Federico Rosei

Research question

I began my scientific career in Italy, where I studied physics. After a short period in Denmark, I moved to Canada, where I spent a large part of my career before recently returning to Italy to the University of Trieste. During this time, my research gradually shifted toward materials science and applied physics, allowing me to focus on addressing major societal challenges.

Over the past 15 years, my work has centered on solar technologies, particularly photovoltaic materials (like those used in solar cells), photoelectrochemical cells for hydrogen production from water, and solar windows (transparent surfaces capable of generating electricity). In our lab, we design and synthesize new materials, study their properties, and use them as building blocks to develop solar technological devices, which we then test and evaluate for performance.

Sustainability aspects

In my research, I address several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDGs 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 12, and 13. While I thought for a long time that energy (SDG 7) is the bottleneck, I eventually realized that SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) is the most pressing challenge. Our society is increasingly dependent on technology. Take smartphones, for example: our entire lives are stored in them. Yet most of us are unaware of how energy-intensive their production processes are, how toxic or scarce some of the materials used in these devices can be, or how poorly many technologies are designed for recycling.

In short, the energy transition needs to be viewed from a broader perspective. It’s not enough to develop the most efficient solar cells, the entire manufacturing process and end-of-life management must also be sustainable. A similar challenge exists with batteries for vehicle electrification: do we even have enough lithium to meet the increasing demand?