Advanced functional materials

Bio

Born and brought up in India, studied Materials Chemistry at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (India) and finished his Ph.D. (2006) from National Physical laboratory in the field of Materials chemistry. Subsequently he moved to the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, as Alexander von Humboldt Fellow to work on surface and interface studies of electrodeposited layers in ionic liquids by scanning probe microscopy. He was a regular visitor at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, where he developed nanoporous films for metal-free electro-catalysis and new redox shuttle. In 2011 he accepted the offer as program head of new concept in photovoltaics and advanced materials and was the strategic hire for the Abengoa Research, a corporate research center of multinational energy based conglomerate Abengoa. He is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, and recently his work was endorsed by European research council consolidator grant (2016). He is the inventor of 7 patents, his work has been summarized in >100 articles, along with many popular science artilces, and the publications list reflects his diverse field of interest in the domain of physical chemistry, nanotechnology and materials science. In summer 2017, he accepted the call from Ikerbasque to work as senior professor at Basque center for materials, applications and Nanostructures.

Interests and objetives
His research targets are advanced materials development for energy conversion, conservation and storage materials application.

— Google Scholar — ResearcherID

Alex Aubert is an electrical engineer from ESME Sudria in Paris (France). He received a M.Sc. in Physics and Engineering of Energy in 2015 from ENS Paris-Saclay in France. He carried out his PhD in the department of Magnetic Materials for the Energies at SATIE CNRS laboratory (France). His doctoral research focused on better understanding the physics involved in magnetoelectric composites in order to use these materials for practical applications in electrical engineering. Hence, the research dealt with interdisciplinary fields of the material science: chemistry (fabrication process and structural characterizations), physics (electric and magnetic properties) and engineering (applications).

He joined BCMaterials in November 2018 to work on new permanent magnets in the NOVAMAG project. The aim is to produce high performance permanent magnets (intermetallic alloys) with a reduced use of critical raw materials. He will participate in the fabrication, magnetic characterization and development of these materials.

Research gate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alex_Aubert
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.es/citations?user=5lFZw78AAAAJ

Lía Campos-Arias finished her Chemistry degree in 2017 at the University of Basque Country. Her bachelor thesis, carried out in the Inorganic Chemistry department, was about developing sodium-vanadium fluorophosphates family cathodes with graphene covering for Na-ion batteries. From her bachelor thesis resulted a communication in poster format for the Biennial Reunion of Spanish Chemical Royal Society in 2017.

After that, she did a Master in Energies and fuels for the future at the Autonomous University of Madrid and she concluded it in 2018. She did the Master thesis in the Institute of Material Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) related with the microstructure optimization of piezoelectric ceramic materials for energy harvesting.

Currently, she is carrying out her PhD in the MOLEMAT project (Molecularly Engineered Materials and process for Perovskite solar cell technology) at the BCMaterials.

Dr. Peng Huang received M.S. degree from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2015, under supervision of Prof. Haizheng Zhong and his research focused on synthetizing CdS-based quantum dots and preparing high efficient white light emitting diode. Thereafter, he joined the Laboratory of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials at Soochow University, China and received his PHD degree under the guidance of Prof. Yongfang Li in 2018. During PHD program, he focused on interface engineering of perovskite solar cells with 2D transition metal dichalcogenides.

Interests and objectives
High efficiency and stable perovskite solar cells.

The website of my researchgate:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peng_Huang32

Expertise
• Preparation and characterization of hard and soft magnetic materials
• Preparation of materials by arc-melting, induction-melting, melt-spinning, mechanical-milling, mechanical alloying, hot-compaction, microwave sintering.
• Processing of materials under high magnetic fields.
• Experience in using and maintaining high field superconducting magnets.
• Materials characterization: structure and microstructure characterization using XRD and SEM and thermal analysis.

Bio
Rajasekhar Madugundo joined BCMaterials as research associate in 2016. He obtained his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India in 2010 for his work on development of Nd-Fe-B based nanocomposite alloys for permanent magnet applications. Prior to joining BCMaterials he worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Prof. Hadjipanayis’s Group at University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA and at Grenoble Electrical Engineering Laboratory (G2ELab) and CNRS, Institut NÉEL, Grenoble, France. His research focus is on development of permanent magnets/materials, soft-magnetic materials, processing of materials under magnetic field. He is currently working on development of rare-earth free/rare-earth lean permanent magnets.

Interests and objetives
His reserch interests broadly falls in the areas of permanent magnets, soft-magnetic materials, processing of materials under magnetic field. Currently he is working on development of non rare-eath alloys including Mn-Al based alloys for hard magnetic application and optimization of process parameters to make permanent magnets.

Curriculum Vitae — Google Scholar — ResearchGate

Meenakshi Pegu has received her Master Degree in Chemical Sciences from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-G), Guwahati- India in 2015. On her Master thesis she worked on developing a new Fluorescent Chemo sensor and its Application in the group of Prof. G. Krishnamoorthy. She then moved to Bangalore and joined Indian Institute of Science, as a Research assistant to work under Prof. P. Thilagar in the Ministry of Science and Technology funded project from 2016-2018. She has gained knowledge on the synthesis and characterization of smart molecules. Currently, she is working towards her PhD in the group of Prof. Shahzada Ahmad at BCMaterials, working in Europe excellence project within the European research council framework.

Expertise
Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-Ray difractogram (XRD), Optical measurements (J-V curves, Quantum efficiency (QE), Impedance Spectroscopy (IS), Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fabrication of solar cell devices (pervoskite based).

Bio
Manuel Salado Manzorro received his PhD in Material Science in 2017, from Abengoa Research (www.abengoa.com) along with Pablo de Olavide University (www.upo.es), under the supervision of Prof. Shahzada Ahmad. He was recognized as the first PhD student to be awarded with the Industrial mention by the Pablo de Olavide University. The main goal of his PhD was the study and development of hybrid perovskite interfaces for the improvement in stability and efficiency of photovoltaics solar cells. His background as a Chemical Engineer and his subsequent Master degree in Nanomaterialsand nanostructures (www.unizar) were beneficial to assess and improve the processes related with the fabrication (scale-up) and development on products based on perovskites. He has written over 15 papers in peer-reviewed international journals, 2 Book chapters and he is also co-inventor of 2 patents in the field of perovskite solar cells.”

Interests and objetives
One of the key points of my PhD was the improvement in device performance and stability of perovskite based solar cells; Working on MOLEMAT (Molecularly Engineered Materials and process for Perovskite solar cell technology) project will give me the oportunity to keep understanding the kinetics of the devices, improving their stability and undertaking new techniques to elucidate the role of the different compounds in perovskite material.

Curriculum Vitae — ResearchGate

Expertise
Single-crystal growth by floating zone method, magnetic properties and electrical transport, instrumentation design and engineering.

Bio
Daniel Salazar Jaramillo is an electronic engineer from the Universidad del Quindío (2007) who received the doctor degree in physics and mathematics from the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in 2012. He started his research on nanostructured and granular magnetic materials, transition metal oxides, magnetic properties and electrical transport in nanocrystalline oxides, magnetic, structural and thermal properties in strongly correlated electron systems during his PhD. Since late 2013 he is joined to the BCMaterials in a postdoctoral position and currently is focused on the study of the magnetocaloric effect and their physical features on single crystals of magnetic shape memory alloys and on the coercivity enhancement of nanostructured hard magnets by grain boundary engineering.

Interests and objetives

• Study of the magnetocaloric effect and their physical features on single crystals of magnetic shape memory alloys.
• Coercivity enhancement of nanostructured hard magnets by grain boundary engineering.

Curriculum Vitae — Google Scholar — ResearcherID

Expertise
XRD, VSM, SEM, Mössbauer Spectroscopy.
Data analysis, fitting and MC simulation.

Bio
Ana Maria is a physicist who received her M.Sc. in Physics 2015 from Universidad del Valle in Cali, Colombia. She joined Physical Metallurgy and Phase Transitions Theory group (GMTF) in Colombia in 2013 where she worked as a co-research scientist in Monte Carlo simulation of magnetic core/shell nanoparticles coupled by dipolar interactions. She joined BCMaterials in 2016 where she is a Predoctoral researcher in the area of Permanent Magnets.

Interests and objetives
Currently I am involved in the project NOVAMAG. This project aims to design and develop new free magnetic compounds of critical raw materials (CRMs) to be used for the permanent magnets of high energy.

Curriculum Vitae — ResearchGate

Ahmed Esmail Shalan worked as a researcher at Central Metallurgical R&D Institute, Egypt after finishing his PhD. He had obtained his PhD (2017) from the Research Institute for Electronic Science, Hokkaido University, Japan, in the group of Prof. Dr. Hiroaki Misawa with the collaboration of Prof. Dr. Eric Diau -NCTU- Taiwan. It worth to mention that he got a prize during his Ph.D. as the best thesis at the graduate school of information science and technology, Hokkaido university and Ministry of Education Prize. Before he joined Hokkaido University he obtained a fellowship at DAAD visiting scholar internship in (i-MEET-FAU), Erlangen, Germany with Prof. Christoph J. Brabec and CIN2, UAB, Barcelona, Spain with Prof. Monica Lira Cantu. He published almost 30 papers in prestige journals (with h index of 14). Besides, he is an active reviewer for several journals (such as Electrochimica Acta, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, RSC Advances, etc.), a member in the editorial board of different prestigious publishers and have been invited to write several reviews and books chapters and have already published 6 book chapters. Also, he has been invited to give talks in conferences and Institutes.

Interests and objectives:
I have a strong background in chemistry, nanotechnology and materials science. Also, I have a sufficient experience in the field of materials and processes for applications in energy and photonics, with emphasis on halide perovskites. In addition, my experience with fabrication and characterization of solution-processed perovskite-based solar cells devices is shown through my publications.

Expertise:
X-Ray difractogram (XRD), X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Optical measurements (J-V curves, Quantum efficiency (QE), Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fabrication of solar cell devices (dye, organic and pervoskite based).

Ainara Valverde de Mingo graduated in Chemistry in 2017 at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). Her degree thesis was on polymeric coatings with antibacterial properties in the Macromolecular Chemistry Laboratory of the Faculty of Science and Technology of Leioa.

Subsequently, she finished her master’s degree in New Materials in 2018 at the University of the Basque Country and the University of Cantabria with a thesis based on hyaluronic acid and chitosan coatings onto titanium substrates for their use in implants and prothesis, carried out in the Macromolecular Chemistry Laboratory of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Currently, she is starting her PhD at BCMaterials, in the field of multifunctional materials for environmental sensing and water remediation based on Metal Organic Framework polymeric composites. Her research will be also focused in the study of these materials by different neutronic techniques.

Expertise:

Surface modification and characterization (XPS, SEM, AC, TEM…)
Synthesis and characterization of polymeric materials. (NMR, FTIR, UV-VIS…)
Thermal properties and degradation (DSC, TGA…)