López-Salas Nieves

I have more than 10 years of experience in developing carbon-based materials with tailored compositions and pore structures for their use in different applications. I completed my Master's and Ph.D. in Electrochemistry, both of which were first-class with an honorary mention at the university level. Afterwards, I pursued postdoctoral research in the Department of Colloid Chemistry at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, where I led the group Old Chemistry for New Advanced Materials for over three years. During this time, I mentored a group of up to 11 people under the frame of an ERC Synergy Grant (MoMaStor). Since October 2022, I work as a Junior Professor in Sustainable Materials Chemistry at Paderborn University. Throughout my scientific career, I have gained valuable experience in the field of sustainable materials chemistry, focusing on preparing and optimizing greener synthetic routes toward advanced nanocarbons. I achieve this by using greener solvents or minimizing the number of chemicals involved in the synthetic process. Additionally, I have optimized these materials for sustainable applications such as greenhouse gas fixation, energy storage, conversion devices, and (electro)catalysis, among other relevant areas of research (J. Mater. Chem. A 2, 2014, 17387-17399; J. Mater. Chem. A 4, 2016, 1251-1263; JACS 141(4), 2019, 1766-1774; Adv. Mater. 31 (13), 2019, 1805719; Nano Energy 97, 2022, 107191). My current research focuses on the preparation of highly nitrogen-doped carbonaceous materials and understanding their interaction with electrolytes, gas adsorbents, and the stabilization of metallic subnanometer catalytic sites (Carbon 172, 2021, 497-505; J. Mater. Chem. A, 10 (11), 2021, 6107-6114; Chem. Comm. 58, 2022, 4841 - 4844). At Paderborn University, I am working on understanding the interactions of aqueous electrolytes with heteroatom-rich carbonaceous solids by means of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. I am also a member of the Center for Sustainable Systems Design funded by the Department of Chemistry in 2019. In addition to my research, I have engaged in teaching at the University of Potsdam and the University of Paderborn, participated in scientific outreach activities such as the Soapbox Science initiative, and served as the Gender Equality Officer at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces. Furthermore, I held the position of President of the Chemical Engineers Association of Murcia during my undergraduate studies.