Heterogeneous Catalysis

Giovanni Palmisano is a Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates, where he leads research activities mostly focussed on photocatalysis. In Khalifa University he has developed and taught PhD level courses on heterogeneous catalysis and heterogeneous photocatalysis for the past 10 years. He has been main advisor of 9 PhD and MSc students and, overall, he has 15 years of experience in photo‐ and electro‐catalytic processes. His current research activities are mainly focused on photocatalysis applied to water, environment, materials functionalization, energy and organic chemistry. He is co‐author of ca. 110 highly cited journal papers, seven patents, six books and six book chapters. He is associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering and reviewing editor of Frontiers in Chemistry among others.

Affiliations and expertise

Samar Al Jitan is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates, in 2021. Her current research focuses on developing efficient photocatalytic systems for the conversion of CO2 into fuels. Samar received her B.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from the American University of Sharjah (UAE) in 2015 and her M.Sc. degree in Chemical Engineering from Khalifa University of Science and Technology in 2017. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Engineering from Khalifa University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Dr. Giovanni Palmisano. Samar’s research interests and expertise include photocatalytic reduction processes, advanced oxidation processes, photocatalytic conversion of CO2, photocatalytic degradation of VOCs, photocatalytic wastewater treatment, synthesis and surface modification of photocatalysts, advanced material characterization and analytical chemistry techniques. She is the co‐author of 3 book chapters, 2 of which are on photocatalysis.

Corrado Garlisi is a R&D project manager at AGC Glass Europe, Belgium. He obtained his PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Khalifa University, United Arab Emirates. His main research fields are: heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis and thin-film coatings for glass functionalization. Corrado received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from University of Palermo (Italy). Before pursuing his PhD, he did a two‐year fellowship at ENEA ‐ Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Development ‐ in Brindisi (Italy). Afterwards, he joined Khalifa University of Science and Technology, where he received his PhD in Interdisciplinary Engineering. His research interests include smart glass, heterogeneous catalysis, advanced oxidation technologies, photocatalytic water treatment and nanotechnology. His expertise is mainly focused on thin film deposition by PVD and CVD techniques, optical, morphological, structural characterization of materials and catalyst testing. He is the co‐author of 28 articles in peer‐reviewed journals, 2 book chapters on photocatalysis and 1 US patent.