Newcomers Seminar

Next March 30th at 12 noon we will hold a new session of the seminar for newcomers in the auditorium.

The first speaker will be Dr. Raquel Casasola , from the Systems Analysis Unit and Electrochemical Processes Unit, with the talk entitle «Towards a more sustainable electromobility».

The second one will be Dr. Ignacio Lemir, from the Advanced Material Porous Unit and Thermochemical Processes Unit, with the talk «From darkness to light: a continuous flow approach to photochemistry».

Dr. Raquel Casasola

Short Bio:

The main objective of my work at Imdea ENERGY is to strengthen the research line on New Concepts for Electromobility by investigating the sustainability and circular economy of electrochemical energy storage systems. In that sense, I am carrying out experimental work in the ECPU labs in order to assess the possibility to apply faradaic deionization, a novel electrochemical technique, to substitute current steps of ionic separation within the whole Li-ion battery recycling process. On the other hand, my work in SAU comprises the study of the electrolytes used in the lab experiments by simulating their ionic composition, and finally, to apply Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to the most promising results obtained.

«Towards a more sustainable electromobility»

Summary:

Lithium-ion batteries are undergoing a fast evolution and deployment in recent years, mainly motivated by the rise of electric mobility. Eco design, second-life applications and, finally, improvements in recycling processes are essential to increase sustainability in electromobility.

Dr. Ignacio Lemir

Short Bio:

Ignacio Lemir got his BSc (Hons.) in Chemistry in 2015 at the National University of Cordoba (UNC) in Argentina. His BSc thesis was based on the design of Photoredox reactions using organic catalyst and the synthesis of fluorescents molecules and their study for potential use on OLED´s devices. Recently, he got his PhD in Chemistry at UNC (March 2022). His research was focused on the development of photoredox catalysis using visible light as energy source for different organic reactions both in batch or flow systems. In 2019, he was awarded with a fellowship by The Emerging Leaders in America Program (ELAP) and joined Prof. Dr. Scaiano in Ottawa, Canada. During that time, he developed a photosynthetic route for the catalytic reduction of azides using Pd@TiO₂-Nps. Since 2022, he is postdoctoral researcher at the Advanced Material Porous Unit and Thermochemical Processes Unit at IMDEA-Energy, focusing his research on the hydrogenation of bioils using MOFs and nanoparticles.

«From darkness to light: a continuous flow approach to photochemistry»

Summary:

Photochemistry is perhaps one of nature’s best kept secrets. Once discovered, scientists have focused on taking advantage of them to carry out various processes. However, scaling up this type of reaction is difficult due to the low exposure to light irradiation in conventional laboratory reactors. In this context, flow chemistry appears as a promising tool to overcome such limitations. This methodology brings great benefits such as unifying different processes in a single system. In this manner, multistep continuous-flow systems has had a great impact on the syntheses of active pharmaceutical ingredients, natural products, and commodity chemicals. In this talk, the synthesis of organoselenium compounds (interesting biological molecules) will be explore using continuos-flow-chemistry by a dark/light system.