Member Profile
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Susana Arrechea
Country of origin: Guatemala Currently in: Guatemala, Guatemala General field of specialization: Engineering sciencesOWSD Award
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Degrees
2015 Doctorate Other2013 Master Other2010 Undergraduate Engineering sciences -
Current Research Activities
Chemical Sciences
• Principal Investigator, USAC Jan 2018- “Functionalization and characterization of multi-wall carbon nanotubes with aminothiazole for the evaluation of the mechanical properties of a novel Portland cement composite” funded by TWAS Research Grants, collaboration with Cementos Progreso funded by its Research and Development Institute (CETEC) and with Institute of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, University Castilla-La Mancha, postdoctoral short stay, funded by a Fundación Carolina. • Associate Researcher & Guatemalan contact in European Union consortium, USAC Mar 2017- “Caribean-European Union Research Alliance 4 Better Waste Management”, in collaboration with Germany, Poland, Dominican Republic, Panama and Guatemala. Project funded by ERANet-LAC-Network of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean Countries on Joint Innovation and Research Activities. • International Responsible and Associate Researcher, USAC Jan 2017- “Contribution of nanomaterials to the development of socio-environmental welfare in Guatemala”, in collaboration with the Institute of Construction Sciences Eduardo Torroja, Spain and USAC Guatemala. Project funded by National Council of scientific research CSIC, Spain. • Member of Project Management Steering Board & USAC Senior Project manager Oct 2016- “Free Fostering REsearch-based Entrepreneurship and the development of spin-off companies in Central America -FREE Network-“ United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, Costa Rica. Project funded by European Union Erasmus. • Principal Investigator, USAC Aug 2015- Material Engineering and Nanotechnology for Sustainable Development, Faculty of Engineering, University of San Carlos de Guatemala. Funded by Cementos Progreso, Guatemala National Science Secretariat (Senacyt) and Guatemala City Hall. • Researcher, UCLM Sept 2011- Nov 2015 Porphyrins for bulk heterojunction solar cells and dye sensitized solar cells, Prof. Fernando Langa, PI, Institute of Nanoscience, Nanotechnology and Molecular materials, (INAMOL), University of Castilla La-Mancha, Toledo, Spain. Funded by Fundación Carolina Scholarship
Publications resulting from Research:
New cyclopentadithiophene (CDT) linked porphyrin donors with different end-capping acceptors for efficient small molecule organic solar cells. Arrechea, S.; Aljarilla, A.; de la Cruz, P.; Kumar, P.; Sharma, G. D.; Langa, F. J. Mater. C. 2017, DOI. 10.1039/C7TC00812K
Methodology for Monitoring Sustainable Development of Isolated Microgrids in Rural Communities. Rahmann, C.; Núñez, O.; Valencia, F.; Arrechea, S.; Sager, J.; Kammen, D. Sustainability 2016, 8, 1163.
Efficiency Improvement Using Bis(trifluoromethane) Sulfonamide Lithium Salt as Chemical Additive in Porphyrin Based Organic Solar Cells. Arrechea, S.; Aljarilla, A.; de la Cruz, P.; Palomares, E. ; Sharma, G. D. ; Langa, F. Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 17953-17962.
High Photo-Current in Solution Processed Organic Solar Cells Based on Porphyrin Core A-<pi>-D-<pi>-A as Electron Donor Material. Montcada, N. F.; Arrechea, S.; Molina-Ontoria A.; Aljarilla, A. I.; de la Cruz, P.; Echegoyen, L.; Palomares, E.; Langa, F. Organic Electronics, 2016, 38, 330-330-336.
CuSCN as selective contact in solution-processed small-molecule organic solar cells leads to over 7% efficient porphyrin-based device. Móran, G. ; Arrechea, S. ; de la Cruz, P. ; Cuesta, V. ; Biswas, S. ; Palomares, E. ; Sharma, G. D. ; Langa, F. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2016, 4, 11009-11022
Charge Recombination Losses in Thiophene-Substituted Porphyrin Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Arrechea, S.; Clifford, J. N.; Pelleja, L.; Aljarilla, A.; de la Cruz, P.; Palomares, E.; Langa, F. Dyes Pigm. 2016, 126, 147-153.
Effect of porphyrin loading on Dye Sensitized Solar Cell performance based on iodide/tri-iodide and cobalt electrolytes. Aljarilla, A.; Clifford, J. N.; Pelleja, L.; Moncho, A.; Arrechea, S.; de la Cruz, P.; Langa, F.; Palomares, E. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2013, 1, 13640.
New Acceptor-π-Porphyrin-π-Acceptor Systems for Solution-Processed Small Molecule Organic Solar Cells. Arrechea, S.; Molina-Ontoria, A.; Aljarilla, A.; de la Cruz, P.; Langa, F.; Echegoyen, L. Dyes Pigm. 2015, 121, 109.
Push-Pull cromophores based on triphenylamine as photosensitizers and electron donors for molecular solar cells. Aljarilla, A.; Herrero-Ponce, P.; Atienzar, P.; Arrechea, S.; de la Cruz, P.; L.; Langa, F.; García, H. Tetrahedron. 2013, 69, 6875
Current profession
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OWSD Awards
Feb 2020OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Early Career Women ScientistsFor her research on the potential industrial and environmental applications of materials such as nanoparticles, nanotubes, and graphene, which can be employed in creating more sustainable building materials, in water treatment, and in solar devices and other renewable energy solutions.TWAS Awards
Sep 2017AwardTWAS Prizes for Young Scientists in Developing CountriesOther Awards
Sep 2017Guatemaltecos IlustresGuatemaltecos Ilustres, scientific cathegory