Giovanni Dotelli

Politecnico di Milano | Polimi · Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta"

Polyamide-based glass fiber reinforced composites are extensively used in electrical and automotive applications due to their excellent mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. However, prolonged exposure to high temperatures can lead to significant degradation, affecting their long-term performance and reliability. This study investigates t...

Heavy metals, such as Pb(II), Cr(III), and Cd(II), are frequently discharged into the environment, resulting in a threat for the health of living organisms. Microalgae represent an ecological method for the removal of these pollutants. The capture capability of active and dried Chlamydomonas reinhardtii towards both mono-ionic and multi-ionic solut...

A central debate is the improvement in the mechanical and water resistance of sustainable earthen architecture without additives or stabilizers. This innovative work aims to test the effects of a graphene-based additive, optimized for the improvement in concrete properties, on the strength and water resistance of raw-earth plasters without any stab...

Several next-generation cells are now being researched to overcome the performance and sustainability limitations of the current Li-ion cells. The aim of this article is to assess the environmental impacts of the following next-generation cells chosen for their potential to meet the performance and safety requirements for future electric vehicle ap...

The disposal of high volumes of organic waste is a global issue. Using organic waste instead of sand as an aggregate material for concrete could reduce the strain on waste treatment processes and on the extraction of finite resources. At the same time, it could be a climate change mitigation strategy, by storing the biogenic carbon contained in the...

Ball milling is a fundamental step of powder metallurgy widely employed for composite manufacturing. This work focuses on the influence of ball milling time on the morphological, electrical, and tribological properties of self-lubricating copper-tungsten disulfide (Cu-WS2) composites. The study investigates ball milling times between 1 and 24 h to...

The controlled supply of bioactive molecules is a subject of debate in animal nutrition. The release of bioactive molecules in the target organ, in this case the intestine, results in improved feed, as well as having a lower environmental impact. However, the degradation of bioactive molecules’ in transit in the gastrointestinal passage is still an...

Process industry renovation is mostly driven by business objectives like productivity enhancement and cost reduction, which hinder the “shift towards a sustainable manufacturing” called by political and academic institutions. In this paper, the project management methodology of Value Engineering, used for cost reduction in large capital projects, i...

Fuel cell electric vehicles are a promising solution for reducing the environmental impacts of the automotive sector; however, there are still some key points to address in finding the most efficient and less impactful implementation of this technology. In this work, three electrical architectures of fuel cell electric vehicles were modeled and com...

Rammed Earth (RE) is a traditional technique based on the compaction of local soil, avoiding long-distance transportation and carbon emissions processes typical of concrete production. Nevertheless, RE presents limited mechanical performances and low resistance against water. Cement is usually added to improve RE properties to comply with the const...

Due to our increasing dependence on resources and energy, climate change is among the most tangible issues we are facing today. The construction industry has been identified as a key sector to intervene in, but mitigation strategies must focus on more than just operational energy. As current climate policies recommend, designers should consider the...

A synthetic approach to bond lysozyme (LY) to commercial natural carriers, namely clay minerals (bentonite, BN; and sepiolite, SP) and commercial zeolite (Phil 75®, PH), already in use in feed formulation, is proposed. The synthetic route, which implies solid–liquid adsorption, is a simple and effective way for preparing hybrid materials characteri...

The appeal of combining polybenzimidazole (PBI) and graphene oxide (GO) for the manufacturing of membranes is increasingly growing, due to their versatility. Nevertheless, GO has always been used only as a filler in the PBI matrix. In such context, this work proposes the design of a simple, safe, and reproducible procedure to prepare self-assemblin...

div class="section abstract"> Since vehicles are comprised of thousands of components, it is essential to reduce the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) modelling workload. This study aims to compare different LCI modeling workload-reducing scenarios to provide a trade-off between the workload efforts and result accuracy. To achieve the optimal balance betw...

A series of poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO)-based anion exchange membranes (AEMs), crosslinked with bis-imidazolium cations, were synthesized and studied as possible ionic conductors for AEM fuel cells. PPO was chosen considering its remarkable thermo-mechanical properties and the possibility to functionalize its backbone in many possi...

This work reports the preliminary results of the development of composite self-assembling membranes obtained by the combination of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with commercial Degussa P25 titanium dioxide (TiO2). The purpose is to demonstrate the possibility of combining, in the same self-standing material, the capability to treat wastewater contai...

Metal matrix self-lubricating composites exhibit outstanding performance in various environments, reaching the required properties by modifying the reinforcement–matrix ratio and the production method. The present research investigated the effects on tribological performance and electrical properties of different pressure loads, maintaining pressin...

The literature on the external costs of food consumption is limited. This study aims at advancing in this field by translating the environmental and health-related impacts generated by the life-cycle of meat into external costs via monetization. The main types of meat consumed in Italy are used as a case study. The potential external costs are esti...

A cradle-to-grave life cycle assessment focused on end-of-life (EoL) was conducted in this study for three configurations of a light-duty commercial vehicle (LDCV): diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG), and battery electric vehicle (BEV). The aim is to investigate the impact of recycling under two EoL scenarios with different allocation methods. Th...

In this work, novel microporous layers (MPLs) were developed based on fluorinated ethy-lene propylene (FEP), as a hydrophobic agent, and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), as a wettability modulator and rheology controller for the inks, which were deposited onto pre-hydrophobized macroporous gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Higher CMC amounts led to higher...

Despite being the most employed polymer electrolyte for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), Nafion® has several limitations: expensiveness, poor performance when exposed to temperatures higher than 80 °C, and its potential as a source of environmentally persistent and toxic compounds (i.e., per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, known as PF...

In the last years, the attention to an eco-friendly development of the building sector has increased the use of green materials, mainly because the construction sector is one of the most polluting. The hemplime block represents a valid option in this direction: it is a valuable product to improve the sustainability of the building. Like any new pro...

Interest towards cellulose nanofibers obtained from virgin and waste sources has seen a significant growth, mainly thanks to the increasing sensitivity towards the concept of circular economy and the high levels of paper recycling achieved in recent years. Inspired by the guidelines of the green building industry, this study proposes the production...

The current built stock in Europe is large and energetically inefficient due to material decay caused by lifelong use and lack of maintenance, combined. New buildings are commissioned and delivered everyday with an environmental cost, calculated using the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The LCA is now widely requested for new assets, while exist...

Waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is constantly increasing in quantity and becoming more and more heterogeneous as technology is rapidly advancing. The negative impacts it has on human and environment safety, and its richness in valuable rare earth elements (REEs), are accelerating the necessity of innovative methods for recycli...

An X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) study of the local structural environment of La ions hosted in montmorillonite is presented. The structural location of La ions in the host phases and whether they are incorporated in the structure or adsorbed at the surface has been assessed. Two clays from the Clay Mineral Society repository (STx and SWy) in...

Sustainability has become of paramount importance, as evidenced by the increasing number of norms and regulations concerning various sectors. Due to its intrinsic trans-sectorial nature, tribology has drawn the attention of the supporters of sustainability. This discipline allows the environmental, economic, and social impacts to be decreased in a...

Nowadays, lithium-ion batteries are widely employed in a lot of applications. Battery aging implies performance degradation of the battery itself. In particular, the battery aging causes capacity reduction and internal resistance increase. The capacity reduction mainly affects the energy that the battery can deliver in each cycle, while the increas...

Nature-based solutions are sustainable building materials produced recovering and enhancing agricultural biomasses which are by-products or waste of crops as, for example, rice, flax or hemp. Specifically, this research investigates the properties of hempcrete which is produced mixing lime, which acts as binder, and hemp shives, as vegetal aggregat...

This study aims to check the compatibility of a selection of waste and recycled biopolymers for rammed earth applications in order to replace the more common cement-based stabilization. Five formulations of stabilized rammed earth were prepared with different biopolymers: lignin sulfonate, tannin, sheep wool fibers, citrus pomace and grape-seed flo...

Up to 500 litres of water may be consumed at the batching plant per cubic meter of ready mix concrete, if water for washing mixing trucks and equipment is included. Demand for concrete is growing almost everywhere, regardless of local availability of freshwater. The use of freshwater for concrete production exacerbates stress on natural water resou...

Innovative nanostructured materials offer the possibility of enhancing the tribological performance of traditional materials like graphite and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). In this study, the scratch resistance of two different copper powders, dendritic and spherical, and their composites with traditional MoS2, nanometric MoS2, and graphene nanoplat...

This work presents a study on the preparation of novel self-assembling naphthalene sulfonate-functionalised graphene oxide membranes, whose analysis aims at assessing their potentiality as an alternative to perfluorinated proton conductors. Three different graphene oxide-to-naphthalene sulfonate molar ratios and two different process temperatures w...

A larger adoption of hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) is typically included in the strategies to decarbonize the transportation sector. This inclusion is supported by life-cycle assessments (LCAs), which show the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emission benefit of replacing internal combustion engine vehicles with their fuel cell counter...

This work deals with the development of graphene oxide (GO)-based self-assembling membranes as possible innovative proton conductors to be used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Nowadays, the most adopted electrolyte is Chemours’ Nafion; however, it reveals significant deficiencies such as strong dehydration at high temperature a...

This data article refers to the paper "Optimizing photovoltaic electric generation and roof insulation in existing residential buildings” [1]. The reported data deal with roof retrofit in different types of existing residential buildings (single-family, multi-family and apartment complex) located in Milan (Northern Italy). The study focus on the op...

This study is a starting point for the development of an efficient method for rare earths (REs) and transition metals (TMs) recovery from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) via a hydrometallurgical process. The capture and release capability of mineral clays (STx) and activated carbons (AC), pristine and modified (STx-L6 and AC-L6) wi...

Traditional techniques of construction using natural and locally available materials are nowadays raising the interest of architects and engineers. Clayey soil is widely present in all continents and regions, and where available it is obtained directly from the excavation of foundations, avoiding transportation costs and emissions due to the produc...

Sustainable building materials have been developed to reduce the polluting emissions and the exploitation of natural resources of the building sector. Among these materials, an outstanding category is that of nature-based solutions which are produced recovering waste or by-products of agricultural cultivations and using them as vegetal aggregates t...

Hempcrete is a natural building material obtained mixing hemp shives (i.e., the woody core of the hemp plant) with a lime-based binder and water. Hempcrete as construction material is gaining increasing interest as the EU aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. This material has, in fact, the ability to uptake carbon dioxide from air (i.e., via...

As the hydrogen market is projected to grow in the next decades, the development of more efficient and better-performing polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) is certainly needed. Water management is one of the main issues faced by these devices and is strictly related to the employment of fluorinated materials in the gas diffusion mediu...

Hemp-lime is one of the nature-based solutions developed since the early 2000s to reduce the huge environmental impact of the building sector; it is produced mixing lime with hemp shives produced by the scutching of industrial hemp plants. The production of such material determines the recovery and enhancement of by-products of agricultural cultiva...

Refurbishing existing buildings to reduce energy use is a priority worldwide to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Millions of buildings around the globe have old roofs that are poorly insulated, but with large roof surface areas that could potentially provide significant renewable energy generation. Often, photovoltaic panels are simply added onto e...

Reaching nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) standards through retrofit can be achieved by adopting controlled procedures and assessment tools. The main issue of operational energy consumption before and after refurbishment should be calculated with reliable predictive models to support investment payback time evaluations. For that purpose, dynamic...

In this preliminary study, a set of self-lubricating copper-tungsten disulfide (Cu-WS2) composites are prepared via a powder metallurgy route to analyze the effects of solid lubricant concentration on their tribological, electrical and wettability properties. An extensive characterization is performed to preliminarily assess the potential applicati...

The importance of earthen construction materials lies in their widespread availability combined with a low embodied energy. Chemical stabilizers are commonly used to improve their durability and mechanical performance. The main drawbacks are the high environmental impact of their production, the loss of recyclability, and the possible reduction of...

Il settore delle costruzioni occupa un ruolo centrale in una prospettiva di sostenibilità ambientale, essendo tra i principali responsabili del consumo energetico, delle emissioni di biossido di carbonio e della produzione di rifiuti annuali globali. Il rinato impiego del legno in edilizia, la costruzione di edifici energeticamente efficienti media...

Friction and wear are responsible for around 23% of the energy consumption in transportation, manufacturing, power generation, and residential sectors. Employed components are exposed to a wide range of operational conditions, therefore a suitable material design is fundamental to decreasing tribological issues, energy consumption, costs, and envir...

The current traditional mechanical recycling of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) grinds the waste into granulate, yet the resulting secondary material quality is strongly dependent on the efficiency of the selection processes, leading to the requirement of an integration of fossil PET to assure the bottle-grade quality is reached. Instead, the nove...

In the framework of Circular Economy policies aimed at reducing the consumption of raw materials, shives, an agricultural by-product of hemp cultivation, have gained a renovated life in the construction sector; new building materials, suitable for various executive techniques, have been developed exploiting the excellent thermal insulating properti...

Nanocellulose-based materials are attracting an increasing interest for the positive role they could play in sustainable development; being originated from renewable resources. Moreover, cellulose has a high potential of recycling from both post-consumer waste and industrial waste. Both factors, i.e., recyclability and renewable resources; results...

This paper is focused on the experimental characterization of the mechanical behaviour of hemp-lime block. To this purpose two different mechanical test are considered. After a preliminary geometric characterization of blocks and fibers a series of compression tests were carried out to characterize the elastic Young modulus and the compressive stre...

The diffusion of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) is projected to influence the electricity grid operation, potentially offering opportunities for load-shifting policies aimed at higher integration of renewable energy technologies in the electricity system. Moreover, the examined literature emphasizes electricity as a relevant driver of BEVs Life C...

This work aims to investigate the environmental consequences of using forest products as a replacement for conventional construction materials. A cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was carried out to compare a semi-detached timber house located in Italy versus an equivalent building with conventional construction technologies (concrete and...

In this work, Ca-montmorillonite (STx), natural and modified (STx-L6) with a linear penta-ethylene-hexamine (L6), were tested as sorbents in a liquid/solid process for La and Cu capture in bionic model solutions. Twelve La/Cu ratios in solution were set and analyzed with the final target of investigating the capture mechanisms when both Cu and La a...

This paper presents the results of an environmental assessment of a Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) Lithium-ion traction battery for Battery Electric Light-Duty Commercial Vehicles (BEV-LDCV) used for urban and regional freight haulage. A cradle-to-grave Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) of NMC111 is provided, operation and end-of-life stages are included,...