Fitxa persona

Mª Vicenta González Alfaro studied Chemical Sciences, specializing in Industrial Chemistry, at the University of Valencia (1987-1992). She earned her PhD in Chemical Sciences from the same university in 1998 under the supervision of Dr. Avelino Corma Canós and Dr. A.V. Orchillés Balbastre, receiving the 'cum laude' distinction and the Extraordinary Doctoral Award.

She has published 33 research papers in various fields of Chemical Engineering, mainly in the areas of heterogeneous catalysis, separation operations, and phase equilibrium, and has presented numerous papers at conferences. In recent years, she has collaborated with 3 international research centers, notably the Institute of Catalysis at Cardiff University and the University of Cambridge.

Her research line dedicated to heterogeneous catalysis began in 1993 when she started working with Dr. Avelino Corma of the ITQ, a joint center of the Polytechnic University of Valencia-CSIC. During that period, her line of work was focused on the search for and optimization of zeolite-based catalysts for catalytic cracking, having worked with pure compounds (paraffins, naphthenes, etc.). Since 1995, she has conducted part of her research in the field of vapor-liquid equilibrium of binary mixtures, joining the group specializing in the Thermodynamics of Electrolyte-Containing Solutions in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The group's objective has been to use electrolytes as entrainers for the extractive distillation separation of azeotropic or hard-to-separate mixtures. Initially, inorganic salts were used as extractants, but starting in 2006, they were replaced by ionic liquids, making the group one of the first in the world to use them as entrainers in the extractive distillation of mixtures. This line of research is complemented by the experimental determination of the thermodynamic and transport properties of mixtures formed by solvents and inorganic salts or ionic liquids. Since 2018, she has rejoined the Heterogeneous Catalysis group of the Department of Chemical Engineering. Some of the objectives of this research group are both the elimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) through catalytic oxidation (improving the activity and stability of the catalysts used), and the valorization of biomass as a biofuel, using catalytic materials. In recent years, she has also worked on a project for the synthesis of photocatalytic materials by the electrochemical anodization of titanium.

She has participated in 20 research projects as a researcher. She has been recognized for five periods of research activity (sexennia) as a Full Professor.