florence.vacandio@univ-amu.fr
Florence Vacandio is assistant professor at Aix-Marseille University since 2001.
After a Master’s degree in Materials Science, and a phD defended in 2000 devoted to the “Electrochemical behavior of AlN coatings elaborated from Cathodic Sputtering”, she then continued her training during a one-year postdoctoral internship at the University “La Sapienza” of Rome where she continued to work on the topic of anti-corrosion coatings.
Since 2017 she is the head of the “Electrochemistry of Materials” (ElMa) group within the MADIREL laboratory. The group’s research activities concern the development of materials by electrochemical (electrodeposition, nanostructuration, electropolymerization) or other methods (PVD, electrospinning, etc.) and their applications in the field of Energy conversion, Energy storage, Corrosion and Health. The group is also specialized in the characterization of the electrochemical properties of these materials (mainly direct current electrochemical methods, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy, batteries cycling tests, corrosion resistance tests on metals and metal alloys).
After beginnings in research in the field of anti-corrosion coatings, she has focused her research for several years on the development of electrodes by electrochemical means and/or by vapor phase deposition (PVD) techniques and their testing/ use in the field of energy storage (production of electrodes and polymer electrolytes (ionomers) for Li-ion and Zn-air batteries).
More recently, she worked on the development of innovative electrodes for various electrochemical reactions of interest, such as the integration of catalytic cores in solid electrodes for the reduction of molecules of interest: reduction of O2 for fuel cell applications and Zn-air batteries, reduction of protons for the production of H2 by electrolysis. Finally the reduction of CO2 into molecules of interest.
All these research activities of more than 50 articles and numerous conference in international congress.
Alongside these research activities, Dr. Vacandio is heavily involved in training. She is responsible for the “Materials Engineering” course of the Master “Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies” of Aix-Marseille University. Her teachings cover a wide range ranging from inorganic chemistry and solutions, from electrochemistry to more specialized fields around materials for various applications. She is also deputy director of the AMUtech institute and her mission consists of various actions to strengthen the link between Training and Research.