Where the research is performed
The outgoing phase of the Marie-Curie postdoctoral researcher is conducted at ASU, a top ranked research university and the largest in the USA. ASU has been ranked as #1 Most Innovative Schools in recognition for creating a vibrant environment of discovery, interdisciplinary research and innovation focused on solving society’s greatest challenges. ASU guides each postdoctoral scholar through a structured process of interdisciplinary engagement and collaboration to participate in events in the home academic department, such as seminars, meetings, and workshops with visiting scholars. The host group provides access to state of the art facilities and fully-equipped labs with all the instrumentation and resources required for the NITRATE project including IC, GC, TEM, SEM, XRD and electrochemical analytical techniques. My host has an engineering lab for scaling-up technologies with a machine shop service, which will support with their expertise on the construction of my designed reactors. My hosts will facilitate my enrollment in workshops for training in lab safety, waste management, data protection, and scientific equipment required for my project success.
The European host, CNRS is a public organization under the responsibility of the French Ministry of Education and Research that aims to: (i) Evaluate and carry out research to advance knowledge while bringing socio-cultural and economic benefits, (ii) Apply research results, (iii) Develop scientific information, (iv) Support research training, and (v) Participate in national policy-making based on science knowledge. In addition to this, the CNRS research host (LISE UMR 8235) is located within the Sorbonne Université (SU) campus in Paris, a top ranked French university and one of the leading research universities in EU networks. SU is a multidisciplinary, research-intensive and world-class academic institution that contributes to the advancement of knowledge on an international scale. The host group will provide access to their forefront facilities equipped with analytical and electroanalytical instrumentation. Highly relevant for the project success and further scientific development will be the training of pioneering equipment developed by them to study electrocatalytic properties, including scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) and photo-SECM.
The Team
Ana Sofia Fajardo
Marie-Curie postdoctoral researcher
Ana S. Fajardo is a Marie-Curie postdoctoral researcher at Arizona State University and CNRS/Sorbonne Université. She holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Coimbra (2017). She has an international and multidisciplinary research background in chemical and environmental engineering obtained from the research groups she worked with in Brazil, Portugal, the USA and France. Her research focuses on the sustainable management within the water-energy nexus at an applied science angle. The research projects in which she is working seek off-grid approaches using electrochemically-driven processes to solve environmental challenges.
Carlos M. Sanchez-Sanchez
Associate Scientist
Carlos M. Sanchez-Sanchez is an Associate Scientist at National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France and holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Alicante (Spain), where he worked at the Institute of Electrochemistry. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Allen J. Bard at the University of Texas at Austin, where he contributed to the development of the Scanning Electrochemical Microscope (SECM) as a useful tool in electrocatalysis. Presently, he is an expert of ionic liquids in CO2 conversion and leads efforts to interrogate electrocatalytic materials by SECM for different environmental and energy applications at LISE UMR 8235 in Paris.
Sergi Garcia-Segura
Assistant Professor
Dr. Sergi Garcia-Segura is currently an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University. He holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona and a B.S. degree in Material Science Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. He conducted a M.S. in electrochemistry science and engineering at the University of Alicante and completed his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of Barcelona.
Dr. Garcia-Segura research seeks to develop sustainable water treatment technologies by using nano-enabled photo-assisted and electrochemically driven catalytic processes. He has worked across four continents (Australia, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, and USA) in multidisciplinary teams, aiming to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. His contributions to the field of environmental electrochemistry have been recognized by international awards including the 2014 Environmental Electrochemistry Prize of the International Society of Electrochemistry, the 2015 Green Talent Award from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the 2017 Electrochimca Acta Young Electrochemist Travel Award, and the 2020 ISE-Elsevier Applied Electrochemistry prize. He is an editorial board member of Chemosphere (Elsevier), Catalysts (MDPI), Sensors (MDPI), Water (MDPI), and Editor of Water Science & Technology (IWA).
Paul Westerhoff
Regents Professor
Dr. Paul Westerhoff is a Regents Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University and the Fulton Chair of Environmental Engineering. He joined ASU in 1995 and after serving as the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Chair he was the Founding Director for the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Since then he has served as an Associate Dean of Research in Engineering, ASU Vice Provost for Academic Programming, and Vice Dean for Research and Innovation in Engineering.
He is the Deputy Director of a National Science Foundation Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment (newtcenter.org) . He has over 340 journal publications and multiple patents on his research related to fate of nanomaterials in water, developing novel technologies for water and reuse treatment, and understanding reactions related to the fate of pollutants during treatment or in natural systems with a focus on oxo-anions, natural organic matter and micropollutants. He is the recipient of several awards including the recipient of the 2020 A.P. Black award from the American Water Works Association, 2019 NWRI Clarke Prize for excellence in the fields of water science and technology, 2017 Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Annual Achievement Award, ASU Outstanding Doctoral Mentor for 2015, 2013 ARCADIS/AEESP Frontier in Research Award, and 2006 Paul L. Busch Award.