Dr. Rafael Muñoz-Espí
Short Vita
- Rafael Muñoz-Espí is an Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Valencia. He graduated in Chemistry at this university (Licentiate Degree in 2001). He was awarded a postgraduate fellowship by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Foundation “La Caixa” to conduct his doctoral studies in Germany. From 2002 to 2006 he worked under the supervision of Prof. Gerhard Wegner at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz, and he received his doctoral degree in 2006 from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, with a thesis about the influence of functionalized latex particles on the growth and properties of inorganic crystals.
- In 2007, he moved to the USA as a Postdoctoral Associate in the group of Prof. Benjamin Chu at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he worked for two years, investigating the interaction of polymers with inorganic matter during the formation of complex inorganic systems, such as polyoxometalates.
- From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Muñoz-Espí was Group Leader of the team "Polymer/Inorganic Hybrid Colloids" at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, in the Department of Physical Chemistry of Polymers headed by Prof. Katharina Landfester. During this time, he was responsible for several projects and industrial contracts at national (German) and international level.
- In September 2015, Dr. Muñoz-Espí joined the Institute of Materials Science of the University of Valencia (ICMUV) as a Ramón y Cajal Senior Fellow. Since May 2021, he has been an Associate Professor at this institution.
- Dr. Muñoz-Espí has coauthored about 100 scientific peer-reviewed publications in high-ranking international journals and 6 book chapters. He acts periodically as a reviewer for scientific agencies and for several chemistry and materials science journals. His current research interests include micro- and nanoencapsulation, the synthesis of polymeric and hybrid nanoparticles, crystallization in colloidal systems, and the study of the interaction of polymers with inorganic matter.
- In the last years, he has conducted research and teaching stays as a visiting professor at the Bar-Ilan University (Israel, 2016), the University of Padova (Italy, 2018), and the Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas (Ecuador, 2018).
