Bio

I like to define myself as an aspiring 360° scientist. What does that mean? Well, that it is a strong wish of mine to collect as much knowledge as possible in what are (at least in my opinion) the three main fields of science: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

This is why, after having received my Master in Mathematics at the University of Turin, Italy, I worked as a Ph.D. student in Physics at the University of Bremen, Germany. Recently I've been hired by the University of Stanford, USA, to proceed my academic path with a Post-doc position at the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis.

I will put all my efforts to provide the scientific community with important insights and discoveries.

Professional Education

  • Master of Science, University of Turin (2016)
  • Doctor of Science, Universitat Bremen (2021)
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Turin (2014)
  • PhD, University of Bremen,Germany, Physics / Electrical Engineering (2021)
  • MSc, University of Turin, Italy, Mathematics (2016)
  • BSc, University of Turin, Italy, Mathematics (2014)

Stanford Advisors

Community and International Work

  • Erasmus Student, Osnabrueck, Germany

    Topic

    Mathematics, Physics

    Partnering Organization(s)

    University of Osnabrueck

    Location

    International

    Ongoing Project

    No

    Opportunities for Student Involvement

    No

Contact

  • Academic
    filbalza@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

Links

Research Interests

  • Data Sciences
  • Environmental Education
  • Research Methods
  • Teachers and Teaching
  • Technology and Education

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

As a Postdoctoral Researcher at the SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis in the Voss group, I have been developing parametrizations for Density Functional Tight Binding (DFTB) that enable the rapid computation of electronic properties for transition metal catalysts. My current research focuses on extending these parameters to adsorbates, allowing for fast and accurate assessment of XPS trends in collaboration with experimental researchers.

All Publications

  • Density Functional Tight-Binding Models for Band Structures of Transition-Metal Alloys and Surfaces across the d-Block. Journal of chemical theory and computation Balzaretti, F., Voss, J. 2024

    Abstract

    First-principles electronic structure simulations are an invaluable tool for understanding chemical bonding and reactions. While machine-learning models such as interatomic potentials significantly accelerate the exploration of potential energy surfaces, electronic structure information is generally lost. Particularly in the field of heterogeneous catalysis, simulated electron band structures provide fundamental insights into catalytic reactivity. This ab initio knowledge is preserved in semiempirical methods such as density functional tight binding (DFTB), which extend the accessible computational length and time scales beyond first-principles approaches. In this paper we present Shell-Optimized Atomic Confinement (SOAC) DFTB electronic-part-only parametrizations for bulk and surface band structures of all d-block transition metals that enable efficient predictions of electronic descriptors for large structures or high-throughput studies on complex systems outside the computational reach of density functional theory.

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.jctc.4c00345

    View details for PubMedID 39118401

  • Halide-sodalites: thermal behavior at low temperatures and local deviations from the average structure ZEITSCHRIFT FUR KRISTALLOGRAPHIE-CRYSTALLINE MATERIALS Wolpmann, M., Etter, M., Kirsch, A., Balzaretti, F., Dononelli, W., Robben, L., Gesing, T. M. 2022

    View details for DOI 10.1515/zkri-2022-0037

    View details for Web of Science ID 000878768100001

  • NO Degradation on the Anatase TiO2 (001) Surface in the Presence of Water JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C Gupta, V., Balzaretti, F., Guo, P., Koeppen, S., Frauenheim, T., Dominguez, A. 2022; 126 (41): 17544-17553

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.jpcc.2c04731

    View details for Web of Science ID 000876463800001

  • Water Reactions on Reconstructed Rutile TiO2: A Density Functional Theory/Density Functional Tight Binding Approach JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C Balzaretti, F., Gupta, V., Ciacchi, L., Aradi, B., Frauenheim, T., Koeppen, S. 2021; 125 (24): 13234-13246

    View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c00871

    View details for Web of Science ID 000668350500015

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4172-4676