Davide Altamura

EMail
0805929163
Orcid
Scopus

Davide Altamura
Institute of Crystallography
Research

Nutrheff Thematic
Food processing technology

Research Interest and expertise in the field of nutraceuticals and functional food
Structural characterization by Scanning X-ray diffraction/absorption microscopy of protein-based films with TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) for functional and biodegradable food packaging. Sodium caseinate or whey protein-based films have been studied by SAXS and WAXS exploiting a synchrotron-class laboratory microsource. TiO2 NPs improve mechanical properties; formulations with oil (sunflower or corn) nanodroplets were aimed at including functional molecules for food preservation.

Keywords: X-ray microscopy, SAXS, WAXS, protein films, TiO2 nanofillers, oil nanodroplets, food packaging, edible, biodegradable, circular economy

Nutraceuticals and foods of interest
Any food to be packed in films

Fields of application
Structural characterization at the atomic and nano scales, to be applied to any free-standing film or solutions involving crystalline materials, nanoparticles and aggregates, as well as amorphous films with possible density gradients.

Facilities and equipments
https://www.ic.cnr.it/laboratorio/xmi-lb/ Imaging X-ray diffraction facility for molecular and atomic scale analysis of fabrics, natural or engineered biotissues, thin films, nanocomposites, nanostructured surfaces, nanocrystal assemblies, polymers. Rotating anode Fr-E+ superbright microsource (Cu) coupled to a SMAX3000 camera (Rigaku). Beam spot of 70 to 100 microns diameter. Detectors: multiwire Triton, up to 2 m sample-to-detector distance (SDD); Image Plate (IP) with RAXIA scanner, for a 3 cm up to a 20 cm SDD. Kapton windows can be inserted to keep the sample at atmospheric pressure (fligth tube at about 10-1 mbar). Data collection: small and wide angle scattering data in transmission (SAXS / WAXS) or reflection mode (GISAXS / GIWAXS), absorption; scanning SAXS and simultaneous average WAXS; simultaneous SAXS and WAXS. 2D scattering/absorption microscopies processed by the in-house developed software ( https://www.ic.cnr.it/software/sunbim/ ).