Diego López Barreiro

Lecturer in Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering

Diego López Barreiro is a Lecturer in Nature-Inspired Chemical Engineering within the Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at UCL.

His research uses biopolymers to develop functional materials for applications in healthcare, energy, or the environment. Biopolymers are used alone or in combination with additives like (i) biobased materials obtained from the conversion of low-value bioresources to create composite materials; or (ii) microorganisms that synthesise functional molecules to create living materials. The aim is to invent new materials with tailored nanostructures, controlled interfacial chemistry, and advanced physicochemical or biological functionalities that can interact with the environment, other biomolecules, or living tissues. The experimental work is supported by multiscale computation to unveil structure-property relationships at the atomistic and micrometer scale, connecting molecular-based nanoscience with the synthesis of such materials.

Experience

Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCL, London (UK), 2022-present
Marie Curie Fellow, DSM Biotechnology Center, Delft (The Netherlands), 2020-2022.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston (USA), 2017-2019.

Education

PhD in Applied Biological Sciences: Chemistry and Bioprocess Technology, Ghent University (Belgium), 2011-2015.
MSc in Chemical Engineering, University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 2005-2011

Publication

Google scholar profile

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oY34oIcAAAAJ&hl=en