The ICN2 spin-off presented its solutions for automating and accelerating materials design, and took part in a pitch session highlighting the market potential of AI-driven tools.
Dr. Liu, doctoral candidate under the supervision of Profs. Julio Lloret-Fillol and Núria López, has successfully defended his PhD thesis. The dissertation, entitled Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) to Value-Added Carbon Products was publicly defended on Thursday, 4 December 2025.
This dissertation develops electrocatalytic strategies for the selective transformation of CO2 into value-added chemicals and fuels. The first part focuses on controlling local environments in aqueous electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECO2R) using manganese-based covalent organic frameworks (COFbpyMn). Proton management is established as a central design principle. Hydrophobic polymers such as Teflon were incorporated into catalyst films to suppress the competing hydrogen evolution reaction, while amines with tailored pKa values were introduced as proton shuttles in the electrolyte. These additives promoted formation of the key [Mn–H] intermediate, thereby directing product selectivity towards HCO2⁻ or HCO2H at pH 2.4, while high-pKa-based additives favored CO formation.
The second part investigates the structural dynamics of COFbpyMn under electrochemical potential. Operando spectroscopies (EPR, SEIRA, ATR-IR, UV–Vis) revealed electric-field-induced restructuring at the electrode interface, including framework reorganization and the emergence of Mn–Mn dimer species. These results underscore the adaptive nature of reticular frameworks under working conditions.
The final part explores deeper CO2 reduction pathways using CoPc supported on engineered Toray carbon paper. Pyrolysis-generated porosity concentrated CO intermediates and enhanced CoPc dispersion, thereby boosting methanol selectivity.
Overall, this dissertation establishes design principles linking local environment control, intermediate management, and electrode architecture in molecular-based ECO2R systems.
The evaluation committee was composed of Dr. Marta Liras (IMDEA Energia, Spain), Dr. Sergio Fernández Martín (Universitat de Girona, Spain) and Dr. Federico Franco (Università degli Studi di Trieste, Italy).
La entrada Congratulations Dr. Liu! se publicó primero en ICIQ.
The SUPERVAL consortium gathered on 25 November 2025 in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Hosted at one of the project’s partners, the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), project members gathered to review the project’s advances, sharing updates from each work package (WP) and coordinating upcoming activities as SUPERVAL enters its last third year.
The consortium meeting opened with a welcome from JR Galán-Mascarós (ICIQ), project coordinator, who outlined the agenda for the day and highlighted the project’s achievements since the launch two years ago.
Partners then presented the latest results from WPs allowing discussions for ongoing challenges and cross-WP collaboration. WP1 – Gas Separation was updated by Santiago Capelo (Orchestra Scientific), WP2 – CO₂/Water Photo-Electrolysis, led by Claudio Ampelli (INSTM/UniME), Felipe A. Garcés (ICIQ) and Yuzhe Liu (Forschungzentrum Jülich), WP3 – Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of N₂ and NOx to NH₃, presented by Lourdes Romero (ITQ-UPV-CSIC) and WP4 – Device Integration, Technology Performance Validation and Feasibility Assessment, jointly explained by Laura González (Vareser) and Martí Rufí (2-0 LCA).
In the afternoon, the consortium turned into non-technical WPs. Arnau Jordà (ICIQ-CERCA) presented WP5 – Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation, WP6 – Project Management was updated by Laura López and Eva M. Alcázar (ICIQ-CERCA) and WP7 – Portfolio Activities, with contributions from JR Galán-Mascarós (ICIQ-CERCA), Stefano Giancola (Orchestra Scientific) and Arnau Jordà (ICIQ-CERCA).
This regular consortium events help with aligning partners on upcoming deliverables, outreach efforts and synergies with related European initiatives. The gathering concluded with planning for the next project meeting and a wrap-up of agreed actions.
The SUstainable Photo-ElectRochemical VALorization of flue gases – SUPERVAL project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe, Grant Agreement No. 101115456.
La entrada SUPERVAL consortium meets in Eindhoven marking two years of project progress se publicó primero en ICIQ.
The publication demonstrates the value of these natural compounds in multiple areas of health and biomedical research, including cancer therapy, infection treatment and tissue regeneration.
Dra. Ordóñez, doctoral candidate under the supervision of Prof. Ruben Martín, has successfully defended her PhD thesis. The dissertation, entitled “Functionalisation of C(sp³)–H and C(sp³)–heteroatom Bonds Enabled by Photoredox Catalysis,” was publicly defended on Thursday, 4 December 2025.
The examination committee was composed of Prof. María Ribagorda (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain), Prof. Mariola Tortosa (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain), and Prof. Luca Dell’Amico (Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy).
La entrada ¡Muchas felicidades, Dra. Ordóñez! se publicó primero en ICIQ.
The Professor at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Jorge Manzanares, has been appointed President of the Ibero-American Conference of Faculties of Pharmacy (COIFFA). In a ceremony held in San José, Costa Rica, it was also approved that the society’s 2027 annual Congress will be held at the Sant Joan d’Alacant UMH’s campus.
Source: UMH Communications Service
The UMH has been a member of COIFFA for 13 years, and Professor Manzanares has collaborated with the entity for a decade as a board member (vocal) for Spain. He has also served as Vice-President of this society, which aims to be an international benchmark for the training of pharmaceutical personnel. “As President, I hope to contribute to the organization of the minimum curricular requirements for the Degree in Pharmacy across all participating Ibero-American, Spanish, and Portuguese countries, and also to try to implement research and scientific development plans by harmonizing Master’s and Doctoral studies”, notes the UMH professor.
Furthermore, he hopes that the association can disseminate, through courses, subjects less frequently addressed in some of the participating countries and faculties, such as mental health and addictions. Professor Manzanares comments that, “being part of the Executive Committee of the EAFP (European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy) also makes this an appropriate time to bring countries and Faculties of Pharmacy closer together to exchange professors, students, and teaching structures with European countries.”
Following Professor Manzanares’s proposal, the annual Congress of the Ibero-American Conference of Faculties of Pharmacy will be held at the Sant Joan d’Alacant UMH’s campus. This event brings together pharmaceutical science professionals from Ibero-America, Spain, and Portugal.
Jorge Manzanares holds a degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Pharmacology from the Complutense University of Madrid. Following his doctorate, he was an associate researcher in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Michigan State University in the United States. In 2004, he became a Tenured Professor in the Area of Pharmacology at the UMH, and joined the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint centre of the UMH and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), where he directs the Translational Neuropsychopharmacology of Neurological and Psychiatric Diseases laboratory. His appointment as President of COIFFA is added to a long list of recognitions. The most recent was as a corresponding academician of the National Academy of Medicine of Mexico in July 2024.
Source: UMH Communications Service (comunicacion@umh.es)
La entrada The Institute for Neurosciences researcher Jorge Manzanares, new President of the Ibero-American Conference of Faculties of Pharmacy se publicó primero en Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante.