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PROFILE

Carlo Punta was born in 1976 in Genoa (Italy), but since 2001 he is living in Milan, where he met Cosimina, his wife, and became father of Emilia and Emanuele.
He received his “Laurea in Chemistry” with full grades cum laude at the University of Genoa (2001) and obtained his Ph.D in “Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering” with full grades cum laude in 2005 at Politecnico di Milano. He was invited researcher at Vanderlbilt University, in Nashville, TN (USA), in 2003, and at University of Ottawa (CA), in 2016.
Since 2014 he is Associate Professor in Chemistry at the CMIC Department of Politecnico di Milano.

Carlo Punta’s research interests concern two main fields:
- The development of new catalytic systems (mainly nitroxyl-type organocatalysts like TEMPO and NHPI) for the selective oxidation of organic substrates in mild and eco-friendly conditions and for the free-radical selective synthesis of known and new molecules and materials of industrial and biological interest. More in general, Carlo Punta has a consolidated experience in the study of mechanisms involving free-radicals and Reactive Oxygen Species.
- The functionalization and processing of polysaccharides from wasted biomass, including cellulose and nanocellulose, dextrins, and galactomannans, for the synthesis of nanostructured organic and ceramic materials to be used as sorbent units for environmental remediation (water, air, and soil), but also as sensors, heterogeneous catalysts, and drug and phytochemical delivery systems. Thanks to his national and international partnerships, the synthesis of these materials follow the rules of the circular economy and of the eco-design, in order to guarantee the sustainability of the new systems in terms of environmental impact (LCA) and eco-toxicity since the early stage of production at laboratory scale
Carlo Punta is co-author of 95 original peer-reviewed papers (Hindex 28, more than 2500 citations, source Scopus) concerning both mechanistic aspects and synthetic applications in the field of selective oxidation, free-radical chemistry, and nano-structuring of polysaccharide derivatives.

Recent publications

• Eco-design of nanostructured cellulose sponges for sea-water decontamination from heavy metal ions.
  Fiorati, A.; Grassi, G.; Pastori, N.; Graziano, A.; Liberatori, G.; Melone, L.; Punta, C.*; Corsi, I.* J. Clean. Prod. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119009.
• TEMPO-Nanocellulose/Ca2+ Hydrogels: Ibuprofen Drug Diffusion and In Vitro Cytocompatibility.
  Materials 2020, doi:10.3390/ma13010183.
• Life cycle assessment of emerging environmental technologies in the early stage of development.
  Bartolozzi, i.; Daddi, T.; Punta, C.; Fiorati, A., Iraldo, F. J. Ind. Ecol. 2020, doi: 10.1111/jiec.12959.
• Solvent-free Aerobic Oxidation of Ethylbenzene Promoted by NHPI/Co(II) Catalytic System: The Key Role of Ionic Liquids.
  Dobras, G.; Sitko, M.; Petroselli, M.; Caruso, M.; Cametti, M.; Punta, C.*; Orlińska, B*. ChemCatChem 2020, doi: 10.1002/cctc.201901737.

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