Sergio Ioppolo

Ph.D. Astronomy 2010
         Leiden University

M.Sc. Physics (Astrophysics) 2006
       Catania University

Biography

I am currently a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) working at THz spectroscopy of interstellar ice analogues in the group of Prof. G. A. Blake. I actively collaborate on various laboratory astrochemistry projects with international groups in the Netherlands, France, and Italy. I am also a mentor and supervisor of PhD candidates at Leiden University, Radboud University, and Caltech. I am the recipient of the Marie Curie IOF Fellowship and Niels Stensen Fellowship. In 2010, I received my doctoral degree at the Leiden University under the supervision of Prof. H. Linnartz and Prof. E. F. van Dishoeck with a thesis on laboratory studies of surface formation routes of interstellar molecules. I was rewarded the Dick Stufkens prize by the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry for the best PhD thesis of the year.

Research Interests

My present research interests center on solid-state laboratory astrochemistry, specifically the investigation of the physical and chemical processes that lead to a higher molecular complexity in space by implementing laboratory techniques new to astrochemistry, such as the THz Time-Domain spectroscopy of interstellar ices.

Selected Publications

A full list of publications and presentations can be found in my CV available here in PDF format.
  • Ioppolo, S., McGuire, B.A., Allodi, M.A., & Blake, G.A., "THz and mid-IR spectroscopy of interstellar ice analogs: methyl and carboxylic acid groups," Faraday Discussion 168, 2014, in press.

  • Ioppolo, S., Fedoseev, G., Lamberts, T., Romanzin, C., & Linnartz, H., "SURFRESIDE2: An ultrahigh vacuum system for the investigation of surface routes of interstellar interest," Rev. Sci. Instrum., 2013, 84, 073112.

  • Congiu, E., Fedoseev, G., Ioppolo, S. et al., "NO ice hydrogenation: A solid pathway to NH2OH formation in space," Astrophys. J. Lett., 2012, 750, L12.

  • Ioppolo, S., van Boheemen, Y., Cuppen, H.M., van Dischoeck, E.F., and Linnartz, H., "Surface formation of CO2 ice at low temperatures," M.N.R.A.S., 2011, 413, 2281.

  • Fuchs, G.W., Cuppen, H.M., Ioppolo, S. et al., "Hydrogenation reactions in interstellar CO ice analogs. A combined experimental/theoretical appraoch," Astron. & Astrophys., 2009, 505, 629.

  • Ioppolo, S., Cuppen, H.M., Romanzin, C., van Dischoeck, E.F., and Linnartz, H., "Laboratory evidence for efficient water formation in interstellar ices," Astrophys. J., 2008, 686, 1474.