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Biography
I graduated in Chemistry from the University of Cadiz (UCA), with a specialization in materials science. I started my research career after obtaining a scholarship for two years at the Department of Materials Science, Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry of the UCA, obtaining the title of collaborating student. After that, I moved to the city of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) to study the Official European Master's Degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Barcelona (UB). At this stage, I have carried out some research with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) oriented to the environmental remediation of pollutants. In this sense, I defended my master thesis "Carbon nanotubes as filters for environmental remediation," obtaining a grade of 9.5. The results of this research were published as an article in a JCR journal. Between January 2013 and December 2016, I joined the Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Pharmacy of the University of Trieste (Italy), to develop my PhD thesis in the group "Materials, Environment and Energy," with a grant from the Government of the Italian Republic for young researchers (Giovanni Ricercatore). I obtained a PhD degree in Nanotechnology in 2017 with a unanimous positive evaluation (maximum qualification) by examining board with the thesis defense "Morphology control of TiO2-based nanomaterials for sustainable energy and environmental applications." During this period, I published numerous articles in high impact journals as the main author or co-author, as well as presentations at conferences. It is during this period that I acquired key competences for developing my later scientific career in the field of materials science, from a sustainable perspective. I have also attended seminars and specialization courses at national and international level and summer schools, focusing on solid characterization techniques using electron microscopy and on the production of sustainable materials. During my first postdoctoral stage, I was hired as a researcher at the UCA developing a project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation framed within Industry 4.0. in the area of Additive Manufacturing (AF). I am currently enjoying a Postdoctoral position, contract within the Research Staff Programme for Access to the Spanish Science, Technology and Innovation System (ASCETI) linked to the Andalusian Innovation Strategy in Cadiz and Technological Innovation Initiatives of the ITI Cadiz. I am developing as PI (principal investigator) a Young Investigator project in the field of additive manufacturing applied to technologies of antifouling materials .
My work focuses on the synthesis and characterization of hybrid materials based on semiconducting metal oxides, with potential applications in heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis and investigation of polymer-based hybrid materials that can be used in AF. My current scientific production has been reflected with numerous quality contributions in international JRC journals, as well and papers presented both orally and as posters in national and international conferences. In this sense, during the last year I have registered two patents in the field of composite materials that can be used in additive manufacturing. These patents are based on the use of waste biomass, which is revalued and converted into an additive for composite materials, improving the thermal protection of the starting materials.
I am currently working on the development of environmentally sustainable materials using waste biomass from intensive agriculture. At present, the large amount of biomass generated is of no use, being nutritionally poor for livestock feed and impractical for use like pellets due to their low energy generation. This is why traditional disposal techniques consist of burning or burying it, with the environmental damage that this entails (generation of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane). Generating sustainable additives for composite materials and making them suitable for use in large and small-scale industrial-scale AFs is the focus of my current research work, among other environmental challenges. My main objective is to finalize the development of manufacturing technologies that are far removed from laboratory tests and that can be industrialized.