UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sara Andreoli, a postdoctoral researcher who recently completed her appointment with the Earth and Mineral Sciences Energy Institute at Penn State, received the esteemed 2022 EMS Postdoctoral Excellence in Research Award.
The award, which includes a cash stipend and a memento, is designed to celebrate a postdoctoral scholar’s outstanding achievements in research that have and will impact their field of study. Andreoli was honored at a college-wide awards ceremony on April 24.
“Sara’s excellence in research is rooted in her passion for science, learning and innovation and nurtured by her hard work with sacrifice, resilience and persistence,” said her adviser, Semih Eser, professor of energy and geo-environmental engineering. “Since she joined our laboratory, Sara ignited our research activity and was instrumental in securing funding for over ten different research projects from internationally renowned companies that are leaders in their areas.”
In addition, Eser said, Andreoli contributed to his research group’s collaborative research program with the department of chemical engineering at Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain.
Andreoli’s research deals with the structure and properties of carbon materials. Four specific research projects included research on carbon-supported catalysts for hydrodechlorination of chloromethanes; characterization and selected oxidation of carbon/carbon and carbon/metal composites; carbonization of refinery streams for producing needle coke as a precursor to synthetic graphite; and preparation and characterization of activated carbons from different hardwood species and characterization of activated carbons from polymers.
“In my research, I assess and tune structure and properties of carbon materials to improve materials performance and quality, and to find new applications,” Andreoli said. “My work is oriented toward a better selection of raw materials and processing techniques to reduce environmental impact, energy consumption and cost of the final products and processes.”
In each of her projects, Andreoli’s work advanced the preparation, modification and characterization of the carbon materials, improving their performance in industrial applications and environmental remediation.
Andreoli’s passion for her work is rooted in the fact that chemistry is found everywhere.
“Chemistry is sometimes called the “central science” because it touches all other natural sciences, like biology, physics, and geology,” Andreoli said. “I never end up doing the same thing over and over in my field. It is such dynamic work. You never get bored.”
Andreoli received her doctorate in chemistry in 2017 and her bachelor of science in 2011 and master of science in 2013, both in industrial chemistry, all from the University of Bologna in Italy.
Upon graduation, Andreoli was a postdoctoral researcher for the University of Bologna before receiving the Toso Montanari Fellowship to pursue her research abroad. She joined the Penn State EMS Energy Institute as a visiting scholar in 2017 and then as a postdoctoral scholar in 2018.
She has authored eight journal publications, received two patents, and given eleven presentations.
In her spare time, Andreoli enjoys cooking, solving jigsaw puzzles, painting with watercolors and spending time with her husband and son.
She said she is very honored to receive the award and never imagined being able to pursue her research in the U.S. for the last five years.
“At the very beginning it was scary,” she said. “I had never been in the U.S. before, but I have been so lucky because I found such nice people at the Energy Institute, and that made everything so much easier. They really are a second family for me.”
Andreoli completed her appointment at Penn State in June to join Morgan Advanced Materials as a materials scientist. The company is a global manufacturer of specialist products using carbon, advanced ceramics and composites for a broad range of markets.