Maila Danielis is a researcher (RTDA) at the University of Udine in the Catalysis for Energy and Environment Group. Her Master’s and Ph.D. theses were developed focusing on methane abatement catalysts for automotive exhaust gas after-treatment applications at the University of Udine. Starting from her PhD, she has been developing an ongoing collaboration with the Catalysis: Reactivity and Structure (CRS) Group of Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, NY, and she has worked closely with several industrial partners. Her interests lie in heterogeneous catalytic applications for air pollution abatement for the valorization of small waste molecules into higher-value feedstock, and in the simultaneous improvement of the sustainability of employed catalyst preparation routes.

Andrea Braga is a post-doc researcher at the University of Udine at the Catalysis for Energy and Environment laboratory at the Polytechnic Department of the University of Udine. He studied Materials Science at the University of Padua, writing his Master’s thesis on synthesizing plasmonic gold nanoclusters for targeting cancerous tissues and exploiting the Raman SERRS spectroscopy for the localization of the tumoral cells. Before joining UniUD, he worked at the Technical University of Catalonia to obtain a Ph.D. in Chemical Processing Engineering, studying bimetallic heterogeneous catalysts to produce hydrogen from the methane steam reforming process and focusing on characterization under reaction conditions and on the mechanochemical synthesis of the materials. He is now involved in the “Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem” (iNEST) project in collaboration with other universities of Triveneto for CO2 capture and valorization from industrial flue gases. Prior to university, he gained experience in analytical chemistry working in the laboratories for the analysis of the aqueduct and the wastewater treatment plants of the Vicenza province; between the end of his M.Sc. and the beginning of his Ph.D., he also worked in the industry in an R&D laboratory researching master alloys for jewelry and noble metal alloys.

Dr. Núria J. Divins works at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain). In 2017, she was presented with an Outstanding Ph.D. award. Her research interests mainly include ceria; catalysis; x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy; photoemission; nap-xps; ap-xps; pd-pt; and the oxidation of methane. Her scientific output includes 43 publications, corresponding to 1872 citations (h-index 21) (Scopus, 21 November 2023).

Jordi Llorca graduated and earned his PhD in Chemistry at the University of Barcelona, where he was later appointed associate professor and Ramón y Cajal Fellow. In 2005, he joined the Technical University of Catalonia as a professor, and in 2014, he became full professor as a Serra Húnter Fellow. He has been a visiting professor at several universities. He received the Distinction of Generalitat de Catalunya to the Promotion of the University Research, the Humbert Torres Prize, and the ICREA Academia in 2009, 2014, and 2019. He has been Director of the Institute of Energy Technologies, Director of the Center for Research in NanoEngineering, and Director of the Barcelona Research Center in Multiscale Science and Engineering. In 2017, he became an academic member of the Institute for Catalan Studies, Division of Science and Technology. He is the vice-rector for research at UPC. He has an h-Index of 69, and his papers have been cited more than 18,800 times (Scopus, 20 November 2023). He has authored 10 patents and created two spin-offs. His work focuses on developing efficient catalysts for energy and environmental applications. Asteroid 2013 WD1 was named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union.

Alessandro Trovarelli has been a professor of Industrial Chemistry at the University of Udine (Italy) since 2003. Before joining the University of Udine he was a visiting scientist at the University of Oregon and Colorado State University. He is the head of the Catalysis for Energy and Environment laboratory at the Polytechnic Department of the University of Udine. He has worked in the area of heterogeneous catalysis for over 30 years. His main scientific interest is in the preparation, characterization, and testing of heterogeneous catalysts with particular attention to materials containing rare earths. The major applications investigated are the elimination of noxious compounds from car exhaust (NOx, VOC, and soot), the production of hydrogen for fuel processors in fuel cell applications, and chemical reactions for energy applications. He is currently on the Editorial Board for Applied Catalysis B: Environmental and the Journal of Rare Earths. He is the 2015 Recipient of the Ford Motor Company University Research Program Award and the 2022 recipient of the Giacomo Levi Medal award of the Division of Industrial Chemistry of the Italian Chemical Society. He is the author/co-author of ca. 200 articles and 7 international patents and served as guest editor for several special issues and books dedicated to the applications of ceria-based compounds in catalysis.

Sara Colussi is associate professor of Industrial Chemistry at the Polytechnic Department of the University of Udine, and a member of the Catalysis for Energy and Environment group since 2002. She received her Master's degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Trieste in June 2002, and her PhD in Chemical and Energetic Technologies at the University of Udine in May 2006. Her research interests involve palladium-based catalysts, particularly on ceria or ceria-containing supports, for the abatement of methane and VOC emissions from natural gas-fuelled vehicles, and metal-based catalysts for CO2 valorization reactions. Currently, the mechanochemical preparation of supported catalysts is one of her most relevant research topics. She is author/co-author of more than 50 international papers in the field of heterogeneous catalysis and presenter at national and international conferences. She serves as a reviewer for several international journals, and is member of the Board of the PhD in Environmental and Energy Engineering Science at the University of Udine.