General Research Line: Valorization of biomass into chemical products and energy through heterogeneous (photo)catalysis.
Development of innovative materials that harvest solar energy to produce chemical energy.
Synthesis and characterization of photocatalysts. One of the strengths of our group is the extensive experience in the synthesis of (photo)catalysts together with an exhaustive characterization of the same from textural, structural, surface chemical and electronic points of view.
Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production. Synthesized photocatalysts have been used in hydrogen generation process by photo-reforming of biomass-derived oxygenated compounds such as glycerol.
Part of our research focuses on research related to biofuels, thus allowing the transition from fossil fuels to renewables (wind, solar, geothermal, etc). These investigations focus on two aspects:
Use of inedible oils in triple blends to be directly used in internal combustion engines. Triple blends based on vegetable oils with fossil diesel and an organic solvent, of a renewable nature such as ethyl ether or ethyl acetate.
Utilization of additives derived from biomass (e.g. glycerin tert-butyl ethers, glycerin acetals, etc.) in fuels in order to improve the quality of polluting emissions.
One of the great challenges currently facing society is the transition from a fossil fuel-based economy to another one based on renewable energy. In this sense, biomass is one of the renewable energy sources which, in addition, can provide us with chemicals. Among the biomass derived molecules studied are glycerol, xylose or furfural.
Synthesis of high added value chemicals from biomass. Our research focuses on the production of high added value chemicals (e.g., solketal) from biomass using (bio)(photo)catalysis and alternative green solvents. Among the biomass derived molecules studied are glycerol, xylose or furfural.