Schedule of Presentation:
11:30-12:30 on 4th April 2017
Jenny Alongi
University of Milan, Department of Chemistry
Polymer flammability represents a major limitation to their employment and thus to the development of most polymer-based advanced materials. Environmental and safety concerns are leading to progressive phasing out of versatile and effective halogen-based and green flame retardants which can ensure a satisfactory fire hazard control.
Among the intensive efforts developed up to now, environmentally safe, polymer fire protection approaches, the recognition of the paramount role played by the polymer surface during combustion and the exploitation of the new nanotechnologies developed for polymer surface engineering offer a promising perspective for polymer fire retardancy.
Here it is shown that through engineering the material surface by the deposition of Layer-by-Layer assemblies, oxidic nanostructures derived from sol-gel and dual-cure processes or biomacromolecules-base coatings, polymer combustion is slowed down to its self-extinguishment, complying fire safety rules for specific applications, through the creation of a surface barrier to heat and mass transfer across the polymer surface.
Biosketch of Prof. Jenny Alongi
Jenny Alongi was born in Genoa on May 14, 1977. On July 2002, she got the Master Degree in Chemistry at the University of Genoa, Italy. On February 2003, she won a fellowship for the Ph.D. programme (XVIII cycle) in Sciences, Technologies and Chemical Processes, in Chemical Sciences at the University of Genoa, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. On May 2006, she achieved the Ph.D. Degree by discussing a thesis on “Synthesis, characterization, performances and application fields of nanocomposite systems”. A part of her Ph.D. thesis was developed in France at INSA, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées, Lyon, and in Germany at IPF, Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung, Dresden. On March 2006, she got a post-doctoral grant on self healing polymer materials at the Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry of Genoa University; later on, she won a Fellowship for Junior Researcher in Industrial Engineering at the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy, where she was employed in the research activities on polymer materials and nanostructures, as well as smart fibres and textiles. Then, Dr. Alongi had a Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researcher in Materials Science and Technology on the flame retardancy of textiles at the Department of Applied Science and Technology, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy. Subsequently, she moved to the Department of Chemistry, University of Milan, where she is currently employed as Assistant Professor.
She is author of 97 peer-reviewed publications, 1 book and 5 book chapters, responsible of the Commission for Young Researchers of Associazione Italiana Macromolecole (2008-2010), and is actively working on Regional, Italian and European research projects, as well as bilateral contracts with Italian and foreign enterprises.
She is member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of Fire Science; she is also referee for Cellulose, Carbohydrate Polymers, European Polymer Journal, Polymer Degradation and Stability, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Chemical Engineering Journal, Polymers for Advanced Technologies, Fibers and Polymers, Fire and Materials.
