Daniela Iacopino - Staff Researcher

Dr Daniela Iacopino obtained her master degree in Chemistry from Universitá di Pavia (Italy) in 1995 and a PhD in Chemistry from Universitá di Modena (Italy) in 2000. Between 2000 and 2002 Daniela worked as postdoctoral fellow in the department of Chemistry of University College Dublin on a EU FP6 project (BIOAND) on the biofunctionalisation of Au nanoparticles with DNA for electronic applications. At the end of the project in 2002 Daniela moved to Tyndall (then NMRC) as postdoctoral fellow and spent four years working on template fabrication and characterization of polymer nanowires with enhanced optoelectronic properties. Since 2006 Daniela has been a staff researcher in the Nanotechnology group of the Tyndall National Institute. Since 2012 Daniela leads the Integrated Nanomateirals (INMs) team, whose research focus on synthesis and integration of nanostructured materials into devices for sensing and energy storage applications. Specifically, the team has recently pioneered the fabrication of graphene-like electrode materials from biodegrable sources and renewable precursor materials. Such materials offer opportunities for development of sustainable wearable sensors and energy storage solutions. Daniela is Funded Investigator in CONNECT and VistaMilk SFI research centres and has a long history of research funding including participation to national (SFI, EI, IRC) and international (EU FP6, FP7, H2020, HE21/22) frameworks both as partner and PI. Daniela has graduated 4 PhD students and has supervised over 15 master and visiting students. Daniela is chair of the Empowering Women committee in Tyndall.

The team research interest focus on the development of functional nanoscale materials with tailored electronic properties for sensing and energy storage applications. Specifically in the last 5 years we have developed low cost, flexible and versatile electrochemical sensors for health, food and environmental monitoring based on laser induced graphene (LIG) and lateral flow sensors for detection of pathogens in milk. Within Tyndall my team has pioneered the field of “Sustainable materials for IoT” through the development of supercapacitors and electrochemical sensors from naturally sourced cork and chitosan biomaterials. Remarkably, the performance of these devices are comparable to their “unsustainable” counterparts, thus opening the way for the realisation of fully compostable sensors and energy storage solutions. Another field of interest is the application of such devices to cultural heritage monitoring (humidity/gas sensors) and preservation (spectroscopy and diagnostic). The team has been involved in four EU projects on cultural heritage and also works in close collaboration with the department of Modern Irish in UCC on an IRC funded project focusing on Irish Gaelic manuscripts analysis. 

Research Grants

Funder	Start Date	End Date	Title	Role
Enterprise Irl	08-NOV-09	08-DEC-09	Hybrid Molecule/Nanocrystal Assemblies for Sensing Applications	Principal Investigator
Enterprise Irl	30-MAR-10	30-JUN-12	Co-ordination Support	Principal Investigator
Enterprise Irl	08-OCT-10	30-OCT-15	Travel Support	Principal Investigator
Irish Research Council	01-OCT-15	30-DEC-17	GOIPD/2015/716 - Surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) for art conservation	Principal Investigator
Horizon 2020	01-JUN-15	30-NOV-18	EU - H2020 NANORESTART - NANOmaterials for the REStoration of works of ART	Principal Investigator
Science Foundation of Ireland	01-AUG-18	31-DEC-20	Low-cost Solid Polymer Electrolytes in Rechargeable Thin Film Batteries for Secure Smartcards	Principal Investigator
Science Foundation of Ireland	01-SEP-18	31-AUG-24	VISTAMILK CENTRE_PLAT	Principal Investigator

Teaching Interests

Nanotechnolgy, nanomaterials, chemistry, spectroscopy, electrochemistry.