Professor Chiara Neto leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists and engineers with a keen interest in interfacial phenomena. The group employs a comprehensive array of advanced characterisation techniques to elucidate the nanoscale mechanisms underpinning innovative antifouling, droplet-shedding, and water-harvesting coatings.
Professor Chiara Neto
Professor
School of Chemistry
Room 349
+61 2 9351 2752
chiara.neto@sydney.edu.au
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Chiara Neto received her Masters degree in Chemistry (1998) and PhD (2001) at the University of Florence, Italy. Her PhD work focused on experiments on surface forces and interfaces using the atomic force microscope. In 2002-2003 she worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Ulm in the Department of Applied Physics, headed by Prof. Stephan Herminghaus and at Saarland University, in the group of Prof. Karin Jacobs, working on the dewetting of thin polymer films. Between 2003 and 2006 she worked as an Australian Research Council postdoctoral fellow at the Australian National University in the Department of Applied Mathematics, working on nanorheology and micropatterning. In 2007 she moved to the University of Sydney, where she is currently a Professor in Physical Chemistry and ARC Future Fellow. Since 2012 Chiara Neto has been on the Board of Directors of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society.
Dr Isaac Gresham
Postdoctoral Researcher
School of Chemistry
Room 331 +61 2 9351 7730 isaac.gresham@sydney.edu.au Orcid | Google Scholar | LinkedIn
Isaac joined the Neto group in late 2021 as a postdoctoral researcher after completing his PhD at the University of New South Wales. During his PhD, he used landmark infrastructure at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering to resolve the structure of solvated polymer interfaces. His PhD project transformed Isaac from a chemical engineering grad into some combination of an interface scientist, polymer chemist, data analyst and handyman.
His current project seeks to understand why covalently tethered nano-thin layers of silicone oil molecules behave as if they were a liquid interface.
Dr Reza Azadi
Postdoctoral Researcher
School of Chemistry
Room 331 +61 2 9351 7730 reza.azadi@sydney.edu.au Orcid | Google Scholar | LinkedIn
Reza joined the Neto group in early 2024, having spent the previous eight months as a postdoctoral associate in the Fluids & Interfaces Group, where he mainly applied optical flow measurement techniques to investigate shear-thinning mesoscale Taylor-Couette flows. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Alberta, where he used high-speed optical systems and micro-PIV to examine cavitating non-Newtonian flows, studying the impact of shear-thinning and pressure gradients on near-wall turbulence and drag reduction. Reza’s current project focuses on scrutinising drag reduction and slip at liquid-liquid interfaces and liquid-infused surfaces.
Mr Leo James
PhD candidate
School of Chemistry
Room 331 +61 2 9351 7730 ljam8326@uni.sydney.edu.au
Leo joined the Neto group at the start of 2023 as a PhD research student after completing his Bachelors’s and Masters’s degrees at UNSW. At UNSW, Leo fabricated and characterised branched ruthenium nanoparticles for water-splitting catalysis and worked in collaboration with DuPont Water Solutions to develop novel ultra-filtration (UF) membrane technologies. Leo is continuing this trend of water-based research with the Neto research group and industry partner MicroTau. Under the supervision of Prof. Chiara Neto and co-supervisor Dr. Daniele Vigolo, he aims to understand microfluidic flow mechanisms for improving drag reduction of lubricant-infused surfaces.”
Ms Giulia Innocenti
Visiting Researcher
School of Chemistry
Room 331 +61 2 9351 7730 giulia.innocenti@sydney.edu.au ResearchGate
Giulia is a visiting PhD student from the Università di Genova, Italy. She joined the group on January 2025 and will be here for about six months. She wroks on the loss of lubricant from infused surfaces in a turbulent flow. Here is Giulia’s ResearchGate link.
Visitors
- Erhan Ertekin, Visiting undergraduate student, February-April 2025, from the University of Rochester. Project: Biofouling on slippery, covalently attached liquid surfaces.
- Cynthia Chen, Denison undergraduate student January-February 2024, from the University of Sydney. Project: nucleate boiling on slippery, covalently attached liquid surfaces.
- Aidan Principe, Visiting undergraduate student May-August 2024, from the University of Toronto. Project: Characterisation of slippery covalently attached liquid surfaces using ellipsometry.
- William Kristo, Visiting undergraduate student January-May 2024, from the University of Texas at Austin. Project: Slippery covalently attached liquids on microtextured steel surfaces
- Elena Colusso, Visiting Researcher March-April 2024, from the University of Padova. Project: Liquid-like sol-gel coatings
- Fabio Figueiredo, Visiting PhD student February 2024, from the Sapienza Università di Roma). Project: Molecular dynamics of slippery covalently attached liquids.
- Laura Tricas, Visiting Student August 2022 – January 2023
- Kosta Tsoukalas, Undergrad volunteer July 2022
- Seamus Lilley, Undergrad volunteer June-July 2022
- Margot Attali, Visiting Master student 2020, Microfluidic flow on liquid-infused surfaces.
- Owen Schumacher, Visiting Master student 2020, Dropwise condensation on porous polymer surfaces.
- Roisin D’Art, Visiting Master student 2019, Food safe surface via liquid infused surfaces.
- Felix Vuellers, Visiting PhD student 2017, Contact line movement over structured surfaces.
- Truis Smith-Palmer, Visiting Professor, 2016-2017, from the Department of Chemistry at St Francis Xavier University, NS, Canada.
- Nan Gao, Postdoc, 2017, “Contact line dynamics on micro-patterned surfaces”.
Alumni
- Jae Hyung Cho, visiting researcher, 2024-2025, “Fabrication of novel slippery surfaces”.
- Dr. Geosmin Turpin, Postdoc, 2022-2024, “Developing the next generation of more durable and environmentally friendly nanofibers-integrated paints”.
- Seamus Lilley, Honours Student 2023, “Detection of Gas Nano and Micro Layers at the Oil-Water Interface”.
- Dr. Anthony Katselas, PhD Student, 2019-2023, “Surface Coatings for the Enhancement of Atmospheric Water Capture“.
- Dr. Jun Hong, PhD Student, 2018-2023, “Liquid-Infused Surfaces for Anti– Thrombogenic Cardiovascular Medical Devices”.
- Chris Vega, PhD Student, 2018-2022 “Fluid Slip On Lubricant-Infused Surfaces“.
- Liwen Zhu, Postdoc 2016-2021, “Industry linkage program – the application of Janus nanoparticles in paint formulations”.
- Sam Peppou-Chapman, PhD student, 2017-2020; “Distribution and Deplection of Lubricant on Anti-fouling Lubricant-infused Surfaces”.
- Dr Riccardo Parin, Postdoc Nov 2019-Oct 2020; “Advanced Capture of Water from the Atmosphere”.
- Dr Renzo Fenati, Postdoc 2019-2020; “Anti-fouling properties of liquid-infused surfaces”.
- Ahmed Owais Mohamed Ahmed, PhD student, 2017-2020, “Driving Forces for Wetting and Adsorption on Functional Surfaces”; Now employed by the vibrational spectroscopy node in Sydney Analytical at the University of Sydney.
- Liam Scarratt, PhD student, 2015-2018, “Wetting and liquid flow on lubricant infused nano- and micro-structured surfaces”.
- Anthony Katselas, Honours student, 2018 – 2019, “The halogen bond driven self-assembly of 1-iodoperfluorododecane on graphite”.
- Monica Tonelli, Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar, 2017-2018, “Surface modification of cement surfaces”.
- Elena Colusso, Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar, 2017-2018, “Patterning of sol-gel films”.
- Erin Humphries, Summer Scholar, 2016-2017, “Anti-biofouling SLIPS surfaces”.
- Jun Ki Hong, Honours Student, 2016-2017,”Self-assembled perfluorocarbon monolayer functionalisation of silicon surface driven by halogen bonding”.
- Cameron Ware, Honours student, 2016, “Fabrication and characterisation of slippery lubricant infused polymeric wrinkled surfaces”.
- Omar Al-Khayat, PhD student, 2013-2016, “Dewetting polymer bilayers by solvent vapour annealing: A pathway to manufacturing biomimetic water harvesting surface coatings”; now working at Laing O’Rourke Engineering Excellence Group.
- Elliot Wood, Honours student, 2015-2016, “Fabrication of self-assembled mono-, Bi- and trilayers based on halogen bonding”.
- Hien Duong, Postdoc 2014-2016; “All-polymeric Janus nanoparticles”.
- Ms Keyun Shou, Honours 2015; “Self-assembled monolayers based on halogen bonding”.
- Mr David Beck, Honours 2015; “Dewetted polymer patterns for atmospheric water capture”.
- Manuel Ghezzi, PhD student “Functional surface micropatterns by dewetting of thin polymer films” 2012-2015.
- Wei Zhao, Postdoc; “New polymers for water capture”.
- Ben Hoatson, Summer scholar, 2014, “Polymeric superhydrophobic surfaces”.
- Stuart Thickett, Postdoc; “Micro patterned surfaces for water capture”, 2009-2010; then “Micropatterning of proteins and cells on dewetted thin polymer films” 2010-2012; current Vice-Chancellor’s Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, CAMDI, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of New South Wales.
- Thomas Lee, Honours student, “The origin of the contact electrification of insulators” 2009; then PhD student 2010–2013 “Tunable nanopatterns formed by polymer brushes”. Now postdoc in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Andrew Michael Telford, PhD student “Advanced functional coatings for biomedical applications: patterning cells onto biomaterials” 2008-2011, then Post-doc 2011-2013. Now postdoc at the Experimental Solid State Physics department, Imperial College London.
- Eric Charrault, Postdoc 2012-2014; Now postdoc at the Mawson Institute, university of South Australia, Adelaide.
- Liwen Zhu, PhD Student 2009-2012, “Reliable measurement of slip using colloid probe atomic force microscopy”.
- Say Kwang Lim, “Covalent protein immobilisation and patterning on thin polymer films”, MSc 2012. Honours student “Preferential protein adsorption on micro-phase separated block-copolymer thin films” 2009. Now Assistant Chemist at Nanosonics, Sydney.
- Yusuf Ziya Sahin, Graduate Diploma student, 2009. Thesis title: “Investigating nanowire growth using block copolymer templates”.
- Tanushan Samuel-Thambiah, Honours student, 2009, “An investigation into the properties and applications of nickel nanowires”.
- Veronica Fung, Summer Scholar, 2008, “Superhydrophobic Nickel Nanocarpets”.
- Kyle Joseph, Honours student 2008, “Nanocarpets and More: Control over Surface Wettability and Patterning using Metallic Nanowires”.
- William Brant, Summer scholar, 2007, “Electrodeposition of Nickel nanocarpets”.
Dewpoint Ltd.
Dewpoint Innovations is a deep tech start-up born in 2022 out of research in the Neto group on atmospheric water capture. We put paint into climate action. Find out more.
