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The Politecnico di Milano backs a discovery published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society
 

Milan, 31 July 2025  – A research team at the Politecnico di Milano has developed an innovative single-atom catalyst capable of selectively adapting its chemical activity. This is a crucial step forward in sustainable chemistry and the design of more efficient and programmable industrial processes.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, one of the world’s most authoritative scientific journals in chemistry.

This achievement is a breakthrough in the field of single-atom catalysts. For the first time, scientists have demonstrated the possibility of designing a material that can selectively change its catalytic function depending on the chemical environment. It involves a sort of 'molecular switch' that allows complex reactions to be performed more cleanly and efficiently, using less energy than conventional processes.

The research focuses on a palladium-based catalyst in atomic form encapsulated in a specially designed organic structure. This structure allows the material to ‘switch’ between two key reactions in organic chemistry — bioreaction and carbon-carbon coupling — simply by varying the reaction conditions.

‘We have created a system that can modulate catalytic reactivity in a controlled manner, paving the way for more intelligent, selective and sustainable chemical transformations,’ explains Gianvito Vilé, lecturer in the ‘Giulio Natta’ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano and coordinator of the study.

In addition to its reaction flexibility, the new catalyst stands out for its stability, recyclability and reduced environmental impact. The ‘green’ analyses conducted by the team show a significant decrease in waste and hazardous reagents.

The study results from an international collaboration with the University of Milan-Bicocca, the University of Ostrava (Czech Republic), the University of Graz (Austria) and Kunsan National University (South Korea).

The study: An Adaptive Palladium Single-Atom Catalyst Enabling Reactivity Switching between Borylation and C-C Coupling
Vitthal B. Saptal, Clara Saetta, Adriana Laufenböck, Martin Sterrer, Ik Seon Kwon, Andrea Lucotti, Matteo Tommasini, Ondřej Tomanec, Aristides Bakandritsos, Giovanni Di Liberto, Gianfranco Pacchioni, and Gianvito Vilé
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2025 147 (22), 18524-18540, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c17943

Image: "Single-atom catalyst for sustainable chemical synthesis applications, featuring intelligent and reconfigurable behaviour"

Real-time monitoring, digital twins and participatory research: unique infrastructure for designing buildings based on health, comfort and the environment.

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A Politecnico di Milano Study Published in Research Policy

Milan, 16 July 2025– After Brexit, London slowed down investments in Europe. While Europe continues to focus on the United Kingdom. A recent study in Research Policy, co-authored by Vincenzo Butticè, Annalisa Croce and Andrea Odille Bosio from the Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering at Politecnico di Milano, and Simone Signore and Andrea Crisanti of the European Investment Fund (EIF) shows these findings.

The research examined more than a decade of venture capital (VC) investments in the UK and EU, distinguishing between pre-announcement, the uncertainty period (2016 referendum to formal exit), and post-Brexit stages. The result was an asymmetric response from investors on the two sides.

Politecnico di Milano’s Business Data Analytics Professor Vincenzo Butticè said: “UK investors reacted immediately, cutting back investments in Europe after the Brexit announcement. European investors, instead, waited for greater clarity before changing their behaviour. This supports the idea that Brexit raised uncertainty in the market for financing innovative entrepreneurship.”

According to the analysis, after the 2016 referendum, UK funds drastically reduced their operations in continental Europe, maintaining a cautious approach and focusing on the domestic market. EU investors waited until after Brexit's official implementation in 2020 before significantly boosting investments in British startups.

A possible explanation is that EU investment growth in the UK may stem from weaker fundraising by British funds, coupled with new partnership strategies between UK and EU investors to navigate post-Brexit barriers, as indicated by the analysis of syndicated investment data from funds in both regions.

The study provides a novel perspective on the reshaping of innovation-driven capital flows across Europe and their lasting implications for the startup ecosystem. Italy, with its modest VC share, can use Brexit as an opportunity to strengthen its foothold in Europe’s investment market.

The Study: Andrea Odille Bosio, Vincenzo Butticè, Andrea Crisanti, Annalisa Croce, Simone Signore, How Brexit reshaped venture capitals market: An analysis of UK and EU investments, Research Policy, Volume 54, Issue 8, 2025,105289, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2025.105289 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733325001180 ).

Results from Politecnico di Milano’s EOS research project published in The European Physical Journal Plus.

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The experimental phase of the WatchEDGE project under the RESTART programme has begun. Wild boar, fallow deer and wolves were placed under observation at the San Rossore Park (Pisa) for the use case focused on monitoring wildlife by combining artificial intelligence, next-generation sensors and innovative connectivity solutions.

The aim is to equip companies and workers in rural areas — from farmers to national park managers — with tools to control phenomena ranging from forest fires to plant pests. In fact, WatchEDGE is developing a technology infrastructure capable of supporting surveillance applications based on AI image processing to create an efficient and sustainable system with potential uses in agriculture, forestry and environmental protection. In particular, the management of wild animals is a growing need, especially in rural areas, where they tend to damage agriculture and spread diseases among livestock. They can also damage the environment. For example, overabundant fallow deer can slow down or even halt the regeneration of the flora they need for food.

The project focuses on integrating processing, storage and communication to create intelligent networks capable of processing data in real time as it travels over the network. CLIK HERE FOR THE PHOTOGALLERY 

Can agriculture and solar energy work together instead of competing? A study led by Maddalena Curioni, Nikolas Galli, Giampaolo Manzolini and Maria Cristina Rulli, researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Energy at the Politecnico di Milano, sheds new light on the potential of agrivoltaics. Published in the prestigious journal Earth’s Future, the paper analyses how the coexistence of photovoltaic panels and agricultural crops can help solve the global conflict over land use.

A study by Télécom Paris and the Politecnico di Milano in Light: Science & Applications

A new method based on optical interferometry, to monitor structural damage to buildings hit by earthquakes in real time. This is the outcome of the Foresight research project, led by the Politecnico di Milano and carried out together with INRiM – the National Metrology Institute of Italy and INGV – the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

The researchers want to exploit the fibre optic systems already in homes to provide an Internet connection, and use them to check the condition of buildings after an earthquake – especially in the period immediately following the first shocks. 

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6th worldwide in Design, 7th in Architecture and 21st in Engineering. Ranked as Italy’s top university. The university’s strong performance across multiple disciplines highlights its interdisciplinary approach and the high regard for its graduates, who are increasingly sought after by Italian and international employers.

Two studies published in Nature Communications analyze the impact of the DART mission on Dimorphos, revealing new strategies to improve asteroid deflection effectiveness through the study of ejecta.

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The Spectra-BREAST research project, which aims to improve breast-conserving surgery for breast cancer treatment, has officially started. Funded by the European Innovation Council under the Pathfinder Open 2024 programme for a total of €3 million, the four-year project involves a consortium of six top institutions with the goal of developing a tool to provide surgeons with real-time information on the presence of residual tumour cells during resection, thereby reducing the risk of recurrence and the need for repeat operations.

The project on “Flexible Ammonia Synthesis Technology for Energy StoRage (FASTER), a collaborative venture between leading European universities and companies, was officially launched at the beginning of January. With a budget of €3 million funded by the European Union, this initiative will develop an innovative and sustainable method for storing green energy with the critical goal of: contributing to a cleaner future and strengthening Europe's energy security.