Known for nanomaterials | ||
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Alma mater University of Castilla-La Mancha Notable awards [L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science | ||
María Antonia Herrero (born 1978) is a chemist trained at the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). She investigates nanomaterials in the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the same university.
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Life
Herrero began her doctorate in the year 2000, in the microwaves and the group of Sustainable Chemistry of the UCLM, working in aided by organic reactions microwaves. Part of her thesis was made in Uppsala (Sweden). She achieved the doctorate in the year 2006.
Research
Her investigation centres on the study of the applications of the nanomaterials, specifically the nanotubes, that can be modified for distinct uses and for diverse fields like medicine (e.g. conveyors of drugs for the treatment of illnesses such as the cancer or the alzheimers). Once she joined the nano-chemistry group at UCLM, her research focused on microwave radiation for the activation of carbon nanostructures in solvent-free conditions, developing multifunctional synthetic materials that can be used in science and biological applications. She has authored over 35 scientific publications, some book chapters and four scientific patents.
In 2012, María Antonia Herrero obtained a grant from the Iberdrola Foundation for the development of a project in the field of energy and environment. The project headed by Herrero, proposed the preparation of a device that uses solar energy for the production of electricity and the regeneration of wastewater through integrated electrochemical processes fed by renewable energies, thus contributing to the fight against climate change. In July of 2016 she published her most recent research publication, Design of Assembled Systems Based on Conjugated Polyphenylene Derivatives and Carbon Nanohorns.
Awards
In November 2010, she was awarded, with four scientists (Isabel Ballasts Becker, Ana Briones Alonso, Mercedes Vila and Elena Ramírez Vine ), with the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science, with an endowment of €15000 . This award rewards the work of women scientists younger than 40 years.
In 2011, she received the Prize "Ibn Wafid of Toledo" for the young researchers of Castile-La Mancha. In 2012, the Foundation Iberdrola granted her an important line of investigation with the main subject of the integration of the nanomaterials of carbon in the solar cells.