Chiara Neto

Last updated
Chiara Neto
Alma mater University of Florence
Scientific career
Institutions University of Ulm
Saarland University
Australian National University
University of Sydney
Website Neto Lab

Chiara Neto is an Italian Australian chemist and Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Sydney. Her research considers functional nanostructures and the design of new materials for sustainable technologies. She is the former President of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society and was selected as an Australian Research Council Future Fellow in 2018.

Contents

Early life and education

Neto studied chemistry at the University of Florence. [1] [2] She remained there for her doctoral studies. [1] Neto moved to the University of Ulm, where she spent a year as a postdoctoral scholar before joining Saarland University. [1] She moved to Australia in 2003, where she spent three years as an Australian Research Council Fellow at the Australian National University. [3]

Research and career

In 2007 Neto was appointed a Lecturer at the University of Sydney, where was promoted to Full Professor in 2020. [3] Her research considers biomimicry and the creation of functional structures inspired by nature. [3] [4]

She has created superhydrophobic surfaces that, imitating a lotus leaf, repel water and keep clean. Such nanostructured materials can be used in situations where repelling liquids and preventing fouling is advantageous, for example, the food industry. [3] In certain scenarios, such as ships moving through water, the flow of fluids against solid surfaces is crucial for performance. [5] By engineering the topography of solid surfaces, Neto can precisely control and study the flow of fluids that interact with them. This allowed Neto to design surfaces layers that allow ships to move efficiently through water, reducing power consumption. [3] Neto has demonstrated that functional coatings can be used to capture atmospheric water from air, reducing humidity and alleviating any water scarcity. [3]

Awards and honours

Select publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydrophobe</span> Molecule or surface that has no attraction to water

In chemistry, hydrophobicity is the physical property of a molecule that is seemingly repelled from a mass of water. In contrast, hydrophiles are attracted to water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dilatant</span> Material in which viscosity increases with the rate of shear strain

A dilatant material is one in which viscosity increases with the rate of shear strain. Such a shear thickening fluid, also known by the initialism STF, is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid. This behaviour is usually not observed in pure materials, but can occur in suspensions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultrahydrophobicity</span> Material property of extreme resistance to wetting

In chemistry and materials science, ultrahydrophobic surfaces are highly hydrophobic, i.e., extremely difficult to wet. The contact angles of a water droplet on an ultrahydrophobic material exceed 150°. This is also referred to as the lotus effect, after the superhydrophobic leaves of the lotus plant. A droplet striking these kinds of surfaces can fully rebound like an elastic ball. Interactions of bouncing drops can be further reduced using special superhydrophobic surfaces that promote symmetry breaking, pancake bouncing or waterbowl bouncing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquid</span> State of matter

A liquid is a nearly incompressible fluid that conforms to the shape of its container but retains a nearly constant volume independent of pressure. It is one of the four fundamental states of matter, and is the only state with a definite volume but no fixed shape.

Hydrophobic silica is a form of silicon dioxide that has hydrophobic groups chemically bonded to the surface. The hydrophobic groups are normally alkyl or polydimethylsiloxane chains. Hydrophobic silica can be processed in different ways; such as fumed silica, precipitated silica, and aerosol assisted self assembly, all existing in the form of nanoparticles.

The School of Chemistry, University of Sydney is a school of the Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superhydrophobic coating</span> Water-repellant coating

A superhydrophobic coating is a thin surface layer that repels water. It is made from superhydrophobic (ultrahydrophobicity) materials. Droplets hitting this kind of coating can fully rebound. Generally speaking, superhydrophobic coatings are made from composite materials where one component provides the roughness and the other provides low surface energy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Self-assembly of nanoparticles</span>

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Polyurethane Dispersion, or PUD, is understood to be a polyurethane polymer resin dispersed in water, rather than a solvent, although some cosolvent maybe used. Its manufacture involves the synthesis of polyurethanes having carboxylic acid functionality or nonionic hydrophiles like PEG incorporated into, or pendant from, the polymer backbone. Two component polyurethane dispersions are also available.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Chiara Neto. OCLC   4780094077.
  2. "Loop | Chiara Neto". loop.frontiersin.org. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Staff Profile". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  4. Business, Lights Camera (2018-10-26), Chiara , retrieved 2021-02-12{{citation}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  5. "Sydney scientists claim billions can be saved from revolutionary new coating". Splash247. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  6. "2018 ARC Future Fellowships and Linkage Project success for Sydney". www.myscience.org. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
  7. "Emerging research pioneers championed with fellowships". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 2021-02-12.