Dr Ying Pan is currently a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Jun.-Prof. M. Nieves López Salas in the Department of Chemistry at Paderborn University. She received her PhD from the University of New South Wales (UNSW, Sydney). Her research interests focus mainly on the synthesis of various catalysts, including metal-based materials, carbonaceous materials and metal/carbon composites, as well as exploring their application in electrocatalysis and photocatalysis.

Umar Irshad is a DAAD-funded doctoral candidate in the Sustainable Materials Chemistry research group at Paderborn University under the supervision of Jun.-Prof. M. Nieves López Salas. He holds a Master's and Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore (Pakistan), where he has consistently been on the Dean's Honour List.

His research focuses on the synthesis of sustainable materials, such as hetero-doped carbonaceous compounds, for energy and environmental applications. Before coming to Germany, Umar worked on a project funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan to utilise power plant waste for low-cost CO₂ capture and developed a small-scale fixed-bed adsorption setup for the removal of pollutant gases.

Passionate about sustainable development, he has joined the news research group to further expand his scientific career. In particular, he will focus on the interactions between electrolytes and solid carbonaceous materials to further improve their electrochemical performance.

Irene Lamata obtained her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry at the University of Zaragoza, Spain. During her studies, she took part in the Erasmus+ programme and spent her final year at the University of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, where she carried out a research project on carbon materials.

As she wanted to further deepen her knowledge of materials, she moved to Seville in 2021 to obtain her Master's degree in Materials Science at the University of Seville. During her master's thesis, she worked as a research assistant in the biomimetic and multifunctional materials group, where she worked intensively on carbonaceous materials.

She was so enthusiastic about the subject area that she decided to come to Germany and work as a doctoral candidate in the Sustainable Materials Chemistry Group! She will investigate the interactions between liquids and carbonaceous materials using solid-state NMR.

Alexandra Glass is a doctoral candidate in the Sustainable Materials Chemistry group. During her school years, she was already enthusiastic about all the topics she learnt about in chemistry lessons. Her interest in studying chemistry at university was encouraged by her teachers, which eventually led her to Paderborn University.

After completing her bachelor's degree in chemistry in Paderborn, she switched to materials science for her master's degree in order to expand her knowledge of materials in general - but still with a strong focus on chemistry through the compulsory elective modules on offer. She completed her Master's degree with a thesis on (near-ambient pressure) XPS studies on metal oxides under the supervision of Dr Christian Weinberger and PD Dr Teresa de los Arcos de Pedro.

To further expand her knowledge of materials, she applied for a position in the group of Junior Professor Nieves López Salas, where she is now researching sustainable carbonaceous materials and investigating them using near-ambient pressure XPS.

(Jennie) Jie Zhang is a doctoral candidate in the Sustainable Materials Chemistry Group under the supervision of Jun.-Prof. M. Nieves López Salas. She received her Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from China University of Petroleum, Beijing (CUPB), where she developed a strong interest in materials chemistry and electrochemistry. Her master's research focused on functional materials for solid oxide electrolysis cells (SOECs) for hydrogen production as well as CO₂-H₂O co-electrolysis for CO₂ reduction.

She has more than eleven years of professional experience as a chemical process engineer and technology consultant specialising in high-performance materials, energy conversion and gas purification technologies. This interdisciplinary background enriches her current research in the field of sustainable and green chemical solutions.

Her PhD focuses on the synthesis and catalytic performance of porous carbonaceous materials for applications in CO₂ reduction reactions (CO₂RR), water splitting and related electrochemical processes.

Bernard Dawai is a DAAD scholarship holder and doctoral candidate in the Sustainable Materials Chemistry Research Group at Paderborn University under the supervision of Jun.-Prof. M. Nieves López Salas. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Bamenda (Cameroon). He also holds a Master's degree in Inorganic Chemistry with a specialisation in Materials Chemistry from the University of Dschang (Cameroon).

Passionate about sustainable materials for applications in the field of renewable energy, he joined the news research group. He will work on the development and design of Z-scheme heterostructures composed of MOFs, COFs, metal oxides and g-C₃N₄, investigate their structure-property-function relationships and explore their applications in hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide production by water splitting.