Cristina Madrona: From Akademia to pioneer in nanotechnology and sustainability

At the Bankinter Innovation Foundation, we are very proud of the alumni who have been part of our Akademia programme.

The uniqueness of the program lies in its design and execution: it ranges from a meticulous student selection process to a practical and avant-garde approach to the content of the classes, complemented by the excellence of the teachers. This results in students who are enthusiastic about innovation, ready to bring new ideas and creative solutions in their fields of expertise.

On this occasion we interviewed Cristina Madrona, a former student of Akademia, researcher and expert in advanced materials and renewable energies.

Cristina has studied Physics at the University of Granada and then a master’s degree in materials science at the Carlos III University of Madrid. After that, he completed a PhD in advanced materials and nanotechnology. He has worked at the IMDEA Materials Institute and is now working in Valencia to delve into hydrogen issues.

Below, we summarize the interview we had with Cristina:

After your time at Akademia, did your way of understanding innovation change? What did you like most about the program?

The format is very effective. It is not only the usefulness of knowledge, which paradoxically is something that fails in many courses, but it also changes the way you think, of seeing the world; And that’s exactly what I valued the most. The concept of letting oneself be carried away by the wave, not resisting change, is very common in Asian cultures, and at Akademia they teach you that whether you know what that wave contains, or if you anticipate certain of its movements, you will be able to innovate. This is just one example; A situation of change is not necessary to innovate, but in any case it is a matter of facing problems with creative solutions that add value.

Your background in physics and materials science has laid the foundation for your career. Could you share with us how your interest in these fields led you to specialize in nanotechnology and advanced materials?

Actually, I got into Physics out of pure curiosity about how things work, and it was my concern about climate change as the years progressed that made me want to go into renewable energy. But in the last year of my degree I had a crisis, who was I to enter that field? I didn’t know about engineering, and then for batteries they would prefer chemicals and electrochemicals. In the end it dawned on me; What I could learn better than anyone else was the behavior of active materials, that is, those that carry out physical processes during the operation of the device. I knew and was passionate about the interaction of matter and this would allow me to add value to the field of clean energy, through the study of nanomaterials.

I would like this to serve in part as a denunciation of the education offered by a large part of universities and teachers, where so often so vague importance is given to the wide variety of professional opportunities offered by the different careers.

During your PhD, you focused on advanced materials and nanotechnology. What findings or projects would you highlight from that stage and how have they influenced your professional career?

The PhD has been crucial. I loved the subject since I saw the proposal; it had to introduce electron-exchanging molecules into a carbon nanotube (CNT) fiber to increase its electrical conductivity without modifying its excellent mechanical properties or introducing significant weight. Long-term goal: to replace copper wiring in electric vehicles (around a ton in a commercial aircraft) with lightweight and durable cables from doped CNTs. Despite being a field that we could say is still in its infancy, several interesting findings allowed me to strengthen a network of contacts and present my work at the best energy and materials conferences.

In addition, the doping technique used in this project has allowed me to address a group from the ICMOL research center of the University of Valencia, with the excellent researcher Gonzalo Abellán Sáez, to study a series of nanomaterials discovered just a decade ago in order to obtain green hydrogen.

What have been your main contributions at IMDEA? What kind of new technologies or solutions are being investigated with carbon nanotubes?

Regarding my contributions, I was the first member of the group to study something as particular as the use of doped carbon nanotubes to replace copper wiring. However, the results were very positive and they have given continuity to a project subsidized by the AFOSR (Air Force Office of Scientific Research) of the USA. This is precisely one of the group’s strengths today in terms of research with carbon nanotubes.

Within the same IMDEA team, led by Juan José Vilatela, the part that is growing the most is batteries, and it is because they are pioneers in the production of textiles composed of silicon nanowires, which are proving so promising for use as anodes. Unlike the carbon nanotubes that are produced at the center and are limited to laboratory study, silicon nanowire assemblies will be commercialized through the pilot plant that is about to open the spin-off Floatech.

I deviate a little from the question to emphasize here that I really appreciate that the two principal investigators with whom I will have worked in my first steps as a researcher are people committed to technology transfer through the formation of spin-offs and the creation of competent teams, and of course I do my best to learn from them.

Hydrogen is a promising field in sustainable energy. Could you explain your current focus in this area and how your background in advanced materials contributes to this line of research?

The production of green hydrogen is linked to the same reaction of separating elements that contain it, such as water into oxygen and hydrogen, but with the energy input necessary to separate the molecules from solar panels or wind turbines. We seek to get rid of this external energy input by using nanomaterials that are capable of producing electrons by themselves with the energy of the sun, while at the same time using these electrons for the chemical reaction.

The project I carried out in my PhD adds a lot of value to this field, mainly because the technique I used to synthesize the above material can in this case reduce the steps necessary to obtain a useful component of better quality than those obtained so far. In addition, I was trained in various spectroscopy characterization techniques (i.e., techniques that use the interaction of different lights in the spectrum with the material to determine physical properties), so I can come up with solutions to the most fundamental problems and thus understand what is happening and how to improve it. Of course, experience also results in a greater capacity, in quality and time, to find solutions or look for alternatives.

Based on your experience, what do you think hydrogen’s role will be in the future of renewables and what technical challenges remain to be solved?

Although I am just getting started, it seems to me that green hydrogen is one of the strong candidates for a global reduction in the use of fossil fuels, necessary to reduce the rate at which the planet’s temperatures are rising. There are outstanding studies on the economic viability of its use as a widespread fuel that place it as the most sustainable energy alternative on the market. As strengths compared to electric motors, greater autonomy and faster charging. As a handicap we could mention that hydrogen is the gas that needs the most space (per kilo of weight) for its storage.

A major technical challenge if water is used in the production process is to effectively separate the oxygen and hydrogen produced in the reaction. Another important challenge is precisely related to my research, and that is to get rid of catalysts composed of precious metals (commonly platinum) or strategic metals in general, thus reducing costs and ensuring continuity and independence of production.

You have participated in Akademia and in the lifelong learning sessions of Akademia Talent. How do you think programs like this can help young scientists on their path to innovation and leadership in fields such as nanotechnology and renewable energy?

Programs like Akademia are everything to generate a healthy industrial fabric based on the broad vision and transversal thinking that they instill in you. Your way of facing the search for solutions changes radically; where you used to think about buying phosphorus for your laboratory experiments, now you think that “if this technology spreads you should create a company where the phosphorus that can be extracted from wastewater is purified”, as Fernando Alfaro told us. It’s wonderful!

Nanotechnology, renewable energy, and clean fuels are the present and the future, and many economic benefits can be generated on a personal and country level, not to mention the obvious environmental benefits. Its progress and implementation in Spain depend on training enterprising and innovative people, capable of leading good teams. That is what Akademia offers you, and what the University should also offer to a certain extent.

Based on your successful track record, what advice would you give to students starting out in scientific fields, especially those interested in energy and advanced materials?

I would advise them that if they are passionate about a topic, they should follow related science magazines or channels to see from time to time the advances that they find interesting and thus motivate themselves and envision potential roles that they would like to have in their professional future. I would also tell them not to think that those advances they see there would never occur to them, nor that science and innovation are only for brilliant people, because passion and curiosity can take you as high as you humbly wish (this in any field).

How do you see the future of materials and energy research in Spain and Europe, and what would be your ideal role in this long-term scenario?

Although I believe that the management of existing resources could be more effective in many cases, fortunately, a large amount of investment in R+D is being directed towards the creation of sustainable processes, the use of clean energies and fuels, and the reduction of the use of strategic materials. However, we need more enterprising people training in innovation and business strategy, committed people who are able to create bridges between the company and laboratory research, thus allowing maximum economic and environmental benefits to be obtained.

In my opinion, the scientific and technological development of green hydrogen production will be in continuous growth for at least fifteen or twenty more years, and my intention is to continue in this field that I find precious both for the complexity that hides something, in principle as simple, as separating the water molecule into hydrogen and oxygen. and because of the immense usefulness that I predict in the transition to sustainable energies. With the knowledge of the Akademia community in innovation and start-up, I hope to achieve technology transfer from the laboratory to industry throughout my career.

Finally, is there a message or reflection that you would like to share with our audience on the importance of science and technology in sustainable development and social well-being?

Focusing on sustainable development in terms of resources (which in turn implies social and environmental well-being in many aspects), it must be clear that as they are limited and not homogeneously distributed, science has a decisive role in terms of the strategic search for solutions (energy and other relevant sectors) through the study of new materials. of new processes that require little or no energy input (as was the case at the time with the discovery of obtaining electricity using the energy of the sun), or of the exchange of scarce materials in already established processes for others that work in a similar way, and that are in turn abundant and affordable.

Thank you very much Cristina!

If you want to know the testimonies of other Akademia alumni, you can see them here.

And if you want to know more about the Akademia program, we invite you to visit the Foundation’s website.