Senior Members
Dr. Xavier Sala Román (PI)
Dr. Xavier Sala studied Chemistry at the University of Girona, where he also obtained his PhD in 2007 studying the catalytic activity of ruthenium complexes in selective oxidation processes. He conducted post-doctoral research in organometallic chemistry at the Catalan Institute of Chemical Research (ICIQ) in Tarragona, where he was appointed scientific group coordinator in 2009. Xavier became a Lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2010, where he was then promoted to Associate Professor in 2018.
Since 2011, he leads the Selective Redox Catalysis (SelOxCat) research group at UAB focused on the study, comprehension and development of the key reactions involved in the production of renewable fuels through redox catalysis, with particular emphasis on tailored metal and metal-oxide nanomaterials. Xavier has co-authored over 85 research papers (h-index 33), 5 book chapters, and 1 patent. He has been visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley (Berkeley, USA) and Invited Professor at the Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination (LCC-CNRS Toulouse, FR) and the University of Rome, Tor Vergata (Rome, IT). In 2020, he received the ICREA Academia Award.
Associate Professor
Dr. Jordi García-Antón Aviñó
Dr. Jordi García-Antón was born in Cubelles (Barcelona, Spain). He received his PhD in Chemistry in 2003 from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) under the supervision of Prof. Josep Ros and Dr. Josefina Pons on the hemilability of pyrazole-derived ligands in Pd(II), Pt(II) and Rh(I) complexes. Then, he pursued a postdoctoral stay at the Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination in Toulouse (France) in the group of Dr. Bruno Chaudret, where his work dealt with the synthesis and characterization of metallic or metal oxide nanoparticles (Ru(0) and RuO2), the study of their surface coordination chemistry, and their use in catalysis.
In 2006, Dr. García-Antón joined the UAB as a lecturer in Chemistry and in 2014 he became an Associate Professor (first in the Serra Húnter program, and now as a Profesor Titular de Universidad). His research interest is focused on the preparation of metallic or metal-oxide nanoparticles through the organometallic approach and their use as (photo)catalysts in artificial photosynthesis processes including water oxidation, hydrogen evolution and CO2 reduction reactions.
Associate Professor
Dr. Lluís Escriche Martínez
Associate Professor
Dr. Roger Bofill Arasa
Dr. Roger Bofill obtained his PhD in Chemistry in 2001 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He enjoyed two post-doctoral stays, one at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex (UK), from Oct. 2001-June 2002, and one at the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences, University of Nottingham (UK), from July 2002-July 2004. Afterwards, he rejoined the UAB as a lecturer and researcher, obtaining his tenure in 2009.
In 2012 he joined the Seloxcat research group working on the synthesis and the oxidative and reductive catalytic studies of molecular Ru-based catalysts as well as the synthesis of Ru and Co nanoparticles and their structural and catalytic characterization in the water oxidation and the hydrogen evolution reactions, among others.
He has co-authored 41 publications and 3 book chapters, with an h-index of 19. He has maintained scientific collaborations with Dr. Karine Philippot and Dr. Romuald Poteau (LCC-UPS, Toulouse), Dr. Antoni Llobet (ICIQ, Tarragona), Dr. Roger Alberto (U. Zurich), Dr. James Durrant (Imperial College, London), Dr. Lluís Blancafort and Dr. Albert Poater (UdG, Girona), Dr. Franc Meyer (U. Göttinghen) and Dr. Luis M. Martínez-Prieto (U. Sevilla), among others.
Associate Professor
Dr. Laia Francàs Forcada
Dr. Laia Francàs obtained her PhD in Chemistry at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in 2011. After, she did two postdoctoral stays: the first one at the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ, 2011-2014); and her second one at Imperial College London (2015-2018). Since 2020, she has returned to the UAB as an independent researcher at SelOxCat group, thanks to a Ramon y Cajal contract. Currently she is leading the projects devoted to the design of ligand functionalised (photo)electrodes for solar fuels applications to study their activity, properties, and mechanism by means of electrochemistry and UV-Vis spectroelectrochemistry.
Ramón y Cajal Fellow
Post-doctoral Researchers
Dr. Eliana Sousa Da Silva
María Zambrano Post-Doc
Dr. Ruggero Bonetto
Dr. Ángel Campos Lendínez
Dr. Anna Broto Ribas
PhD Students
Heting Hou
Gerard Martí Balaguer
Álvaro Lozano Roche
Aureliano Macili
Yiming Lei
Visiting Researchers
Master’s Students
María Garrido Antolino
Marta Sendra Garcia
Marc Esteban Ferrera
Undergraduate Students
Anna Marcial Ridao
Alicia García-Pulgar Rielves