IMDEA Energy Foundation took part in the official ceremony for the presentation of the Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence and María de Maeztu Units of Excellence accreditations, held yesterday in Valencia.

The ceremony was presided over by Diana Morant, Spain’s Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, and brought together representatives of the centres and units recognised under the CEX2025 call. Representing IMDEA Energy, David Serrano, Director of the Iinstitute and Scientific Director of itsthe Severo Ochoa programme, received the commemorative award as a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, the highest distinction granted by the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) to research centres in Spain.

This accreditation marks a new milestone for IMDEA Energy, which was previously recognised as a María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence in 2020. In addition to acknowledging the institute’s scientific excellence, the accreditation includes €5.84 million in funding for the 2026–2030 period to support its strategic programme, strengthen talent attraction, and accelerate the development of innovative technologies for the energy transition.

On 16 July at 10:00 a.m., Alba Fombona will publicly defend her PhD thesis entitled Study of Inorganic and Polymeric Faradaic Materials for Electrochemical Deionization, carried out at the Electrochemical Processes Unit of IMDEA Energy.

The defense will take place in the Salón de Grados (Assembly Hall), Module 8, Faculty of Science, Autonomous University of Madrid (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, UAM).

If you read the labels of everyday products such as lubricants, pesticides, and non-stick cookware, you are likely to come across a common acronym: PFAS. This stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals known for their ability to repel water, grease, and dirt.

There are thousands of different PFAS compounds—more than 4,000 have been identified to date. What they all share is a highly resistant chemical structure composed of carbon and fluorine atoms linked by extremely strong bonds. This exceptional stability means that these compounds do not readily break down over time. As a result, they persist in the environment and can accumulate in soil, water, and even living organisms.

Effects on Human Health

Numerous scientific studies have examined the potential impact of PFAS on the human body. Findings suggest that exposure to these compounds may lead to adverse health effects, including hepatotoxicity, immunotoxicity, increased cancer risk, reduced fertility, and thyroid disorders, among others.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as carcinogenic to humans and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) as possibly carcinogenic.

The primary source of human exposure to these substances is drinking water, in which some PFAS compounds can have a half-life of up to 92 years.

For these reasons, the European Union’s Drinking Water Directive has established a limit of 0.50 μg/L for the total concentration of PFAS and 0.1 μg/L for the sum of 20 specific PFAS compounds.

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In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new drinking water regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels for five PFAS compounds. Specifically, the limits for PFOA and PFOS were set at 4 ng/L, while perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX) were limited to 10 ng/L. Moreover, these regulations are expected to become even more stringent in the future.

Can These Substances Be Removed from Water?

Several strategies exist for removing PFAS from drinking water, including ion-exchange resins and nanofiltration. However, many of these methods are either insufficiently effective or too costly, highlighting the need for new solutions.

One promising approach involves removing PFAS through adsorption—the adhesion of molecules to the surface of porous materials. This method is particularly attractive due to its high efficiency, low cost, and scalability potential.

Activated carbons, in particular, stand out as porous materials with a high specific surface area and excellent adsorption capacity, making them strong candidates for water purification. These conventional, low-cost adsorbents have proven highly effective in removing long-chain PFAS (compounds containing more than six carbon atoms), but they are much less efficient when it comes to short-chain PFAS (fewer than six carbon atoms).

For this reason, new materials must be developed to remove these contaminants from drinking water more effectively and sustainably. Researchers at IMDEA Energy, in collaboration with Canal de Isabel II, have launched a joint project to develop a system capable of rapidly and efficiently removing PFAS from drinking water.

The system is based on advanced porous materials specifically designed to capture these contaminants and integrate easily into conventional drinking water treatment processes. The ultimate goal is to ensure that drinking water reaches PFAS concentrations that are safe for human health.

Published in The Conversation.

The IMDEA Energy Foundation has received the accreditation as “Severo Ochoa” Centre of Excellence, the most prestigious distinction awarded by the State Research Agency to Spanish R+D centres, in the context of the CEX2025 call.

Since its creation by the Community of Madrid in 2007, IMDEA Energy has performed research activities aimed at accelerating the energy transition and contributing to the development of clean and competitive technologies. In 2020, IMDEA Energy achieved the accreditation as “María de Maeztu” Unit of Excellence.

At present, the accreditation as “Severo Ochoa” Centre of Excellence represents a new milestone of great relevance, which will promote its strategic programme in cross-cutting areas, such as artificial intelligence, self-driven laboratories, molecular simulation and additive manufacturing. The aid associated with this accreditation includes a total funding of 5.84 million euros for the period 2026-2030.

David Serrano, Director of IMDEA Energy, acknowledges that “the Severo Ochoa accreditation is a recognition of the extraordinary work and commitment of the entire team of the centre” and highlights that “it will enhance the talent attraction and strength both scientific capabilities and innovation activities, consolidating the international projection of IMDEA Energy as a reference institution in sustainable energy technologies.”

The ranking, prepared by the CSIC’s Cybermetrics Lab and published in April 2026, places six researchers from the institute among the top 2,500 leading female scientists who are either Spanish or affiliated with Spanish institutions, based on their bibliometric indicators in Google Scholar and OpenAlex.

Six researchers from the IMDEA Energy Institute have been recognized in the Ranking of Spanish and Spain-based Women Researchers, GS-ORCID OpenAlex edition (April 2026), compiled by the Cybermetrics Lab (IPP-CSIC). The list includes the 11,000 profiles with the best metric indicators —h-index and number of citations— among women researchers with ORCID and Google Scholar identifiers, considering both Spanish researchers working abroad and international researchers affiliated with Spanish institutions.

Among the IMDEA Energy researchers included in this classification are Patricia Horcajada, Head of the Advanced Porous Materials Unit; Rebeca Marcilla, Head of the Electrochemical Processes Area; Elia Tomás Pejó and Cristina González Fernández, Head and Senior Associate Researcher of the Biotechnological Processes Unit; Patricia Pizarro, Senior Associate Researcher in the Thermochemical Processes Unit; and Marta Liras, Senior Researcher in the Institute’s Photoactivated Processes Group.

The presence of these researchers in the ranking highlights IMDEA Energy’s contribution to the generation of high-impact knowledge and its role in promoting female leadership in science.