Dr. Giacomo Melani

Former Postdoctoral Research Scholar

Education

• Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry magna cum laude, Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, DE (2019); Advisor: Peter Saalfrank
• M.Sc. in Physical Chemistry, University of Pisa, IT (2015); Advisor: Maurizio Persico
• B.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Pisa, IT (2013); Advisor: Maurizio Persico

Professional Affiliations

• Member of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE)
• Member of the Italian Chemical Society (Physical and Didactics Divisions)
• Member of the Italian Society of Statistical Physics (SIFS)
• Member of the American Physical Society (APS)
• Member of the American Chemical Society (ACS)

Areas of Interest

• Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations
• First-principles electronic structure methods
• Theoretical vibrational spectroscopy
• Surfaces, interfaces, and aqueous systems

Experience

• 2022-Present: Postdoctoral Researcher, Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
• 2019-2021: Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, University of Zurich (CH)
• 2015-2019: Ph.D. Researcher in Theoretical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam (DE)
• 2015-2019: IMPRS Ph.D. Research Fellow, Fritz-Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society, Berlin (DE)

Awards

• "Forschungskredit" Fellowship for Postdoc Researchers, University of Zurich, Switzerland (2020)
• Ph.D. Scholarship by the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) on "Functional Interfaces in Physics and Chemistry", Fritz-Haber Institute of the MPG, Berlin, Germany, 2015

Publications

• Yanhua Yue, Giacomo Melani, Harald Kirsch, Alexander Paarmann, Peter Saalfrank, R. Kramer Campen, and Yujin Tong
  Structure and Reactivity of α‑Al₂O₃(0001) Surfaces: How Do Al−I and Gibbsite-like Terminations Interconvert?
  J. Phys. Chem. C, XXX, XXX (2022)
• Giacomo Melani, Juan Pablo Guerrero-Felipe, Ana M. Valencia, Jannis Krumland, Caterina Cocchi, and Marcella Iannuzzi
  Donors, acceptors, and a bit of aromatics: electronic interactions of molecular adsorbates on hBN and MoS₂ monolayers
  Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24, 16671 (2022)
• Giacomo Melani, Yuki Nagata, and Peter Saalfrank
  Vibrational energy relaxation of interfacial OH on a water-covered α-Al₂O₃(0001) surface: a non-equilibrium ab initio molecular dynamics study
  Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 23, 7714 (2021)
• Giacomo Melani, Yuki Nagata, R. Kramer Campen, and Peter Saalfrank
  Vibrational spectra of dissociatively adsorbed D2O on Al-terminated α-Al2O3 (0001) surfaces from ab initio molecular dynamics
  J. Chem. Phys. 150, 244701 (2019)
• Giacomo Melani, Yuki Nagata, Jonas Wirth, and Peter Saalfrank
  Vibrational spectroscopy of hydroxylated α-Al₂O₃(0001) surfaces with (and without) water: an ab initio molecular dynamics study
  J. Chem. Phys. 149, 014707 (2018)
• Foudhil Bouakline, Ulf Lorenz, Giacomo Melani, Guennadi K. Paramonov, and Peter Saalfrank
  Isotopic effects in vibrational relaxation dynamics of H on a Si (100) surface
  J. Chem. Phys. 147, 144703 (2017)
• Giovanni Granucci, Giacomo Melani, Maurizio Persico, and Piet van Leuven
  Energy selection in nonadiabatic transitions
  J. Phys. Chem. A 122 (2), 678–689 (2018)