Luca Vialetto

Bio: Luca Vialetto earned his master's degree in physics at the University of Padua (Italy) in 2017, with honour. His doctoral studies were conducted at the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (Eindhoven, the Netherlands), with focus on computational modeling of plasmas for conversion of CO2 into chemicals. He obtained the PhD in Applied Physics in November 2021 at the Eindhoven University of Technology, with honour. After that, he was employed as a postdoctoral researcher at Kiel University (Germany). Luca's research interests include plasma physics and chemistry, data driven models, and high performance computing. He is the recipient of the 2021 Student Award for Excellence given at the 74th Gaseous Electronics Conference and of the 2023 Rutherford Plasma Physics Communication Prize given by IOP.

Postdoctoral research project: Plasma-assisted nitrogen fixation in water.  Conventional processes for chemical fertilizers contribute to a large fraction of the global greenhouse gases emission. One alternative solution for decentralized and carbon neutral fertilizer production is to use weakly ionized gases, often called plasmas, which can be generated by renewable electricity. Putting ionized air in contact with water, plasma activated water (PAW) can produce reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) directly in water to improve seed germination and plant growth. This project focuses on development of novel theoretical and computational models for investigating the plasma-liquid interaction. In synergy with experiments, such models can help us understand the complex coupling of multiple physical and chemical processes that play an important role in RONS formation and scaling up the plasma-based energy applications. 

Research focus:  Energy Conversion & Storage - Sustainable Nitrogen Fixation

Advisors:  Ken Hara - Aeronautics and Astronautics  |  Mark Cappelli - Mechanical Engineering

Education

Ph.D., Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands (2021)M.S., Physics, University of Padua, Italy (2017)B.S., Physics, University of Padua, Italy (2015)