Nunzio TUCCITTO

 Italiano

Name: Nunzio Tuccitto
Date and Place of birth: 24/10/1979, Siracusa (Italy)
Nationality: Italian

Current position
Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry

Former Positions
From 07/11/2016 to 07/11/2019
Researcher (art. 24, comma 3 lettera b) della legge n240/2010, per il s.c. 03/A2 MODELLI E METODOLOGIE PER LE SCIENZE CHIMICHE – s. s. d. CHIM/02. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Catania)
From 31/12/2014 to 06/11/2016
Researcher (art. 24, comma 3 lettera a) della legge n240/2010, per il s.c. 03/A2 MODELLI E METODOLOGIE PER LE SCIENZE CHIMICHE – s. s. d. CHIM/02. Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Catania)
From 14/10/2009 to 30/12/2014
Project specialist c\o Ecocontrol SUD s.r.l., Priolo Gargallo (SR) Italia
From 02/01/2007 to 12/10/2009
Post.Doc. at Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Catania
From 09/09/2003 to 09/12/2003
Research fellow, Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Università degli Studi di Catania

Institutional assignments

• member of the board ("giunta") of the Department of Chemical Sciences of the University of Catania
• vice-coordinator of the PhD school in Materials Science and Nanotechnology
• member of the Scientific Council of the University Service Centre for Research and Innovation in Bio and Nano - technologies - BRIT

Awards
Italian Scientific Abilitation (SECONDA fascia per il sc 03/A2 - Modelli e Metodologie per Le Scienze Chimiche, since 2014)

Prof. Nunzio Tuccitto received the “Best Work-In-Progress Paper Award” from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) as part of the 11th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (ACM NanoCom 2024), Milan, Italy, October 28-30, 2024.

Prof. Nunzio Tuccitto has been awarded the Distinguished Oral Presentation Award for the outstanding talk given at the Physical Chemistry Sessions of the XXVII National Congress of the Italian Chemical Society, 14-23 September 2021, entitled: "Quantum Dots Enable Digital Communication Through Biological Fluids"

Beynon Prize of Royal Society of Chemistry, for the best article 2009-2010 on "The Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry" journal
Honour mention for Premio Primo Levi 2009
Best presentation awards at Convegno Congiunto delle Sezioni SCI Calabria e Sicilia 2010 Università degli Studi di Palermo
Winner of talent show FAMELAB-2018 Catania

Incarichi Istituzionali

• membro della giunta del Consiglio di Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche dell'Università degli Studi di Catania
• vice-coordinatore della scuola di dottorato in Scienza dei Materiali e Nanotecnologie
• membro del Consiglio Scientifico del Centro di Servizi d'Ateneo per la ricerca e l'innovazione in Bio e Nano - tecnologie - BRIT

Main research activities:
Nanomaterials for Molecular Communication
Innovative Materials for Drug Delivery in Farming
Big Data Management and Processing

Bibliometry
H-index ≥ 20
Citations ≥ 1600

Active Research Projects

1. “INFORMATION TRANSFER BETWEEN MEDICAL DOCTORS AND IMPLANTED MEDICAL DEVICES VIA ARTIFICIAL MOLECULAR COMMUNICATION” - ERMES
Funding institution: EU - EIC Pathfinder Open Horizon Europe
Funding: €3,700,000
Role: General Coordinator
Activity: Coordination and testbed development for Molecular Communication
Duration: 2025-2028

2. “Exploring non-conventional superconductors for energy applications by molecular magnets” - SUPERMOL
Funding institution: CNR - Cascade Call PNNR
Funding: €200,000
Role: Head of Local Unit
Activity: Characterization of molecular magnets by mass spectrometry
Duration: 2023-2024

3. “SiciliAn MicronanOTecH Research And Innovation Center”
Funding Body: MUR - PNNR
Funding: 23'00'000 €
Role: WP leader
Activity: Coordination of the 60 researchers involved in WP 2 ENVIRONMENT
Duration: 2022-2025

Already Finalized Projects

1."Un Village transfrontalier: pour protéger les cultures arboricoles méditerranéennes en partageant les connaissances (PROMETEO )"
Funding body: Programma ENI CT Italia-Tunisia 2014-2020
Total Budget: 1'00'000 €
Role: Vice-president of the Steering Committee; Principal Investigator of operational department unit
Activity: Mass spectrometry protocols applied to plant pathology
Duration: 2021-2023

2.“Sviluppo di NAnomateriali e Tecnologie Innovative per Smart detection” (NATI4SMART)
Funding body: Università degli Studi di Catania
Total Budget: 1’200’000 €
Role: Principal Investigator
Activity: Development of Carbon Nanoparticles for applications in Molecular Communication
Duration: 2020-2022

3.“The Technology Transfer and Capitalization of Water Energy Food NEXUS. (WEF – CAP)”
Funding body: European Union
Total Budget: 70’000 €
Role: Department Principal investigator
Activity: Communication and Dissemination
Duration: 2021-2023

4.“Smart and innovative packaging, post-harvest rot management and shipping of organic citrus fruit (BiOrangePack)”. 
Funding body: MIUR Programma PRIMA-MED entitled “Research & Innovation Action Work” related to Topic 2.3.1 “RIA Extending shelf-life of perishable Mediterranean food products by sustainable technologies and logistics and by optimized pest and microbial control”
Total Budget: 1’250’000 €
Role: “WPleader”  and “Chair Person” of “Executive Board”
Activity: Development of innovative materials for citrus packaging
Duration: 2019-2022

1.“Sviluppo di Mascherine Antidroplet in Plastica Sostenibile Ottenuta dagli Scarti del Latte” (SMASCHERATE)
Funding body: MUR Programma FISR COVID
Total Budget: 80’000 €
Role: Principal Investigator of local unit
Activity: Testing of functional properties of templates (BFE, DeltaP)
Duration: 2021-2022

2." Chemical messengers for digital molecular communication (CheMoCo)”
Funding body: Università degli Studi di Catania PIANO PER LA RICERCA (LINEA DI INTERVENTO 2 "DOTAZIONE ORDINARIA")
Total Budget: 15’000 €
Role: Principal Investigator
Activity: The aim of the CheMoCo project is to develop a 'revolutionary' digital communication platform based on molecular messengers to encode and transfer complex information on macroscopic scales through biological fluids.
Duration: 2016-2018

3." Interruttori conformazionali peptidici: progettazione, sintesi ed applicazioni”
Funding body: MIUR FIRB-Giovani (Coordinatore Prof.ssa Marta De Zotti)
Total Budget: 75’000€
Role: Principal Investigator of local unit (decreto MIUR n. 1737 del 13 luglio 2017)
Activity: Functional investigation of surface peptides
Duration: 2017-2018

4." Investigating inter-particle interfacial interactions at the water/air interfaces”
Funding body: Beamline SIRIUS del sincrotrone SOLEIL di Sant-Aubin (Francia)
Total Budget: beam-time
Role: Co-proposer
Activity: Grazing angle X diffraction at the water/air interface with synchrotron light
Duration: June 2018 (6 D)

5." Studying the structural and molecular origin of the piezoresistive behavior of conjugated polymers”
Funding body: ID03 del sincrotrone di Grenoble (ESRF) Francia
Total Budget: beam-time
Role: Co-proposer
Activity: Grazing angle X diffraction of conductive polymers
Duration: September 2017 (6 D)

Visiting Scientist 
University of Oviedo (Universidad de Oviedo). November 2007 (two weeks). At the laboratory of Espectroscopia Làseres y Plasma directed by Prof. Bordel, N.T. was involved in research for the study of the interaction between pulsed plasmas and polymeric materials.
University of Ferrara, May-July 2006, at Professor Rampi's laboratories. Here, N.T. was invited to participate in the development of new techniques for the construction of nano-junctions that allow the measurement of the electrical properties of molecular wires for electron transport.

Conferences
N.T. participated in the organization of the following international congresses:

1. 9th Workshop on Molecular Communications, CATANIA, ITALY, April 9-11, 2025 (General co-chair)
2. Physical Chemistry @ Surface and Interfaces International School of Physical Chemistry, CATANIA, ITALY, 2-6 JULY 2018
3. 1st European Conference on Physical and Theoretical Chemistry and XLII Annual Meeting of the Physical Chemistry Division of SCI, Catania,14-18/09/2015 (EuChemS) and XXXIX congress 
4. 18th International Conference on Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, Riva del Garda, 18-23/09/2011

N.T. was invited
1. to present an “Invited Keynote” at the 9th Workshop on Molecular Communications, held at Conventry- Univeristy of Warwick, UK, in April 2022
2. to present an “Invited Lecture” at the Scuola SUperiore of the University of Catania, as part of the activity “ Research Pills ” 2018
3. to present an “Invited Lecture” at the international congress SIMS 21, 2017, held in Warsaw in September 2017
4. to present an “Invited Keynote Lecture ” at the international congress EMRS Spring Meeting 2017, which was held in Strasbourg in May 2017
5. to present an “Invited Keynote Lecture ” at the international congress EMRS Fall Meeting 2016, which was held in Krakow in September 2016
6. to give a seminar at the Department of Chemical Science, University of Ferrara, on 6/19/2016

Achievements in technology transfer
Agreements with companies
MCX srl - research activities concerning the processing of data from chemical-physical surveys on samples and sites of interest to the Contractor.
Tèkne srl - processing of chemical-physical data from surveys of sites of interest to the Contractor.

Main foreign collaborations (as reflected in scientific production):
Prof. Z. Postawa group, topic: Simulation of ToF-SIMS depth prof. of organic materials,Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
Prof. L. Houssiau group, topic: ToF-SIMS depth prof. of organic materials, Namur Institute of Structured Matter (NISM) Unité de recherche interdisciplinaire de spectroscopie électronique (LISE) Belgium.
Prof. G. S. Hanan group, topic: Synthesis of Nanomaterials, Département de Chimie, Université de Montréal, 2900 Edouard-Montpetit, H3T- IJ4, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Prof. A. Delcorte group, Soft Material Characterizzation, Institut de la Matie re Condens ee et des Nanosciences (IMCN), Bio & Soft Matter (BSMA), Universit e catholique de Louvain (UCL), Belgium
Prof. G. E. Thompson group, topic: Surface Science, Corrosion and Protection Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, The Mill, Sackville St., Manchester, M13 9PL, UK.
Dr. Agnes Tempez, topic:Plasma Mass Spectrometry, HORIBA Jobin Yvon, 16/18 rue du Canal, 91160, Longjumeau, France
Dr. D. Cossement, topic:Plasma Polymers, Materia Nova Research Center, Parc Initialis, Avenue N. Copernic 1, B-7000 Mons, Belgium
Prof. K. D. Jandt, topic: Biomaterials, Institute of Materials Science & Technology (IMT), Chair in Materials Science, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Leobdergraben 32, 07743 Jena, Germany
Prof. N. Bordel group, topic: Mass Spectrometry, Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Oviedo, 33006 Oviedo, Spain

Professional Membership
Member of the Italian Chemical Society
Vice-coordinator the Doctorate in Materials Science and Nanotechnology
Member of the Department Board (Giunta)

PhD. Student's Supervisor
Fichera L: “Nanomaterials for wave-denied communication” 
Calì F. "Nanomaterials as chemical messengers for molecular communication" 
Corsaro; P. "Nanomaterials for sensors to determine anthropogenic air pollutants by means of drones" 

Post-Doc's Supervisor
Dr. Messina G.M.L.: “Interruttori conformazionali peptidici: progettazione, sintesi e applicazioni” (2018)

 Italiano

Nanomaterials for Molecular Communication

At this historical moment, 5G is spreading globally to reach all users who have the necessary technological support available. In the meantime, we as researchers, together with some of the most inspired companies in industry, are already devising new methodologies and developing new technologies for what we might call the 'next-generation of communication', or simply next-G or n-G. By n-G, we do not mean higher bandwidth, faster, or more energy-efficient communication methodologies. We are not talking about 6- or 7G. Our perspective is more forward-looking. The n-G we are dealing with will allow to connect devices in environments hitherto inaccessible to wireless technologies based on electromagnetic waves. In fact, there are extreme environments that simply do not allow the use of wave-based wireless systems, the literature calls them 'wave-denied'. Such environments are characterised by conditions that cause signal loss because the communication channels are buried or embedded. Representative examples of such environments are the vessels through which biological fluids travel in animals or plants (veins and arteries, xylem and phloem, etc.). Through these channels, with a clearly biomimetic approach, future implanted biomedical devices or diagnostic-therapeutic biorobots will need to exchange information in order to coordinate and perform the theranostic functions for which they were designed. Today, on the diagnostic side, it is already possible with implanted biosensors to detect small variations in temperature that are a symptom of emerging infections, to determine the presence of specific markers of pathologies, to insert intelligent probes capable of detecting abnormal biochemical activities, and so on. On the therapeutic side, there are sophisticated implantable biomedical devices for the direct and punctual release of drugs or microprobes capable of performing real localised operations with low invasiveness, to name but a few. What is missing is the interconnection between them. There is no platform on which to exchange the information needed to make the individual biodevices into a single connected system that communicates, working in unison under the control of a rational central system. Other emblematic 'buried or embedded' environments are underground utilities, sewage or water distribution systems in cities. Or underground channels for sub-irrigation, sub-fertilisation and sub-treatment, which are becoming increasingly common in research into advanced agricultural systems. Or again, confined spaces such as those found in plants in the oil and gas industry, full of intricate piping and shielding steel equipment that make wireless communication impossible. Likely applications of the n-G in such environments include the possibility of monitoring the status of such underground utilities with underground and networked IoT sensors, which is currently impossible to achieve wirelessly. Or the remote control and coordination of micro-robots used in the maintenance/repair of such underground channels or inside pipes and shielded equipment. In short, as is now publicly acknowledged by the main global leaders in telecommunications, it is necessary to conceive, design and implement a new physical layer for these wave-denied environments. The same environments, in addition to being 'buried or embedded' can also be 'hostile' because they are characterised by fraudulent attacks or eavesdropping. The availability of new 'secure' communication methods is of strategic importance in the context of the politics of dominance in a world that is now entirely interconnected. As history has amply demonstrated from the time of Caesar's cipher in Roman times to the German military's infamous Enigma machine cleverly decrypted by Polish mathematicians, having the ability to establish encrypted communication in hostile contexts can make the difference between triumphing or succumbing.

In response to these crucial challenges, the scientific community has devised communication platforms based on new information carriers to replace electromagnetic waves. The approach is avowedly bio-inspired and brazenly traces the mechanisms that nature, over thousands of years of evolution, has refined to pass on information to offspring or to regulate the biochemical cycles underlying the proper functioning of functional organs. The ingenious criteria for encoding the genetic heritage, the sophisticated and efficient mechanism for translating this information leading to protein synthesis, or the regulation of energy metabolic cycles entrusted to hormones, are some paradigmatic examples of the use of molecular systems as 'information carriers'. We have devised particles of the order of a few nanometres in size ('nanoparticles') which we conveniently prepare synthetically. Our conjecture is to use them as information carriers: 'information nanoparticles', we usually call them.
For more information:

1. Calì, F., Fichera, L., Trusso Sfrazzetto, G., Nicotra, G., Sfuncia, G., Bruno, E., Lanzanò, L., Barbagallo, I., Li-Destri, G., Tuccitto, N. Fluorescent nanoparticles for reliable communication among implantable medical devices (2022) Carbon, 190, pp. 262-275. 10.1016/j.carbon.2022.01.016
2. Calì, F., Fichera, L., & Tuccitto, N. (2022). Comprehensive step-by-step procedure to setup a molecular communication through liquid experiment. MethodsX, 101736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101736
3. Calì, F., Fichera, L., Tuccitto, N. Effect of Channel Radius on Fluorescent Nanoparticle Based Molecular Communication (2022) Chemosensors, 10 (1), art. no. 29, . DOI: 10.3390/chemosensors10010029
4. Fichera, L., Li-Destri, G., Tuccitto, N.Graphene Quantum Dots enable digital communication through biological fluids(2021) Carbon, 182, pp. 847-855. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1016/j.carbon.2021.06.078
5. Calì,F., Cantaro, V., Fichera, L., Ruffino, R., Trusso Sfrazzetto, G., Li-destri, G., Tuccitto, N.Carbon quantum dots from lemon waste enable communication among biodevices(2021) Chemosensors, 9 (8), art. no. 202, . HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.3390/chemosensors9080202
6. Fichera, L., Li-Destri, G., Tuccitto, N.Nanoparticles as suitable messengers for molecular communication(2020) Nanoscale, 12 (44), pp. 22386-22397. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1039/d0nr06999j
7. Fichera, L., Li-Destri, G., Tuccitto, N.Fluorescent nanoparticle-based Internet of things(2020) Nanoscale, 12 (17), pp. 9817-9823. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1039/d0nr01365j
8. Li-Destri, G., Fichera, L., Zammataro, A., Trusso Sfrazzetto, G., Tuccitto, N.Self-assembled carbon nanoparticles as messengers for artificial chemical communication(2019) Nanoscale, 11 (30), pp. 14203-14209. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1039/c9nr04461b
9. Fichera, L., Li-Destri, G., Ruffino, R., Messina, G.M.L., Tuccitto, N.Reactive nanomessengers for artificial chemical communication(2019) Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 21 (29), pp. 16223-16229. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1039/c9cp02631b
10. Tuccitto, N., Li-Destri, G., Messina, G.M.L., Marletta, G.Reactive messengers for digital molecular communication with variable transmitter-receiver distance(2018) Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 20 (48), pp. 30312-30320. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1039/c8cp05643a
11. Tuccitto, N., Li-Destri, G., Messina, G.M.L., Marletta, G.Fluorescent Quantum Dots Make Feasible Long-Range Transmission of Molecular Bits(2017) Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 8 (16), pp. 3861-3866. HTTP://DOI.ORG/10.1021/acs.jpclett.7b01713