Olivia Fernandez Delgado
Title: Doctoral Research Associate
B.S: University of Havana (Cuba)
Ph.D: University of Texas at El Paso (USA)
Nationality: Cuban
Contact Info: ofernandez2@utep.edu
Project Title (1): Synthesis and characterization of fullerene and carbon nano-onion derivatives for diverse purposes: from catalytic to biological applications
Project Description (1): Carbon based nanomaterial have shown to have enhanced catalytic properties for several electrochemical reactions (HER, ORR, OER, NRR) and have proved to act efficiently against several diseases. It was recently shown by our group that fullerene derivatives can act against HIV in the late stages of the cycle, inhibiting further infection to other cells. On the other hand, several reports have shown that fullerene derivatives and other carbon-based materials can efficiently prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease. In this project we are focused on the rational design, synthesis and characterization of fullerene and carbon nano-onions to be used as nanocatalysts and also as potential agents against HIV and Alzheimer’s disease.
Project Title (2): Perovskite Solar Cells
Project Description (2): In less than a decade Perovskite Solar Cells have experienced an incredible rise in power conversion efficiencies (PCE) starting from 3.8% in 2009 to 25.2% in 2019. Due to their electron transporting properties and low-cost deposition techniques, fullerene derivatives are the most attractive semiconductors used as electron transporting materials (ETMs) in PSCs. In this project we synthesize, characterize new fullerene derivatives and use them as ETMs in inverted and regular PSCs.
Project Title (3): Comprehensive study of the reactivity of Higher Fullerenes
Project Description (3): Fullerenes have always been an attractive allotrope of carbon due to their amazing properties, mainly C60 and C70 due to their easy of obtention and good yields. Intensive studies about their reactivity have been done since their discovery. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of unexplored field when it comes to higher fullerenes. In this project, we study the reactivity and electrochemistry of one of the most abundant higher fullerenes, C90 and C100.
Project Title (4): Fullerene based MOFs
Project Description (4): Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are compounds consisting of metal ions or clusters coordinated to organic ligands to form one-, two-, or three-dimensional structures. These are porous material capable of storage different gases, in particular, hydrogen. On the other hand, fullerenes are also known for storage hydrogen. Therefore, in this project we are working on the synthesis of fullerene derivatives with a very well define regioselectivity in order to use them to create a fullerene-based MOF with an enhanced hydrogen storage capability.
Publications
1. Echemendia-Perez, R.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Coro, J.; G Rivera D. "A versatile approach to hybrid thiadiazine-based molecules by the Ugi four-component reaction". Tetrahedron Lett. 2017, 58(18), 1784-1787.
2. Deng, Y.; Xu, B.; Castro, E.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Echegoyen, L.; Baldridge, K. K.; Siegel, J. S. "Decakis(Arylthio)Corannulenes: Transferable Photochemical and Redox Parameters and Photovoltaic Device Performance". Org. Chem. 2017, (29), 4338-4342
3. Castro, E.; Murillo, J.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; and Echegoyen, L. "Progress in hybrid perovskite solar cells based on fullerenes". Mat. Chem. C. 2017.
4. Castro, E.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Arslan, F.; Zavala, G.; Yang, T.; Seetharaman, S.; D'Souza, F.; Echegoyen, L., New thiophene-based C60 fullerene derivatives as efficient electron transporting materials for perovskite solar cells. New J. Chem. 2018.
5. Tian, C.; Castro, E.; Betancourt-Solis, G.; Nan, Z.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Jankuru, S.; Echegoyen, L., Fullerene derivative with a branched alkyl chain exhibits enhanced charge extraction and stability in inverted planar perovskite solar cells. New J. Chem. 2018, 42 (4), 2896-2902.
6. Ahsan, M. A.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Deemer, E.; Wang, H.; El-Gendy, A. A.; Curry, M. L.; Noveron, J. C., Carbonization of Co-BDC MOF results in magnetic C@Co nanoparticles that catalyze the reduction of methyl orange and 4-nitrophenol in water. J. Mol. Liq. 2019, 111059.
7. Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Castro, E.; R. Gavinet, C.; Fosnacht, K.; Liu, F.; Mates, T.; Liu, Y.; Wu, X.; Echegoyen, L.“Variation of Interfacial Interactions in PC61BM-like Electron Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2019
8. Ariful Ahsan, M.; Deemer, E.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Wang, H.; L.Curry, M.; A. El-Gendy, A.; C. Noveron, J.“MOF-derived Carbon-encapsulated Catalytic Fe Nanoparticles for the Reduction of 4-nitrophenol and Methyl Orange in Water” Catalysis Communications. 2019. 130, 105753.
9. Caballero, R.; Servián, L. D.; Gobeze, H. B.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Echegoyen, L.; D'Souza, F.; Langa, F., Sc3N@Ih-C80 based donor–acceptor conjugate: role of thiophene spacer in promoting ultrafast excited state charge separation, RSC Advances, 2020, 10 (34), 19861-19866.
10. Castro, E.; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Artigas, A.; Zavala, G.; Liu, F.; Moreno-Vicente, A.; Rodríguez-Fortea, A.; Velasquez, J. D.; Poblet, J. M.; Echegoyen, L., α-DTC70 fullerene performs significantly better than β-DTC70 as electron transporting material in perovskite solar cells, Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2020, 8, 6813-6819.
11. Fernandez-Delgado, O.; Puente-Santiago, A. R.; Cano, M.; Giner-Casares, J. J.; Metta-Magaña, A. J.; Echegoyen, L., Facile synthesis of C60-nano materials and their application in high-performance water splitting electrocatalysis, Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2020, 4, 2900-2906.
12. Jin; L. Ma; W. Zhou; Y. Shen; Fernandez-Delgado, O.; X. Li, Smart Paper Transformer: New sight for Enhanced Catalytic Efficiency and Reusability of Noble Metal Nanocatalysts in Water Remediation, Chemical Science, 2020.