(18 March 2016) Cooperation agreements between Italy and the US include scientific research, with the bilateral project “Development of porous and magnetic metallacrowns for sensor applications”, coordinated by Matteo Tegoni of the Chemistry Department of the University of Parma. The project was chosen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as a “Highly Relevant Bilateral Project” for the 2016-2017 biennium, and is part of the joint Declaration on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Italy and the United States, signed in Rome on 14 January. The research will be developed in collaboration with Vincent L. Pecoraro’s research team from the Department of Chemistry of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (USA). The study received financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Directorate General for the Promotion of the Country System. Specifically, the project involves the development of a class of chemical compounds called “metallacrowns”, studied for over 15 years by Tegoni and his research team. These metallacrowns have peculiar luminescence, magnetism and ion recognition properties, resulting from their metal ions structure. The research objective is to develop solid state porous materials that contain metallacrown units, which can change their magnetic properties depending on the absorption of guest molecules within the pores of the solid. (Sip)
