization via SPARC in HS578T (SPARC positive cells) but not in MCF10a (SPARC negative cells), as evaluated by using endocytosis inhibitors. The binding of SPARC to HSA was confirmed by Co-IP and Dot-blot assays. Additional studies were performed to analyze the interaction of MelaSil_Ag-HSA NPs with protein corona. Data showed a dramatic diminution of interacting proteins in HSA conjugated NPs compared to bare NPs. HSA-coated MelaSil_Ag-NPs are thus disclosed as a novel functional nanohybrid for potential photoacoustic imaging applications.

Microbial colonization of surfaces is a sanitary and industrial issue for many applications, leading to product contamination and human infections. When microorganisms closely interact with a surface, they start to produce an exo-polysaccaridic matrix to adhere to and protect themselves from adverse environmental conditions. This type of structure is called a biofilm. The aim of our work is to investigate novel technologies able to prevent biofilm formation by surface coatings. We coated glass surfaces with melanin-ZnO2, melanin-TiO2, and TiO2 hybrid nanoparticles. The functionalization was performed using cold plasma to activate glass-substrate-coated surfaces, that were characterized by performing water and soybean oil wetting tests. A quantitative characterization of the antibiofilm properties was done using Pseudomonas fluorescens AR 11 as a model organism. Biofilm morphologies were observed using confocal laser scanning microscopy and image analysis techniques were used to obtain quantitative morphological parameters. The results highlight the efficacy of the proposed surface coating to prevent biofilm formation. Melanin-TiO2 proved to be the most efficient among the particles investigated. Our results can be a valuable support for future implementation of the technique proposed here in an extended range of applications that may include further testing on other strains and other support materials.

A set of protein biomarkers are largely recognized as responsible of neurodegeneration mechanisms and hence as potential targets to be detected in low abundant concentrations in body fluids for performing early diagnosis. As an example, the Tau protein experiences a transition phase from a native disorder conformation into a preaggregation state, which leads to fibrillization processes. Here we show the possibility to detect Tau in urine samples at sub-picogram level, through the concentration effect of the pyro-electrohydrodynamic (p-jet) technique. An immunofluorescence protocol is applied to concentrated p-jet spots able to reduce drastically the diffusion effects in the antibody-antigen reaction. A set of diluted samples were prepared, and the fluorescence signal was detected by a confocal scanner. We achieved an excellent linear response with a significant signal-to-noise ratio down to 0.25 pg/mL. In perspective, the technique could be integrated into a compact device to be used for monitoring the early stage associated to neurodegenerative syndromes in different scenarios such as for example in long-term human space exploration missions.

One of the main issues in preparing polymer-based nanocomposites with effective properties is to achieve a good dispersion of the nanoparticles into the matrix. Chemical interfacial modifications by specific coupling agents represents a good way to reach this objective. Actually, time consuming compatibilization procedures strongly compromise the sustainability of these strategies. In this study, the role of particles’ architectures in their dispersion into a poly-lactic acid matrix and their subsequent influences on physical-chemical properties of the obtained nanocomposites were investigated. Two kinds of silica nanoparticles, “smooth” and “wrinkled,” with different surface areas (≈30 and ≈600 m2/g respectively) were synthesized through a modified Stöber method and used, without any chemical surface pre-treatments, as fillers to produce poly-lactic acid based nanocomposites. The key role played by wrinkled texture in modifying the physical interaction at the polymer-filler interface and in driving composite properties, was investigated and reflected in the final bulk properties. Detailed investigations revealed the presence of wrinkled nanoparticles, leading to (i) an enormous increase of the chain relaxation time, by almost 30 times compared to the neat PLA matrix; (ii) intensification of the shear-thinning behavior at low shear-rates; and (iii) slightly slower thermal degradation of polylactic acid.

Solar radiation is becoming increasingly appreciated because of its influence on living matter and the feasibility of its application for a variety of purposes. It is an available and everlasting natural source of energy, rapidly gaining ground as a supplement and alternative to the nonrenewable energy feedstock. Actually, an increasing interest is involved in the development of efficient materials as the core of photocatalytic and photothermal processes, allowing solar energy harvesting and conversion for many technological applications, including hydrogen production, CO2 reduction, pollutants degradation, as well as organic syntheses. Particularly, photosensitive nanostructured hybrid materials synthesized coupling inorganic semiconductors with organic compounds, and polymers or carbon-based materials are attracting ever-growing research attention since their peculiar properties overcome several limitations of photocatalytic semiconductors through different approaches, including dye or charge transfer complex sensitization and heterostructures formation. The aim of this review was to describe the most promising recent advances in the field of hybrid nanostructured materials for sunlight capture and solar energy exploitation by photocatalytic processes. Beside diverse materials based on metal oxide semiconductors, emerging photoactive systems, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and hybrid perovskites, were discussed. Finally, future research opportunities and challenges associated with the design and development of highly efficient and cost-effective photosensitive nanomaterials for technological claims were outlined.