Atmospheric Chemistry, Air Quality and Photochemistry.

The FOTOAIR research group was founded at the beginning of the 1990’s, being at present a pioneer group in Spain in the assembly and use of experimental techniques of fast kinetics in the gas phase applied to the study of problems of interest in Atmospheric Chemistry. The group has extensive experience in the field of atmospheric photochemistry, especially in the experimental determination of rate coefficients of chemical processes using pulsed non-commercial laser photolysis techniques and atmospheric simulation chambers (or smog chambers). Moreover, in smog chamber experiments the reaction mechanisms and the quantification of the reaction/photolysis products are also investigated employing different analytical techniques. For air quality studies, several spectroscopic techniques for monitoring air pollutants in different locations in the Castilla-La Mancha region have been used.

Since 2010, a new research line started. It is devoted to the gas-phase kinetics of reactions of great interest in Astrophysics, particularly, in the Interstellar Medium (T=10-100 K). This new research line has a huge impact in the Astrophysical community and a pulsed CRESU (French acronym of Cinétique de Réaction en Ecoulement Supersonique Uniforme) system was built initially for accomplishing the objectives of the national CONSOLIDER-INGENIO2009 project (ASTROMOL) and latter of the ERC Synergy grant (NANOCOSMOS). Only a few research groups worldwide are engaged in the kinetic study at ultra-low temperatures due to the complexity of the experimental systems that are required.

More recently, with the creation of the Faculty of Pharmacy in UCLM, new research lines began to be developed to apply the experience in the field of photochemistry to problems of biological and pharmacological interest.

The research group has been funded continuously since its formation by different national, international and regional programs. Mainly for the National Biodiversity and Global Change Program, within the key actions of the National Atmosphere, Climate and Climate Change Subprogram. It has also been funded through two European projects (ref. ENV4-CT97-0410 and EVK2-CT-1999-00033) of the IV and V framework programs of the European Union (Periods: 1998-1999 and 2000-2003, respectively), corresponding to “Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development”, in key action 2: “Global Change, Climate and Biodiversity”. The research has also been funded by the regional government of Castilla-La Mancha from the beginning within the framework and the key actions considered in the PRINCET, in its Environmental Program (Key Action: Climate Change and Atmospheric Pollution). In addition, its participation in a CONSOLIDER project in the field of Astrophysics and in a European SINERGY GRANT project should be highlighted. This is the first project of this type led by a Spanish researcher within the VII Framework Program and

Group members

Group leaders

Elena Jiménez Martínez

Full Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real.

E-mail: Elena.Jimenez@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0002-6302-0346

Researchgate: ww.researchgate.net/profile/Elena-Jimenez-3/5

Born in Valencia, she received a degree (1994) and a doctorate (2001) in Chemical Sciences from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). Since then, she has been linked to it, occupying different teaching positions until obtaining the Full Professorship in 2019. Since 2009, she is the vice head of the Department of Physical Chemistry at UCLM. Her teaching activity has focused on core, obligatory and optative subjects of 1^st, 2nd and 3^rd cycles of various curricula. Also, he has participated in international schools such as Astrochemistry’s Cool. An International School of Astrochemistry (2014). Currently, she teaches in the Chemistry and Chemical Engineering degrees and in the master’s degree in Research in Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real.

During her postdoctoral stay (2001-2002) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder (Colorado, United States), she worked with Prof. A. R. Ravishankara, a leader in Atmospheric Chemistry. There, she was hired as a Research Associate by the University of Colorado-CIRES. This stay allowed her to establish a new research line devoted to the study of the gas-phase reactivity of the main atmospheric oxidant, using laser techniques. After more than 20 years, this research line continues to be very active and fruitful, having defended several doctoral theses and published numerous scientific articles. In 2010, she established a second research line dedicated to the study of reactive processes of interest in the Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium based on the CRESU technique. Despite its youth, the CRESU at UCLM is nationally and internationally recognized already. Since 1997, she has continuously participated in projects with internal, regional, national, and international funding, being involved in several European projects. Currently, at UCLM she leads the European Synergy Grant NANOCOSMOS project and the regional CINEMOL project. In addition, at a national and international level, she has evaluated research projects, teaching positions and doctoral theses.

Andrés Garzón Ruiz

Associate Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Pharmacy of Albacete (Spain).

E-mail: Andres.Garzon@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0002-0077-4562

Scopus Author ID: 36143808600

Andrés Garzón Ruiz, Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Jaén and Doctor in Chemistry from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy (UCLM) since July 2010. He has taught in diverse fields of Physical Chemistry, especially Thermodynamics and Chemical Kinetics applied to Pharmacy.

His current research lines are focused on the development of fluorescent biosensors for biological systems employing FLIM microscopy and the study of drug-protein interactions using various fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. He is also involved in theoretical-experimental work aimed at unraveling the photophysical deactivation mechanisms of various fluorophores.

Permanent teaching and research staff

José Albaladejo Pérez

Full Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real. Spain.

E-mail: jose.albaladejo@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0001-8776-6807

Researcher ID: N-3557-2014

BSc in Chemistry from the University of Murcia (1984). He carried out his PhD at the same university (1987) in the field of Electrochemistry, developing new instrumental kinetic techniques. In 1989, he joined the Faculty of Chemical Sciences of the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) as a temporary Lecturer and since 2003 he is Full Professor of Physical Chemistry at that center. He has been director of the Department of Physical Chemistry during the period 1998-2017. In 1992, he completed a one-year post-doctoral stay in the group of Dr David Husain at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), initiating the use of flash and laser photolysis techniques in the field of gas phase chemical kinetics. Since his arrival at UCLM, he participated in the creation of the experimental research group in Chemistry and Atmospheric Pollution, led by Professor Ernesto Martínez. Currently, together with Professor Elena Jiménez, he leads the consolidated research group of the UCLM called Atmospheric Chemistry, Air Quality and Photochemistry (FOTOAIR), which has contributed to the development of novel and complex experimental kinetic techniques in Spain. The research lines developed by the group have focused on the fields of atmospheric chemistry, astrochemistry, photophysics of biological systems and fluorescent photosensors. The research carried out has been funded by different European, national and regional projects, the results of which have been reflected in different doctoral theses, as well as, in presentations at numerous international conferences and in the publication of more than a hundred articles in prestigious international journals.

Iván Bravo Pérez

Associate Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Pharmacy.

E-mail: ivan.bravo@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0003-1589-5399

Researchgate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Ivan-Bravo-3

Scholar Google: https://scholar.google.es/citations

Graduate and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM). Assistant Professor at the UCLM Faculty of Pharmacy teaching Physical Chemistry applied to the Pharmaceutical field in areas such as Transport and Surface Phenomena, Chemical Kinetics or Photophysics applied to Biological systems.

He is currently developing lines of research at the Faculty of Pharmacy focused on the design of new fluorescent biosensors for FLIM microscopy; Nanotechnology applied for the development, distribution and monitoring of drugs; and Design of new fluorescent materials for biomedical and therapeutic applications.

Cristina Martín Álvarez

Associate Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Pharmacy, Albacete (Spain).

E-mail: cristina.malvarez@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0002-7588-8759

Scopus Author ID: 57212178634

Researchgate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Cristina-Martin-Alvarez

Google Scholar: www.scholar.google.com/citations

Cristina Martin received her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University Complutense of Madrid (UCM) in 2009. In 2015, she got her PhD degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the University of Castilla-la Mancha (UCLM) under the supervision of Prof. Douhal and Prof. Cohen. She continued her career as a postdoctoral student with the group of Prof. Hofkens at KU Leuven (2015-2019).

Her research interest has been mainly focused on how different time-resolved and single-molecule spectroscopic tools can help to unravel the working mechanism of new designed and synthesized materials with the aim of improving their properties in different fields as optoelectronic devices, catalyst, optical sensors, or drug delivery. Besides the developed research lines, she gave theoretical and practical classes in Ciencias del Medio Ambiente, Bioquímica and Farmacia at UCLM as well as in the Bioscience Engineering and Biophysics, Biochemistry and Biotechnology at KU Leuven University.

María Antiñolo Navas

Associate Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real.

E-mail: maría.antinolo@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0001-6769-0470

ResearcherID: F-5506-2019

ResearchGate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria-Antinolo

She graduated in Chemistry (2007) in the University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) and completed her PhD (2011) in the same university funded by a research fellowship of the Spanish government (FPU Fellowship). During her thesis, she studied the atmospheric reactivity of fluorinated alcohols and aldehydes to evaluate their use as possible substitutes of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). She did, then, a postdoctoral stay in University of Toronto (Canada) (2012-2014), by means of a postdoctoral fellowship provided by Fundación Ramón Areces. During this stay, she performed studies about the toxicity of different atmospheric particles through the formation of reactive oxygen species. Back to UCLM, she was awarded with a postdoctoral contract named “contrato de Acceso al Sistema Español de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación” funded by UCLM (2015-2020). During this period, she focused in the kinetic and product study of several gas-phase reactions. Later, she became assistant professor at the School of Industrial and Aerospace Engineering in Toledo, where she taught Chemistry and Environmental Technology in the following degrees: Electric Engineering, Electronic and Automatic Engineering, and Aerospace Engineering. At that time, her teaching activity was carried out simultaneously with her work in a research project funded by the regional government, REATOS, in which she is the principal investigator and in which she studies the reactivity of phthalates, both in the gas-phase and on surfaces, with different atmospheric oxidants. From 2023, she is associate professor in the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real were she participates in projects to study the atmospheric chemistry of biogenic and anthropogenic aldehydes and fluorinated ethers and the chemistry of the interestellar medium.

Francisco Javier Poblete

Associate Professor. Department of Physical Chemistry. Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Technologies of Ciudad Real.

E-mail: FcoJavier.Poblete@uclm.es

ORCID: 0000-0002-2149-4826

ResearcherID:

ResearchGate: www.researchgate.net/profile/Francisco-Javier-Poblete

Graduate and PhD in Chemistry by Complutense University of Madrid in 1984 and 1989 respectively. His PhD thesis focused in the filed of chemical kinetics of oxidation-reduction processes. Interim associate professor in Physical Chemistry in the Fcaulty of Chemical Sciences from 1990 until 2001, when he became associate professor. He has participated in more than 24 research projects, has supervised 8 PhD students and has 38 publications and 2 patents, one of them international.

His research lines focus on the kinetic study of the oxidation of organic compounds, catalyzed or not, both in homogeneous or heterogeneous media. In particular, he aims to understand in detail their reaction mechanisms. Recently, his research line is based in the degradation of food additives, drugs, pesticides, aerosols, etc. by different oxidation agents. The oxidant used nowadays is peroxynitrite, that takes part on the nitrosive and oxidative stress mechanisms in animals, involved in several biological processes. In addition, this oxidant is part of the oxidation processes of volatile organic compounds in cloud microdroplets.