Joana’s research focuses on the production of novel wearable and flexible self-powered hybrid energy harvesting and storage textiles and devices based on hybrid nanomaterials (carbon-based materials and transition metal oxides/sulfides) and solid-state polyelectrolytes. By combining energy harvesting and storage capabilities into a single flexible platform, her work aims to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of wearable technologies, with potential applications in smart clothing, health monitoring, and portable electronics. She has extensively characterized the morphological, structural, magnetic, and thermal properties of each nanomaterial using a variety of techniques, including X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, FTIR, FTIR-ATR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, SQUID magnetometry, among others. 

Her Ph.D. work is conducted between the research centers REQUIMTE/LAQV at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and IFIMUP – Institute of Physics for Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology, and Photonics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, both at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal.

Research Topics: Nanotechnology, Energy Storage, Energy Harvesting, Supercapacitors, Thermally-Chargeable Supercapacitors, Textiles, Flexible Devices, Hybrid Nanomaterials