University of Puerto Rico
Mayagüez Campus
Chemistry Department
Departmental Seminar
Celebrating the 75th. Anniversary of the ACS of Puerto Rico
by
Dr. Lisandro Cunci
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras.
Friday March 3rd, 2023, 10.30 am
and
Reunión de Microsoft Teams
Haga clic aquí para unirse a la reunión
ID de la reunión: 218 200 186 388 Código de acceso: 4wWVnw
Electrochemical biosensors and
nanomaterials electrocatalysts for energy research.
Neurochemistry research:
Different neurological diseases such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and Alzheimer’s, are related to how neurotransmitters are released in neurons. Neuropeptides, a specific type of neurotransmitters, produce responses correlated to stress factors, appetite, and pain. Neuropeptide Y (NPY), with stress-relieving properties, its presence or absence in the body, is related to learning and memory, obesity, and blood pressure. Measurement of NPY is important to study, but similarity between structures with other peptides makes them difficult to detect using conventional techniques. The development of a biosensor with higher selectivity and high temporal and spatial resolution is necessary for this molecule. For that, we are developing selective aptamer-modified electrodes to detect changes in the concentration of NPY. The use of the aptamers allows us to take advantage of the binding with NPY molecules that produces structural changes in response and can be monitored using electrochemical techniques.
Electrocatalysts for energy research:
One key research area for Dr. Cunci’s lab is the development of non-platinum group metal and non-metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which are essential for the mass production and use of alkaline membrane fuel cell and green hydrogen production. These reactions are currently limited by sluggish kinetics and catalyst degradation, and platinum group-based catalysts are the most active but also the most expensive and scarce. By gaining a deeper understanding of how electrochemical reactions affect the atom-atom distances in catalysts under in situ and operando conditions, our lab hopes to improve the activity and durability of non-platinum group catalysts and reduce the reliance on expensive and scarce materials.
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Dr. Lisandro Cunci is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras. He received his bachelor’s degree in Materials Science Engineering in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2008 where he started doing research on electrochemistry during his last year working in wired and wireless corrosion sensors at Det Norske Veritas (DNV) in Dublin, OH during his engineering thesis under the mentoring of Dr. Sridhar Narasi. He obtained his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry in 2013 at the University of Puerto Rico under the mentoring of Dr. Carlos Cabrera developing nanomaterials as electrocatalysts for the oxidation of ammonia.
As a Postdoctoral Fellow, he developed electrochemical biosensors for cancer that led to a startup company (BIDEA, LLC) where he is the Vice-President and a US patent. Dr. Cunci has been developing sensors and electrocatalysts for different applications for the last 15 years, with a specific application for biological analytes in microelectrodes and improving the oxygen reduction reaction for the last 10 years in collaboration with researchers at different universities in the US and Puerto Rico. His group was the first to publish the use of continuous electrochemical impedance measurement for adsorption monitoring in brain implantable microelectrodes, with several publications in important journals such as Analytical Chemistry, ACS Applied Nano Materials, ACS Omega, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, among others.
Dr. Cunci has been part of different research and education efforts with federal and state funding from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Department of Education, Puerto Rico Science, Technology, and Research Trust, among others. He has mentored more than 50 students in research in Analytical and Instrumental Chemistry thanks to the support obtained from all these funding sources.
Currently, Dr. Lisandro Cunci is the Chair-Elect for the American Chemical Society, Puerto Rico Section and will be the President during 2014.
