Team

Xavier Vendrell Villafruela

Associate Professor Serra Húnter Fellow

PhD in Materials Science (UB, 2013). Group leader of QES-UB. His research focuses on electroceramics, non-conventional synthesis methods, and catalytic applications. He has held postdoctoral positions in France, the UK and the USA and has been awarded Marie Skłodowska-Curie, Juan de la Cierva, and Beatriu de Pinós fellowships. He has also participated in multiple international research projects.

xavier.vendrell@ub.edu

Lourdes Mestres Vila

PhD in Chemistry (1989). Her research focuses on electroceramics, phase transitions, and ferroelectric materials, with over 110 peer-reviewed publications. She has extensive expertise in solid-state synthesis and structural characterisation.

lourdes.mestres@ub.edu

Jaroslaw Serafin

PhD in Materials Engineering (2019) and Chemical Engineering (2022). His research focuses on porous materials for gas capture and hydrogen production. He currently develops hybrid MAX/MXene- and MBene-based materials for energy and environmental applications.

jaroslaw.serafin@ub.edu

Enrique David Marín Rivas

Chemical Engineer from Ecuador with an MSc in Chemical Engineering (UPC, 2018). Currently in the final stage of a PhD on Pd–Cu catalysts supported on ceria, synthesised by planetary ball milling for structure–activity studies in heterogeneous catalysis.

enrique.marin.rivas@upc.edu

Nerea Morante del Pino

BSc in Chemistry (2022) and MSc in Applied Materials Chemistry (2023). Currently in the third year of a PhD on optimising ferroelectric materials for energy storage via solid-state reaction and flash sintering.

nerea.morante@ub.edu

Andrés Rodríguez Gallego

BSc in Chemistry and MSc in Applied Materials Chemistry from the University of Barcelona. Currently in the second year of a PhD focused on multilayer piezoelectric materials for optimising electromechanical properties.

andres.rodriguez@ub.edu

Marta Gil Bonillo

BSc in Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and MSc in Applied Materials Chemistry from the University of Barcelona. She is currently undertaking an industrial PhD at MaxiSalt, where she works on solar salt purification, brine valorisation, and the development of a salt-related database.

m.gil@maxisalt.com