Summary
Computational NanoElectrochemistry Group
The group's research interests focus on quantum mechanical modelling of materials and electrochemical (EC) processes at the nanoscale. The team currently works to develop a new methodology to simulate EC devices – such as fuel and solar cells, batteries, supercapacitors and sensors - in operation, including the effect of applied potential and electric currents. They use this to study problems like EC corrosion, water splitting, redox switching and current induced effects at nanointerfaces.
Dr. Cucinotta joined the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London in 2018 with an independent fellowship funded by EPSRC. She moved to Imperial from the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin (IE), where she undertook investigations of different electron transport problems at interfaces and in molecular junctions, and developed new models for environmental stability and chemical reactivity of 2D materials. Previously, she worked at ETHZ (CH), where she pioneered novel molecular dynamics techniques to model chemical transformation and mass diffusion in solids and liquids, and matured an interest for the energy problem, studying Hydrogen storage and energy conversion in SOFCs. Following her master in Condensed Matter Physics at University of Messina (IT), Dr. Cucinotta was awarded a PhD from University of Modena and the excellence centre INFM-CNR-S3 (IT); her doctoral research activity focused on the theoretical modelling of self-assembly and semiconductor surfaces' functionalization with organic molecules.
OPEN POSITIONS:
Postdoctoral research associate in development of computational methods for nanoelectrochemistry
Publications
Journals
Li M, Cucinotta C, Horsfield A, 2024, A computational model for a molecular chemical sensor, Nanoscale, Vol:16, ISSN:2040-3364, Pages:5334-5342
de Tomas C, Alabidun S, Chater L, et al., 2023, Doping carbon electrodes with sulfur achieves reversible sodium ion storage, Journal of Physics-energy, Vol:5, ISSN:2515-7655
Darby MT, Cucinotta CS, 2022, The role of water at electrified metal-water interfaces unravelled from first principles, Current Opinion in Electrochemistry, Vol:36, ISSN:2451-9103
Li M, Cucinotta CS, Horsfield AP, 2022, The influence of surface Fe on the corrosion of Mg, Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids, Vol:170, ISSN:0022-3697