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Research staff
TEAM
Alejandro Várez Álvarez
Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-8606-5520
Degree in Chemical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (1988) and Ph.D. in Chemical Sciences (1993) from said University. His research focuses on the synthesis, characterization and processing of various materials such as high critical temperature superconductors, ionic conductors (lithium, proton and oxygen) with applications in electrochemical devices such as lithium batteries, fuel cells and electrochemical sensors. Since 2005 he has directed the Materials Synthesis and Processing Research Group. Author of almost a hundred national and international publications, he has more than 1,100 citations according to the Web of Science (WOS) . He is the author of two invention patents and more than 150 communications to congresses, most of them international and with oral participation. He has co-supervised 5 doctoral theses and participated as a jury member in 20 doctoral theses. Participant in 22 competitive research projects at regional, national, European and international level, being P.I. in 5 of them. He has also participated in 15 projects with companies, being P.I. in 7 of them. He has carried out research stays at the Universities of California Santa Barbara (Postdoctoral stay 1993), Aberdeen (UK) and Milano (Italy), Sheffield (UK) and Metz (France). He is Professor of Materials Science and Ing. Metallurgical at UC3M since 2010 and Titular Prof. of Materials Science and Ing. Metallurgical at UC3M from 1997 to 2010. He was director of the Alvaro Alonso Barba-UC3M Institute (Nov. 2007-March 2011); and Director of the Doctoral Program in Science and Engineering. Of Materials of the UC3M (June 2000-July 2006).
Belén Levenfeld Laredo
Professor of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0003-3061-0312
Doctor in Chemical Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (1990). She joined the Carlos III University of Madrid in 1992, where she is currently a full professor in various undergraduate and postgraduate courses related to the area of Materials Science. The research work carried out is grouped into the following lines of research: Synthesis and characterization of polymeric materials with pharmacological activity, new formulations of bone cements for surgery, injection molding of metallic and ceramic materials, and synthesis and characterization of polymeric electrolytes for batteries of fuel and batteries of Li and Na. Since 2005 he has directed the Materials Synthesis and Processing Research Group. Throughout her research career, she has participated in 34 research projects, 20 of which are competitive projects and 14 are R&D&I projects with companies. She has a total of 63 works in journals included in the JCR, and more than 100 communications to congresses, most of them international). For more than 10 years she has held academic positions, she has been director, deputy director and secretary of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and deputy director of the Álvaro Alonso Barba Technological Institute of Chemistry and Materials. She held the position of Deputy Vice-Rector for Teaching Staff from July 2015 to February 2023, and was Vice-Rector for Teaching Staff from February to April 2023.
Jean-Yves Sanchez
Professor of Excellence in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering.
Mª Teresa Pérez Prior
Lecturer of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-6669-1065
Degree in Chemistry from the University of Salamanca (2003) and PhD in Chemistry from said university (2009). In that year she began working at the Rus Medical Technology company of the technology park of the University of Salamanca and in 2010 at the University of Castilla-La Mancha where she was awarded a Postdoctoral Scholarship from the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. In 2012, she joined the Carlos III University of Madrid as a beneficiary of a Postdoctoral Stay at said university and is currently a Lecturer in Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering. Her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of conductive polymeric materials for their application in energy generation and storage systems such as proton and anion exchange polymer fuel cells, flow and Li-ion batteries. She has a total of 34 publications included in the JCR and has participated in a total of 18 projects, one of them as principal investigator. During the last 6 years she has held academic positions, she has been secretary of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (2015-2017), secretary of the Álvaro Alonso Barba Technological Institute of Chemistry and Materials (2019-2022) and currently Director of said Institute.
Cynthia S. Martínez Cisneros
Lecturer of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
“ORCID: 0000-0002-8828-9915
Electronic Engineer from the Technological Institute of Laguna (Mexico) in 2004. In 2010 she presented her doctoral thesis at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, focused on the development of autonomous analytical microsystems based on LTCC technology (Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics Technology). During her postdoctoral cover he has carried out research stays at the University of Sao Paulo (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuària (Sao Carlos, Brazil), Instituto Tecnológico de la Laguna (Torreón, México) and Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper – und Werkstoffforschung – IFW-Dresden (Dresden, Germany). In 2014 she joined the Materials Synthesis and Processing Group of the Carlos III University of Madrid, initially with a competitive Alliance 4 Universities scholarship, from 2017, as an Assistant Doctor Professor and from 2022 as a Lecturer. Her research focuses on the development and characterization of new sodium and calcium electrolytes to obtain solid-state Post-Lithium batteries, a “hot topic” framed in the priority area “Safe, efficient and clean energy”.
SYDONNE L. SWABY MARTÍNEZ
Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
“ORCID: 0000-0001-6346-6500
Degree in Materials Engineering from the Simón Bolívar University (Venezuela, 2017). In his Final Degree Project, he developed a Simulation project of injection molding in the Moldex3D program, carried out at the Materials Science and Technology Research Institute (Argentina, 2016). She has worked in Venezuela in 2017 as a Quality Control Engineer at Manufacturas Minibag, C.A, performing inspection tasks of the flexible packaging manufacturing process. She completed a master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the Carlos III University of Madrid in 2019, developing his Master’s thesis in synthesis and characterization of polymeric membranes as a solid electrolyte for fuel cells. She received the UC3M scholarship for Pre-doctoral Research Staff in Training through which she carries out teaching activities as a Materials laboratory teacher for undergraduate students at UC3M and research activity on synthesis and characterization of polymer electrolytes for electrochemical devices, specifically lithium-ion batteries, flow batteries and fuel cells.
WILMER BUCHELI ERAZO
Postdoctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
“ORCID: 0000-0002-8776-8455
Graduated in Physics from Universidad del Valle (Cali – Colombia) in 2007; he joined the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid in 2008 to develop his PhD thesis entitled “Study of local and long distance mobility in ionic Lithium conductors with Perovskite and NASICON structure”. After obtaining his PhD he joined as a postdoctoral researcher at Universidad Carlos III University of Madrid where he extended his knowledge on synthesis and processing of ceramic powders. In the academic year 2015/2016 he worked as a lecturer at the Caribbean University Corporation CECAR in the city of Sincelejo, Colombia. Subsequently at the end of 2016 he joined the University of Zaragoza as a Postdoctoral Researcher Juan de la Cierva where he researched on eutectic materials for application in membranes for CO2 capture. Since the end of 2023 he is a postdoctoral researcher at UC3M where he focuses his research on the synthesis and characterization of thick electrodes for applications in lithium ion batteries.
JOHANNA M. NARANJO BALSECA
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
“ORCID: 0000-0002-7269-6890
Graduated in Industrial and Automatic Electronic Engineering (2017) with a Master’s degree in Electronic Systems Engineering and its Applications (2019) from the Carlos III University of Madrid and Avionics Maintenance Technician from the C.I.F.P. Professor Raúl Vásquez (2012). From the final degree project and the master’s thesis, she has specialized in the field of power electronics. 258 / 5.000 Resultados de traducción Recipient of the Santander internship scholarship in SMEs in 2016 through which she worked at Dermalumics as Optical and Electronic Assembling & Manufacturing Inter. She held the position of Industrial Means Engineering in 2018 for ITP Aereo-Rolls Royce. He is currently a research support technician at UC3M for the RETOS project: Development of a prototype total NOx chemiluminescence micro-analyzer for application in the automotive industry to minimize air pollution from vehicles that use fossil fuels, at the same time who develops his thesis based on the manufacture and modeling of lithium/sodium ion batteries made with new materials.
IGNACIO ROMERO GARCÍA
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
“ORCID: 0000-0002-6901-4561
Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Granada, he completed a year of Erasmus at the Claude Bernard University – Lyon 1. In the last year of the degree, he received the Research Initiation scholarship from the University of Granada’s own plan, and did his Final Degree Project on Nanomaterials that release carbon monoxide. He studied the Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the Carlos III University of Madrid, being a beneficiary of the UC3M Master’s Grant scholarship, he did his Master’s Thesis in Electrodes for lithium-ion batteries processed by extrusion molding and injection of powders He is a beneficiary of the University Teacher Training Scholarship (FPU) through which he carries out his doctoral thesis in Materials Science and Engineering, continuing with the research he carried out at his Master’s thesis, under the tutelage of Alejandro Várez and Belén Levenfeld.
DANIEL DEL RÍO SANTOS
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0009-0002-4442-0157
Graduated in Engineering in Industrial Technologies at the Carlos III University of Madrid, year 2021. His final degree project was focused on optimization of sintering of thick LCO electrodes manufactured using PEM. Through the scholarship Master’s Grant from the Carlos III University of Madrid completed the Master of Science and Engineering of Materials in 2022, whose master’s thesis focused on the development of polymer-metal formulations for the manufacture of high-load 3D printing filaments used in the additive manufacturing of Fe-Si metal alloys. Both projects, bachelor’s degree and master’s degree, were carried out under the supervision of Alejandro Várez, Belén Levenfeld and Carmen de la Torre. He is currently completing his doctoral thesis focused on the preparation and characterization of thick electrodes for high energy density Li-ion batteries avoiding the use of NMP in the process.
DAYRON MARTÍNEZ RODRÍGUEZ
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0009-0007-7212-6509
Engineer in Metallurgy and Materials (2020) at echnological University of Havana ‘José Antonio Echevarría’, Master in Materials Science and Engineering (2023) at Carlos III University of Madrid for having been the winner of the only scholarship of the Carolina Foundation for the realization of this master during the course 2022/23.
More than 2 years of experience in the steel production industry, internships in different industries of production and forming of materials and in the Research Center for the Mining and Metallurgical Industry (CIPIMM). Currently hired as Research Teaching Staff at the Carlos III University of Madrid, developing a research in the group of Synthesis and Processing of Materials (SYPMAT) of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering, entitled ‘Development of electrodes by 3D printing for obtaining high energy density batteries’ to opt for the title of Doctor of Science and performing at the same time work as a teacher.
SEONGJU HAN
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0009-0009-6427-81 87
Degree in Chemical Sciences with a major in Analytical Chemistry from the Catholic University of Ecuador. I did my Final Degree Project in studies and validation of instrumental analytical methods for the analysis of organic compounds. I did a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the Carlos III University of Madrid and through a research contract I developed the Master’s thesis on synthesis and characterization of polymeric membranes as solid electrolyte for its application in PEM type electrolyzers.
Beneficiary of the Grant scholarship for Pre-doctoral Research Staff in Training from Carlos III University of Madrid to carry out a PhD thesis in Materials Science and Engineering in research focused on the fabrication and characterization of electrodes for lithium-ion batteries.
Cristina Moral gil
Technical Office/Laboratory of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0001-5448-327X
Graduated in Physical Sciences from the Autonomous University of Madrid in 2001. She has worked at the Carlos III University of Madrid since 2001, where she began working as a laboratory technician in thermal analysis tests and quality management. Since 2004 she has been a specialist technician in scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. She presented his doctoral thesis in Materials Science and Engineering in 2008 at the Carlos III University of Madrid; Her research focused on the study of mixtures of powder metallurgical stainless steels sprayed in water and in gas for high temperature applications.
She has carried out several Erasmus-PAS stays attending congresses or stays in other European universities, in Galway (Ireland), Wisla (Poland), Metz (France) and Padua (Italy). She has participated in the organization of seven editions of the theoretical-practical course on X-Ray Microanalysis in Scanning Electron Microscopy organized through the Álvaro Alonso Barba Technological Institute of Chemistry and Materials.
ALSO PASSED THROUGH OUR TEAM…
Blanca Isabel Arias Serrano
Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-7449-7553
With a degree in Industrial Engineering, in 2017 she completed her doctorate at UC3M focused on the synthesis and characterization of perovskite-type proton materials and the processing of Ni-YSZ micro-tubes for SOFC. During his doctorate he made 3 stays at the University of Sheffield (UK), where he was trained in electrical characterization techniques. In her postdoctoral stage at the University of Aveiro (PT), between 2017 and 2020, her research focused on the development and characterization of ceramic materials for SOFC/SOEC, thermoelectric applications and membrane-based technologies. In 2020 she joined the Leibniz Institute for Plasma Science and Technology (DE) as head of the HiPowAR project (HIghly efficient POWer production by green Ammonia total oxidation in a membrane Reactor, GA no. 951880). In April 2022, she joined the SYPMAT group as an Iberdrola E4F researcher (H2020 MSCA-COFOUND Program), her research focused on the development of thick electrodes for lithium batteries through extrusion and powder injection molding (PEM and PIM). She currently works as a researcher in the hydrogen area at the Iberian Center for Research in Energy Storage (CIIAE).
José F. Vivó Vilches
Conex Post-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-6018-8303
He studied chemistry at the University of Granada. He obtained a University Teacher Training Scholarship (FPU) with which he carried out his thesis on Gas separation and air purification by adsorption on carbon materials at the University of Granada in2017. During his thesis research, he also started working on Energy storage (super-capacitors) and electro-catalysis (ORR), which allowed him to apply for a post-doctoral contract at the LCPME (Nancy, France) where he developed lignum-based materials and other molecules obtained from natural resources and their use as electrodes for Vanadium-based redox flow batteries (VRFBs). He moved to Amiens, to join a project within the prestigious LRCS laboratory to develop a semi-solid flow battery based on the addition of solids (boosters) to the electrolyte tanks to increase the battery’s storage capacity. He returned to Spain, being hired by the Institute of Carbochemistry (CSIC, Zaragoza) to help doctoral students in Electrocatalysts for OER and ORR and in electrodes for VRFB, to later join UC3M, where he is developing his research at the flow battery line. He is currently developing his career as a teacher at an international educational center.
Raúl San Roman
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-7415-5473
Graduated in Chemistry in 2017 at the Autonomous University of Madrid, doing the end-of-degree project in the Organic Department of the same university under the direction of Professor Elena Buñuel, working on nickel-catalyzed borilative cyclizations. He has obtained the Master of Organic Chemistry at the Autonomous University of Madrid in the academic year 2019. Under the tutelage of Elena Buñuel, the master’s thesis focused on the coupling of active redox esters catalyzed by Nickel. Currently, he is doing his doctorate at the Carlos III University of Madrid (Leganés), working on the European project FETOPEN-VIDICAT, directed by Jean-Yves Sanchez. He is currently developing his research career at the University of Padua, in the Department of Industrial Engineering together with Professor Dr. Di Noto.
NIEVES UREÑA TORRES
Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-0255-8994
Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Jaén in 2013. She has done her doctoral thesis at the Carlos III University of Madrid on the synthesis and characterization of conductive polymeric materials for their application in fuel cells in 2019. Currently her research focuses on the synthesis and characterization of polymeric electrolytes and electrodes for their application in lithium-ion and post-lithium batteries. She has experience in the structural, thermal, mechanical and electrochemical characterization of polymeric ionic conductors for their application in energy storage and generation systems such as proton and anion exchange polymeric fuel cells, flow and Li-ion and post-Li batteries. He currently works in the quality control and R&D laboratory of the company Valeo at its Martos headquarters and continues to collaborate with the research team.
Carmen de la Torre Gamarra
Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0002-2563-7572
Degree in Chemistry from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2012. She developed his thesis at the Carlos III University of Madrid, focusing on materials to develop solid-state electrolytes and ceramic electrodes for rechargeable batteries, in 2019. Specialized in the processing of ceramic powders by means of tape casting, extrusion molding and injection of powders and 3D printing. She has experience in synthesis of solid ionic conductors, structural and micro-structural characterization (X-Ray Diffraction, SEM, TEM) and electrochemical characterization (Impedance Spectroscopy and galvanostatic cycling).
Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Nanoscience and Materials of Aragon (INMA)-CSIC belonging to the University of Zaragoza and collaborates with our team regularly.
Eliana Fuentes Mendoza
Research Support Technician of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID:
Chemical Engineer (2016) from the National University of Colombia, she participated in projects focused on the approach of a protonic solid oxide fuel cell and her final degree project was oriented towards the recovery of precious metals from electrical appliance waste and electronic. with a Master’s in Engineering Sciences, Mention in Chemical Engineering (2020) from the University of Chile where she developed her master’s thesis in synthesis and characterization of molybdenum-doped ceria for use as an anode in solid oxide fuel cells. From then on, it has focused on the synthesis and processing of materials for energy transformation and storage devices. Recipient of the Master’s Grant from the CARLOS III University of Madrid through which she studied a Master’s in Materials Science and Engineering (2021) developing her master’s thesis within the framework of the European project FETOPEN-VIDICAT in the structural modification of derivatives of aniline for use as electrolytes in calcium ion batteries led by Jean-Yves Sánchez. He worked as a research support technician at UC3M for the European project FETOPEN-VIDICAT.
CARLOS MANUEL ALBA RAMOS
Pre-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0003-2381-7307
Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Havana since 2015. Being an Assistant Student of the Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Havana, he taught laboratory classes at the same time that he studied the degree. He did his Final Degree Project at the Center for Biomolecular Chemistry in the synthesis of carbohydrates to be used as antitumor antigens. Upon graduation, he works as a young professor and researcher in the faculty, teaching both laboratory and small group classes and is part of the Hydrogels research group. He received the Full Grant scholarship for the study of the Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering at the Carlos III University of Madrid. He developed his Master’s Thesis in 3D printing of ceramic electrodes for Li-ion batteries. He was a beneficiary of the Carlos III University of Madrid scholarship for Predoctoral Research Staff in Training. After his stay at UC3M he worked at HDI Battery.
ANTONIO JESÚS FERNÁNDEZ ROPERO
Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0003-1060-1793
Degree in Environmental Sciences in 2009, and Master in Advanced Chemistry: Preparation and Characterization of Materials in 2011, both degrees from the University of Malaga. The final master’s thesis consisted of the preparation of electrode materials for symmetrical solid oxide fuel cells. In January 2013, he joined CIC energiGUNE, in Vitoria, to develop his doctoral thesis on electrodes for aqueous electrolyte sodium ion batteries, including a three-month stay at Hydro-Québec in Montreal, Canada. After obtaining the title of Doctor in Science and Technology of Materials from the UPV/EHU in May 2016, he continued working with aqueous electrolyte batteries for a year as a postdoctoral researcher at the Jean Rouxel Institute of Materials in Nantes (France). In April 2018, he returned to CIC energiGUNE, joining the postmortem analysis group, where he analyzed various types of batteries and super-capacitors. In October 2020 he joined the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, where he studied catalysts for obtaining pharmaceuticals by continuous flow hydrogenation. In March 2022, he joined UC3M, where he is currently developing his research in the preparation and characterization of thick electrodes for high energy density Li-ion batteries. After his stay at UC3M he has started working at Funditec.
BIDHAN PANDIT
Conex Post-Doctoral Researcher of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Chemical Engineering
ORCID: 0000-0003-4656-9289
Graduated from the University of Calcutta in 2012. He completed his Master’s studies at Burdwan University in 2014. Ph.D. in Physics from Visvesvaraya University National Institute of Technology in 2019. He worked for a year (2019-2020) as a CNRS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM). He has worked at the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) as a Marie Curie CONEX Postdoctoral Fellow. His scientific research focuses on the synthesis of nanostructures for next-generation energy storage applications (lithium/sodium ion batteries and super-capacitors) and the fabrication of flexible energy storage devices to investigate electrochemical behaviors. Based on the synthesis and development of materials with controlled architecture and functionalities and on chemistry and physicochemistry of colloids and interfaces. He develops a set of methodological and experimental approaches applied to the fields of energy storage, environmental remediation and decontamination. After his stay at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid he has started working at Imperial College London.