Catarina Alves joined the Electrocatalytic Synthesis and Electrochemical Interfaces (ESEI) group at TU/e as a postdoctoral researcher, within a collaborative project with the Utrecht University and Shell. Her research is focused on energy conversion and storage, adressing the urgent need to accelerate the energy transition to more sustainable technologies.

Building on her background in (electro)chemistry, Catarina will work with Marta Costa Figueiredo at TU/e and Eline Hutter at Utrecht University on high entropy alloys (HEAs) – an emerging class of materials – for alkaline water electrolysis. By combining expertise in materials science and electrochemistry, and with Shell as an industry partner, the project creates a ‘catalytic synergy’ aimed at deepening the fundamental understanding on HEAs and supporting progress towards cleaner, more sustainable chemistry.

Catarina Alves studied Chemistry in Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto, in 2014. During her BSc, Catarina contributed to projects focused on graphene-based materials for the photocatalytic degradation of emerging pollutants. Additionally, and integrated on the curriculum plan of BSc, Catarina also developed a dissertation project in the synthesis of polyoxometalates nanoclusters for application as heterogeneous catalysts in oxidative desulfurization systems.

In 2017, Catarina ingressed the MSc in Chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of University of Lisbon and her MSc thesis was focused on the Synthesis and characterization of abiotic electrocatalysts based on reduced graphene oxide for oxygen reduction reaction, at the Interfacial Electrochemistry Group, under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Correia, and at the CEA Grenoble/University of Grenoble-Alpes with Doctor Lionel Dubois, as part of the Erasmus Placement Program in France.

In 2021, Catarina was selected for a Fundação para a Ciência e Tencologia (FCT)-funded PhD Scholarship, integrating the Materials Engineering & Energy group at Instituto Superior Técnico, under the supervision of Professor Fátima Montemor, working on Novel pH sensitive self-healing electrodes for MnOx-based pseudocapacitors. Besides her doctoral dissertation, Catarina also contributed to various research collaborative projects, working alongside other colleagues and researchers, highlighting a participation in an international internship at the Electrochemistry Group at the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, under the supervision of Professor Julia Amici.