# Daily Rodríguez-Padrón among the 25 Green Talents of 2020

**Date:** 10/26/2020

The Cuban Daily Rodríguez-Padrón, who currently serves as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Organic Chemistry at the University of Córdoba, Spain, was recognized by the Green Talents-International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development, created "to promote the international exchange of innovative ecological ideas from various fields of research".

This distinguished recognition is promoted and organized annually by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany (BMBF).

According to a statement issued by the organization, "the jury was impressed by Daily's excellent research" on an "innovative and highly relevant topic" and by "her great interest in putting academic knowledge into practice".

Daily's research focuses on the design of nanomaterials with potential applications in two important fields: first in the design of energy storage devices and second in heterogeneous catalysis. In both cases, the objective is to develop more sustainable processes that contribute to climate change mitigation.

Her research approach traverses the design of nanomaterials through environmentally friendly processes for catalytic and electrochemical applications.

As recognized by the ruling of this important forum that rewards environmentally responsible research, most of the challenges facing humanity today are related to energy and the environment.

Daily's research on nanomaterials is dedicated to these two areas: "first, Daily aims to find new materials with better electrochemical performance for the development of a new generation of sustainable energy storage devices. Furthermore, due to the need for a more sustainable chemical industry and more efficient processes, her research has also focused on the preparation of active and selective catalytic systems".

Likewise, "organic electroactive products such as proteins have opened new opportunities for the design of innovative energy storage devices with greater theoretical capacity, safety, sustainability and low cost", it notes. It details that rechargeable batteries and electrochemical supercapacitors are among the most representative examples of energy storage devices.

"One of Daily's lines of research aimed to synthesize hybrid nanostructures of metalloproteins and nanoparticles through a mechanochemical method as a cheap, sustainable and versatile strategy for the design of a new generation of electrochemical supercapacitors", is also read in the report on the selection.

This young Cuban woman also has to her credit having turned her attention to the valorization of biomass, both in chemicals and in materials: "The use of platform molecules derived from biomass for the preparation of high-value chemical products that replace the petroleum-based chemical industry is a very attractive option. In particular, Daily has employed platform molecules derived from biomass such as levulinic acid and isoeugenol for the synthesis of N-heterocycles and vanillin, respectively", it reveals.

It is important to note that, through biomass valorization, high-value nanomaterials can be obtained through an environmentally friendly method. In this regard, various biomass residues, including spent coffee grounds, egg white from expired eggs and orange peel, have been treated through mechanochemical protocols for the preparation of nanostructured materials with controlled morphology and textural properties.

Other women recognized this year were Laura Rovira Alsina (Spain), Haruka Matsumoto (Japan), Samantha Nixon (Australia), which complete a selection of 25 Green Talents awardees from 2020. The winners, from 22 countries, are involved in topics ranging from climate change to energy systems.