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I obtained my degree in Chemistry, specialty in Organic Chemistry, in 1999 from the Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), in Barcelona, Spain. After that, I performed a research project in the former Polymer Institute, at the University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA. The work involved the development and characterization of flame retardant polyurethane foams, being supervised by Dr. J. Kresta and Prof. S. Borrós.
I then joined the Solid State Chemistry Group in the Materials Science Institute of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), to do my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. N. Casañ-Pastor. The purpose was to synthesize new members within the family of mixed Ag-Cu oxides (whose first member, Ag2Cu2O3, was discovered by the group) using soft-chemistry methods as coprecipitation, electrochemistry, hydrotermal reactions, etc. As a result, the new oxides AgCuO2 and Ag2CuMnO4 were synthesized and studied.
In 2005, after the Ph.D., I started my first postdoc in Jean-Marie Tarascon's Laboratoire de Réactivité et Chimie des Solides (LRCS, UMR CNRS 6007, Université de Picardie Jules Verne), in Amiens, France, one of the world leading laboratories in the field of Li batteries, which coordinated the Alistore NoE (which has become now a European Research Institute). The main purpose of the postdoctoral stay was to develop a new electrochemical cell in order to perform fundamental studies at high temperature, i.e. to study the origin of the huge overpotential in conversion reactions and to construct high temperature phase diagrams. Apart form this work, I also investigated with Prof. E. Baudrin the use of nanometric oxides (rutile type RuO2 and VO2) as electrodes for lithium batteries.
After this first postdoc, I returned to the ICMAB to work with Dr. M. R. Palacín in a project with Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APCI). It involved the study of the performance of novel electrolytes made by APCI in Li batteries, supercapacitors and hybrid devices. I was then awarded a I3P Fellowship from the CSIC to work at the Research Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CIN2; CSIC-ICN), in Prof. P. Gómez-Romero's group. In this case the objective was to synthesize nanostructured organic-inorganic hybrids (with potential use in energy storage and production devices) through Matrix Chemistry. Some of the results that we obained during this project include a new synthetic approach for the fabrication of organic-inorganic hybrid nanostructures, namely, heterogenous hydrothermal reactions. Ag@PPy (silver- polypyrrole core/shell structures) nanosnakes and Cu2O@PPy nanowires and bigger hybrid crystals have been obtained by spontaneous self-assembly using our new approach.
In 2013, I joined the Laboratoire des Matériaux et du Génie Physique, in Grenoble, as Chargé de Recherche. In DEcember 2015 I obtained my HDR and since October 2020 I am Directeur de Recherche. My Research focuses on the study of functional materials based on earth abundant elements and the development of low-cost, scalable processing techniques. The main applications targeted are energy and electronics. In particular, I develop the Spatial Atomic Layer Deposition technique, where I focus in 3 axes: design and optimization of new SALD systems, development of processes to deposit new functional materials by SALD, and implementation of SALD coatings to functional materials and devices. A second line of research is dedicated to transparent conductive materials.
Then for 5 years, I worked in the Device Materials Group (part of the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy) in the University of Cambridge, initially as a Marie Curie IEF fellow, then as a Beatriu de Pinós fellow, and during the last months as visitor scientist after obtaining a Ramon y Cajal fellowship at ICMAB. During this time I have worked with Prof. J. Driscoll in the fabrication of nanostructured solar cells in order to increase charge collection, and thus their efficiency.