FREN
courbe en fond

Former staff and alumni



Main Research Activities

This PhD project would be part of the ARTISTIC project, financed by the European Research Council (ERC), whose aim is to develop and demonstrate a novel theoretical framework devoted to rationalize the formulation of composite electrodes for high-energy density secondary batteries. This PhD will contribute to the development of the Coarse Grained Molecular Dynamics (CGMD) method for the simulation of electrodes fabrication. In detail this method will be used to study the effect of slurry preparation and evaporation on the electrodes mesostructures. Moreover, the study of the physics governing the calendaring process will be studied as well. This physics is strongly dependent on the mechanical properties of the electrodes components (active material, conductive additive and binder). To study this process, on the electrode structures previously generated using the CGMD, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) will be used.  A particular attention will be given to the mechanism of deformation and destruction of aggregates and their effect on the electrochemical performance of the electrode. To achieve this aim, the open source software LAMMPS will be used. The obtained results will be compared to experimental ones, to validate the computation models. Finally, the optimization of the force field necessary to perform the CGMD simulation will be performed coupling the developed models to machine learning algorithms.  

Academic Training

  • Master thesis at the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris, France (March 2018-July 2018); title of the thesis: Development of electrochemical methods to determine plugs volume and velocity in droplet-based microfluidics: Towards analytical strategies to detect the content of merged plug.
  • Collegio Superiore of Bologna (2016-2018).
  • Master degree in Photochemistry and Molecular Materials at the University of Bologna (2016-2018); final score: 110/110 cum laude.

Bachelor degree in Chemistry at the University of Catania (2013-2016); title of thesis: stepwise synthesis, on oxides surfaces, of organic systems for molecular electronics; final score: 110/110 cum laude.


Professional skills

UV-VIS absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, IR and Raman spectroscopy, soft lithography, photolithography, microfluidics, use of potentiostat, calorimetry, Thermal gravimetric analysis, flash chromatography, able to use the common instrumentation of a chemistry laboratory; Molecular dynamics (LAMMPS), Discrete Element Method (LIGGGHTS).

Running Projects

ARTISTIC, 2018-2023, ERC


Functional data-driven framework for fast forecasting of electrode slurry rheology simulated by molecular dynamics

Marc Duquesnoy, Teo Lombardo, Fernando Caro, Florent Haudiquez, Alain C. Ngandjong, Jiahui Xu, Hassan Oularbi, Alejandro A. Franco

npj computational materials, 2022

Experimentally Validated Three-Dimensional Modeling of Organic-Based Sodium-Ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing

Teo Lombardo, Fanny Lambert, Roberto Russo, Franco M. Zanotto, Christine Frayret, Gwenaelle Toussaint, Philippe Stevens, Matthieu Becuwe, Alejandro A. Franco

Batteries & Supercaps, 2022

The ARTISTIC Online Calculator: Exploring the Impact of Lithium-Ion Battery Electrode Manufacturing Parameters Interactively Through Your Browser

Teo Lombardo, Fernando Caro, Alain C. Ngandjong, Jean-Baptiste Hoock, Marc Duquesnoy, Jean Charles Delepine, Adrien Ponchelet, Sylvain Doison, Prof. Dr. Alejandro A. Franco

Batteries & Supercaps, 2022

Artificial Intelligence Applied to Battery Research: Hype or Reality ?

Teo Lombardo, Marc Duquesnoy, Hassna El-Bouysidy, Fabian Årén, Alfonso Gallo-Bueno, Peter Bjørn Jørgensen, Arghya Bhowmik, Arnaud Demortière, Elixabete Ayerbe, Francisco Alcaide, Marine Reynaud, Javier Carrasco, Alexis Grimaud, Chao Zhang, Tejs Vegge, Patrik Johansson, and Alejandro A. Franco

Chemical Reviews, 2021

Carbon-Binder Migration: A Three-Dimensional Evaporation Model for Lithium Ion Batteries

Teo Lombardo, Alain C. Ngandjong, Amal Belhcen, Alejandro A. Franco

Energy Storage Materials, 2021

export all publications in a txt file