Maria Balaguer Ramirez

/in /by

María Balaguer Ramírez is a tenured researcher at the CSIC’s Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), where her research focuses on electrochemical materials and catalysts for energy generation and sustainable fuels. She holds a degree in chemical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and a Ph.D. in ceramic materials for gas separation, and she received the UPV’s Extraordinary Doctoral Award. Between 2013 and 2016, she completed her postdoctoral research at Forschungszentrum Jülich (Germany), where she spearheaded new lines of research in materials manufacturing technologies.

In 2016, she returned to the ITQ on a Juan de la Cierva Incorporation contract and subsequently received a Ramón y Cajal grant.

Judit Oliver Meseguer

/in /by

Judit Oliver Meseguer (Guadassuar, 1986) earned her Ph.D. in 2015 from the Polytechnic University of Valencia under the supervision of Prof. Avelino Corma and Dr. Antonio Leyva, receiving the Special Ph.D. Award.

In 2016, she joined Prof. Miquel Salmeron’s group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she worked on the characterization of supported bimetallic catalysts using synchrotron techniques. In 2019, she returned to the ITQ with Dr. Antonio Leyva. She was awarded a Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación grant (2020) and a Ramón y Cajal grant in 2024. Since 2026, she has been a Tenured Researcher at the CSIC.
Her research focuses on heterogeneous catalysts applied to sustainable organic synthesis.

Josep Albero Sancho

/in /by

Dr. Josep Albero earned his degree in Chemical Engineering from Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (2006). After a brief period in industry, he completed his PhD at ICIQ (2012) under Prof. Emilio Palomares. He then held postdoctoral positions at ITQ (Prof. Hermenegildo García), Imperial College London (Prof. Jenny Nelson), and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Prof. Markus Antonietti).

In 2022, he was awarded a Ramón y Cajal fellowship, and since 2025 he is a Tenure Scientist at CSIC (ITQ). His research focuses on heterogeneous catalysis for photo-, thermo-, and electrocatalytic processes, including mechanistic studies using in situ and operating spectroscopy.

Sara Goberna Ferrón

/in /by

Sara Goberna is a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the HG Energy Group, where she previously worked as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. She obtained her PhD in 2013 from the Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ) and gained extensive international postdoctoral experience in the USA and France before returning to Spain in 2020.

Her current research focuses on the design of atomically defined metal catalysts, including single-atom catalysts and nanoclusters supported on advanced materials such as MXenes, for electrocatalytic energy-conversion reactions.

Diego Mateo Mateo

/in /by

Diego Mateo is a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), specializing in photocatalysis and photothermal catalysis for the production of solar fuels. He holds a Ph.D. in Sustainable Chemistry from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), where he received the Extraordinary Doctoral Award (2019), and has spent his career at both the ITQ and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where he led a research group on photothermal catalysis during his postdoctoral fellowship (2019–2025).

He is the author of more than 30 publications in high-impact journals and participates in international projects related to sustainable energy and CO₂ utilization.

Serra Alfaro, José Manuel

/in /by

E-mail: jmserra@itq.upv.es

Website: http://itqmembranes.itq.webs.upv.es

Dr. José M. Serra (1976) did his Ph.D. work at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ) directed by Prof. A. Corma in collaboration with the Institute Français du Petrole. The thesis involved the development of new tools for combinatorial catalysis and its application in the discovery and optimization of industrial catalysts. After that, he conducted a 2-year postdoctoral stage at the Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany, working on the development of nanostructured SOFC cathodes as well as ion conducting membranes.

In 2006 he joined again ITQ and leads the Energy Conversion and Storage Group, the Fuel Cells and Ionic Membranes research line. The current activities are principally focused on the application of catalysis and materials science in: (a) the development of solid oxide fuel cells components, paying special attention to the design and characterization of new electrocatalysts (principally, cathode materials); and (b) development of mixed ionic-electronic conducting membranes for oxygen and hydrogen separation and catalytic membrane reactor applications. As a result, several works have been published and different patents have been recently filed. He is co-author of more than 165 scientific articles, 15 book chapters, and 25 patents in the field of catalysis and energy (16 of them licensed to industry).

He was involved in three FP7 EU projects dealing with ionic membranes and proton-conducting fuel cells: EFFIPRO, NASA-OTM, and DEMOYS, and actually he is the coordinator researcher in charge of the European projects GAMER, iCAREPLAST, and eCOCO2 from the Horizon 2020 programme. The main research lines are ordered as follows: Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), lithium batteries and electrochemical reactors: electrocatalysis Ionic membranes, solid state electrochemical devices and catalytic membrane reactors Combinatorial science and catalysis: design and development of processes and equipment for high-throughput screening of materials libraries Heterogeneous catalysis: acid-base, red-ox and multifunctional catalysts Synthesis and characterization of ceramic materials, including mesoporous materials Chemical reactor engineering and process engineering: design and setting-up of chemical reactors and other facilities at bench and pilot scale.

Prof. Serra is the CSIC representative for the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA): Basic Science for Energy Joint Programme (AMPEA), Deputy Coordinator of the subprogram Materials Science in AMPEA. For his contribution to the field, he has received the ExxonMobil Chemical European Science and Engineering Award 2005, the Spanish Catalysis Society Ph.D. Award 2004, the Christian Friedrich Schönbein Medal 2009, European Ceramic Society Young Scientist Award 2015, Medal of the Royal Spanish Engineering Academy 2016 and Air Liquide Scientific Prize 2018. He is the founder of KERIONICS, the Spin-off which develops ceramic membrane systems for the generation of O2.

Atienzar, Pedro

/in /by

Pedro Atienzar is a Research Scientist at the Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIC-UPV). His research focuses on the development of nanomaterials for photonics, optoelectronics, and sustainable energy applications, including perovskites and hybrid systems for energy conversion, sensors, and photocatalysis. He is a co-author of more than 100 high-impact scientific publications and actively participates in research and technology transfer projects related to functional materials and optoelectronic devices.

Blasco Lanzuela, Teresa

/in , /by

Dr. Teresa Blasco studied Chemistry at the Complutense University of Madrid. She carried out her PhD studies at the Catalysis and Petroleochemistry Institute in Madrid (CSIC) under the supervision of Prof. J. Soria, and gained her PhD in Chemistry in 1988 (Complutense University of Madrid). During her doctorate she investigated the strong metal-support interactions on supported metal catalysts, using EPR as the main technique Subsequently, she joined the research group of Prof. Michel Che during two years, from 1988 to 1990 at the Laboratoire the Reactivité de Surface et Structure at the Université P. et M. Curie in Paris as a Post Doctoral Fellow. During her post-doctoral stay she became a user of X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy techniques using Synchrotron Radiation facilities. She returned to Spain at the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ) in Valencia in 1990 as responsible researcher of the new solid state NMR spectrometer, and got a permanent position as Tenured Scientist of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in 1991. During this period she made a short stays of three months with the research group of Prof. J. Klinowsky at the University of Cambrigde, and of Prof. J. Sanz at the Material Science Institute of Madrid (CSIC). She was promoted to Scientific Researcher in 2006. The main research activity of Dr. Teresa Blasco is mostly focused on the characterization of solid catalysts and the investigation of reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysts using in situ techniques, principally solid state NMR spectroscopy. Dr. Teresa Blasco is co-author of about 70 papers in high impact scientific journals and numerous communications in national and international conferences and has supervised four PhD works. She has recently published a tutorial review: “Insights into reaction mechanisms in heterogeneous catalysis revealed by in situ NMR spectroscopy” T. Blasco, Chemical Society Reviews (2010), 39(12), 4685-4702.

Boronat Zaragoza, Mercedes

/in /by

Degree in Chemistry (1987-1992) and PhD in Chemistry (1999) from the University of Valencia. After a post-doctoral stay at the Institute of Chemical Technology (1999-2001) and another one as a Junior Researcher at the CEAM Foundation (2001-2003), she joined the ITQ in 2004, and is currently a Scientific Researcher of CSIC in this center.

Her research line is the theoretical study of heterogeneous catalyzed reaction mechanisms. This includes modeling, by means of quantum-chemical methods, the electronic and structural properties of solid catalysts (zeolites, metal oxides, surfaces, nanoparticles and metal clusters isolated or supported in organic and inorganic materials), the interactions between catalysts and molecules involved in the reaction, including simulation of spectroscopic properties, identification and characterization of active centers participating in each elementary step, and the calculation of the activation energies that determine the kinetics of the reactions, with the aim of developing more efficient catalysts.

Co-author of 125 articles in prestigious international journals (Science, Nature Catalysis, Nature Chemistry, Nature Materials, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chemie, ACS Catalysis, etc.) with high impact index, and two book chapters. She has participated in several projects funded by public entities, being principal investigator in six of them, as well as in research works developed in collaboration with companies such as BP, Repsol-YPF and Solvay. Co-author of four patents and supervisor of five doctoral theses, one of them in progress.

Member of CURES (Committee of Users of the Spanish Supercomputing Network) since September 2019. Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of JACS Au journal since January 2021.

 

Boscá Mayans, Francisco

/in /by

Francisco Boscá, native from Oliva (Spain), completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Valencia in 1992. After postdoctoral periods at the University of Illinois (1994) and at the University of Wales (1995), he joined the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ), joint research centre of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) as postdoctoral researcher. He is currently a Research Scientist (since 1999) at ITQ as member of the CSIC.

His research focus is in the study of photophysical and photochemical properties of different types of photosensitisers looking for possible applications in the development of solar cells and phototherapeutic agents, and in the design of new nanomaterials for synthetic applications.