Dr. Rosario Mercedes Pérez Colodrero

Graduated with a Chemistry degree from the University of Malaga (Spain) in 2007. I was granted a FPU studentship (July 2008 - July 2012) at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Crystallography and Mineralogy at the University of Malaga (UMA). In September 2012, I defended my Ph. D. entitled “Hybrid Materials Based on Multifunctional Phosphonic Acids: Structure-Properties Correlations” with the highest academic achievement (Cum Laude and International mentions) and awarded the “Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado”. During my doctoral study, I gained expertise in the synthesis, structural, catalytic and electrical characterization of coordination polymers based on metal phosphonates as photocatalysts and/or proton conductors for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. I also carried out a predoctoral research stay under the supervision of Prof. Russell E. Morris, at the University of St. Andrews (U.K.), working on the preparation of hybrid materials using ionothermal methods.

I was granted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Seville (Spain) (July 2014 - January 2016), for the study of the catalytic properties of metal complexes. Subsequently, I was granted a 2 year postdoctoral fellowship (February 2016 - January 2018) at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the UMA to continue with the study of the chemistry of coordination polymers and their structural characterization using Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis. From February 2018 to July 2019, I was working as a Research Associate at the University of Wolverhampton (UK), where my investigation was focused on the biomedical and antibacterial properties of hybrid materials. From September 2019, I joined at the research group “Structural Design of Inorganic Materials” at the UMA for the preparation and study of new multifunctional metal phosphonates, usable as polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) and/or electrocatalysts in PEMFC systems.

During my research time, I have gained a wide foundation in Solid State Chemistry, as well as in a great number of instrumental techniques (FT-IR, UV-VIS, thermal analysis, solid state NMR, XPS, impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, etc), especially in structural determination by meaning of diffractometric techniques, both SC-XRD and PXRD, including data collection and analysis of diffraction data at synchrotron radiation facilities (ESRF, ALBA).

During my research career, both pre- and post-doctoral, I have taught more than 300 hours of classes for undergraduate or graduate students, corresponding, mainly, to the Degree in Chemistry at the Universities of Malaga and Seville (Spain) and to the Chemistry for Foundation Year at the University of Wolverhampton (U.K.). I have co-supervised two Masters’ Theses in Chemistry at the UMA. I have also participated in science outreach activities for the general public and secondary education students (ScienceIES-PIIISA, European Researchers’ Night and open day workshop of UMA).