SPECIAL SESSION #11

Maddalena Corsini

University of Siena, Italy

• maddalena.corsini@unisi.it

Raoul Cosenza

University of Siena, Italy

• r.cosenza1@student.unisi.it

The transition towards a hydrogen-based energy economy requires not only highly efficient and durable electrocatalysts, but also sustainable approaches for their design and manufacturing. Recent advances in green synthesis strategies, earth-abundant materials, hybrid architectures, and circular-material approaches are opening new opportunities to reduce the environmental footprint of hydrogen production technologies while maintaining high catalytic performance. This Special Session focuses on sustainable catalyst development, including green synthesis methodologies, critical-raw-material reduction, and circular-material approaches, together with advanced metrological frameworks, multimodal and multiscale characterization strategies, and reliable performance assessment methodologies. Despite significant progress in electrocatalyst design, the reliable evaluation of catalyst performance remains a major challenge due to the complexity of electrocatalytic systems and the lack of universally adopted measurement protocols, benchmarking procedures, and traceable methodologies.The session will provide a forum for discussing innovative approaches spanning the sustainable design and synthesis of electrocatalytic materials, their advanced electrochemical evaluation, and their structural, morphological, chemical, and spectroscopic characterization. Contributions addressing the establishment of robust structure–property–performance relationships, catalyst stability and degradation mechanisms, and the development of reliable testing protocols are particularly encouraged. Special attention will be given to standardization and benchmarking of electrochemical measurements, reference methodologies, reproducibility, uncertainty quantification, and data quality, as these aspects are essential for ensuring reliable performance assessment and accelerating the translation of laboratory-scale discoveries into scalable and industrially relevant hydrogen technologies.

Topics include but are not limited to:

• Green and sustainable synthesis strategies for electrocatalytic materials;
• Earth-abundant, critical-raw-material-free, and circular electrocatalysts;
• Multimodal and multiscale characterization of electrocatalytic materials;
• Structure–property–performance relationships in water-splitting electrocatalysts;
• Standardization, benchmarking, and uncertainty quantification in electrochemical measurements;
• Reproducibility, data quality, and traceable methodologies for catalyst performance assessment.

Maddalena Corsini is Associated Professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry and Electrochemistry at the University of Siena. She received her PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Siena in 2004, with a specialization in electrochemistry. Her research activities have focused on the electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical characterization of coordination compounds and organometallic systems, contributing to the understanding of their redox properties and structure–activity relationships. More recently, her research interests have expanded to the development and electrochemical characterization of nanostructured materials and electrocatalysts based on earth-abundant and non-critical raw materials for green hydrogen production. Her current research integrates electrochemical methodologies with materials characterization, with particular emphasis on the evaluation of electrocatalytic activity, kinetic properties, and charge-transfer processes. Her expertise includes advanced electrochemical techniques, such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for catalyst performance assessment and the investigation of structure–property relationships in hydrogen-production technologies.

Raoul Cosenza is a Research Fellow at the University of Siena, where he obtained both his Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Sciences and his Master's Degree in Chemistry, graduating with honors. His research activity focuses on the electrochemical characterization and performance assessment of inorganic and metal–organic hybrid materials for sustainable energy applications. He is currently involved in research projects combining materials synthesis, electrocatalyst development, and advanced electrochemical evaluation, with particular emphasis on catalytic activity measurements, kinetic analysis, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. He has gained international research experience at the Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany) and has presented his work at national and international conferences through oral and poster contributions. He is co-author of a scientific publication in Electrochimica Acta in the field of water electrolysis and electrocatalytic materials for hydrogen production.