Francesco Piantelli

Francesco Piantelli
Nationality	Italian
Known for	Nickel-hydrogen cold fusion (LENR) experiments
Scientific career
Fields	Biophysics, low-energy nuclear reactions
Institutions	University of Siena

Francesco Piantelli is an Italian physicist, a retired professor of biophysics at the University of Siena, known for his experimental work on nickel-hydrogen low-energy nuclear reactions (LENR), commonly described as "cold fusion." He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.

Work

Beginning in the early 1990s, Piantelli investigated anomalous heat production in systems of nickel and hydrogen. Working at times in collaboration with Sergio Focardi, he reported experiments in which nickel samples exposed to hydrogen produced excess heat, including a widely recounted 1993 run in which an apparatus reached temperatures said to have exceeded 1400 °C before being stabilised. He attributed key results to the preparation of the nickel surface at the nano-scale.

Piantelli's nickel-hydrogen approach is often cited as a precursor to later devices, and he pursued patents on his reactor concept. His claims of anomalous heat fall within the field of cold fusion / LENR, which remains outside the accepted scientific mainstream and is not recognised by most of the physics community. Alongside this work, his career centred on biophysics and biomedical research.

External links

• New Energy Times: Francesco Piantelli
• Report on Piantelli's reactor patent (in French)