Full Professor in General and Inorganic Chemistry (CHIM/03) at the University of Bologna from December 2022. The main scientific interests and expertise, started during the Ph.D. period and matured further on, lie in the synthesis and characterization of high-nuclearity transition metal clusters stabilized by carbonyl ligands.
Education
Cristina Femoni got her Degree cum laude in Industrial Chemistry on 11th November 1994 at Bologna University, Faculty of Industrial Chemistry. During her last year she spent three months within the ERASMUS project at Reading University (U.K.), Department of Inorganic Chemistry.
On November 1994 she passed the Italian state exam.
On January 1995 she obtained a grant from the European Comett Project to work for seven months at the pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim France, Compiègne branch (F).
On 23rd February 1999 she obtained her PhD in Chemical Sciences with a thesis on the synthesis and characterization of multivalent carbonyl clusters. During this period, she was visiting scientist at Liverpool University (UK), Department of Chemistry.
From April 1999 she obtained a two-year grant to work on the project “Molecular Metallic Nanoparticles", at the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry of Bologna University. During that period, she was visiting scientist (six months) at Department of Chemistry, Liverpool University (UK), with Dr. A. Steiner's group.
From 1st July 2001 until September 2014 she was a CHIM/03 assistant Professor at Bologna University, Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry. From October 2014 to December 2022 she was associate Professor at University of Bologna, Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari". In 2014 She got the Italian “abilitazione” as full professor. She is full professor from December 2022.
Teaching
Prof. Cristina Femoni is or was appointed to lecture the following courses for Bacherlor and Master’s Degree courses, both national and international: Laboratorio di Chimica Generale e Inorganica; Materiali Inorganici; X-Ray Diffraction and Laboratory; Laboratorio di Chimica Inorganica; Sustainable Inorganic Chemistry.
Scientific activity
Prof. Femoni is co-author of about 150 papers on international peer-reviewed journals, two book chapters and over 80 communications in national and international congresses (among which invited speaker at the “International Symposium on Monolayer-Protected Clusters ISMPC11", June 6-9 2011, in Jyväskylä, Finland).
Invited scientist in March 2009 presso Department of Physics Nanoscience Center, University of Jyväskylä, Finland.
In 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 she was Invited lecturer at "Katholieke Hogeschool Leuven / Leuven University College" (B), for the 5th, 6th, 7h and 9th edition of the International Week, within EU Educational programme LLP. Invited Lecturer at University College Leuven-Limburg (B) for the “International Chemistry student project” in 2020 and 2023.
She also supervised or assisted around 50 graduated and under-graduated students in their Degree and PhD thesis.
She is member of the editorial board for Journal of Chemistry and Advances in Nanoparticles. Reviewer for the quality of Italian research VQR 2004-2010 and 2010-2014.
The main scientific interests and expertise lie in the synthesis and characterization of high-nuclearity transition metal clusters stabilized by carbonyl ligands.
The interest in the metal-clusters field is justified by the fact that such compounds can be of potential interests in many areas. First of all, some of them, mainly the highest-nuclearity species and/or the ones containing heteroatoms, can be multivalent and exist in more than one oxidation state, thus they can behave as molecular capacitors. They may also possess interesting magnetic properties. Second of all, especially homometallic Pt clusters have shown interesting self-assembly properties in the solid state, giving rise to crystalline infinite wires with semi-conductor properties. Third, metal clusters can represent valid precursors for preparing catalysts with specific characteristics, especially the ones containing more than one type of metal. Last but not least, as cited above, high-nuclearity clusters can reach nanometric dimensions and therefore, owing to the fact that their structure is known at molecular level, they constitute precious precursors and models for the preparation and study of metal nanoparticles.
Projects
La Prof.ssa Femoni participated to various national (PRIN), regional (PRRIITT NANOFABER e PROMINER), European (Progetto Integrato NAIMO), strategic Unibo (CLUSTERCAT) projects, and to the MONA LISA (Metal-Organic-based Nanocrystal Arrays with Large Induced Shape Anisotropy) project funded by the Cariplo Foundation. She is national coordinator for the european Distinct Project.
Other activities
Beside her main scientific activity, Prof. Cristina Femoni has been working with other research groups for the X-ray structural characterizations of their compounds, thanks to the competences acquired during her post-doc studies and developed by working with Dr. Steiner at Liverpool University (UK).
2023-present: Member of the Teaching Learning Centre group of the University of Bologna
2021-present: Deputy Director of the Industrial Chemistry Department “Toso Montanari”
2021-present: elected member of the Advisory Board of the Inorganic Chemistry Division, Italian Chemical Society
2020: Teaching Delegate for the Department of Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari"
2018-present: member of the Dept. Committee for the optimization and organization of the teaching activities
2018-present: elected member of the Administrative Council of the ECTN
2015-2021: Coordinator of the CHIM03 teaching area for the Department
2015-present: member in the Dept. Committee for Internationalization
2011-present: Coordinator of the Quality Assurance working group of the Department of Industrial Chemistry “Toso Montanari”
2011-present: elected by the Faculty (now Department) of Industrial Chemistry as delegate for the European Network EC2E2N-2
2008: member of the committee for the access tests to the first cycle degree of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry
2006: member of the working group that elaborated and filled in the application forms in order to obtain the Eurobachelor® Labels for the three first cycle degrees of the Faculty of Industrial Chemistry. The Eurobachelor® Labels were awarded.
2005: elected as assistant professor representative in the Faculty board. Now the board is open to all assistant professors.
2003 – 2007: member of the committee for orienteering activities for the first cycle degree in “Chimica dei Materiali e Tecnologie Ceramiche”.
2001 – 2010: elected in the executive board of the Department of Physical and Inorganic Chemistry.
2000: nominated by the Inorganic Chemistry Division of the Italian Chemical Society as secretary for the organization of the multidivisional SCI congress in Rimini (4-9 June 2000).
1999 – present: member of the committee responsible for the management of the X-Ray diffractometer Bruker.
