Maria Bernechea Navarro

ARAID researcher, part of the Nanostructured Films & Particles group, at Instituto de Nanociencia y Materiales de Aragón since 01/10/2017.
I focus on the development of nanomaterials for their use in clean energy devices o environmental remediation.
Ideally these nanomaterials will be obtained as colloidal solutions, for an easy and low-cost fabrication, and will be based on non-toxic, earth-abundant elements for their use in environmentally friendly, low-cost devices.
In some cases, we exploit their structural and conductive properties to use them as electrodes in electrochemical energy storage devices (ion batteries or supercapacitors).
In other cases, we exploit their ability to intercat with light and
1-transform it into electricity (photovoltaic solar cells), or
2-generate highly oxidizing species able to degrade pollutant molecules (photocatalysts).

Recent projects:

1-EASI. Perovskite-nanocrystal heterojunction solar cells with extended absorption and improved performance. Proyectos de I+D+I 2019. Agencia Estatal de Investigación. 121.000€. 01/06/2020-31/05/2023. Ref: PID2019-107893RB-I00. PIs: Emilio J. Juarez-Perez, María Bernechea

2-NOEL. Innovative Nanostructured Electrodes for Energy Storage Concepts. M.ERA.NET 2018 call. European Union. (2019-2022). Ref: PCI2019-103637. Total project funding: 488.444€. PIs: María Bernechea, Robert Dominko, Elzbieta Frackowiak. Project Coordinator: María Bernechea

3-ARIA. Desarrollo de nuevos procesos de oxidación avanzada para purificación de aguas residuales de industria agroalimentaria. Subvenciones para el desarrollo de proyectos de I+D+i en Líneas prioritarias de la RIS3 Aragón y de proyectos de excelencia multidisciplinares. Ref: LMP35_18. 85.000€. 15/03/2019–15/09/2020. PI: María Bernechea