Paula Barbosa recently joined the CICECO team as an Assistant Researcher. She graduated in Physics and Chemistry (Education) from University of Minho in 2004 and completed a PhD degree in Chemistry from the same University in 2011.
The subject of the PhD thesis was “Development of new solid polymer electrolytes” as an attractive alternative to non-aqueous liquid electrolytes in light-weight, rechargeable lithium batteries and for application in smart windows. In 2013 she joined CICECO as a Post-doctoral Associate and since then her research work has been focused on understanding the relationships between microstructure and electrochemical properties of ionic conductors for application in electrochemical energy conversion systems such as fuel cells.
The topic continued to be the center of her research interests formally supported from July 2014 to February 2018 by FCT with a post-doctoral grant. The issue of sustainability and cost-efficiency of materials and processes has also a major role on her research, which in the last years has been dedicated to the preparation of polymer electrolyte membranes based on biopolymers and ionic liquids. Paula has also undertaken the preparation and characterization of 2D and 3D crystalline hybrid metal−organic frameworks materials with interesting proton-conduction properties. Her main scientific interests concern the development of nanostructured materials with nanophase-separated domains and functional nanocomposite membranes for application in advanced electrochemical devices (batteries, display devices and fuel cells). She authored/co-authored 28 articles published in international peer-reviewed SCI journals with 370 total citations and presented over than 60 communications (10 oral communications) at international/national conferences.