Research and Teaching Statement

Dario A. Delgado Aguilar

Research Interests

I have always been fascinated about science, how new insights and accidents have turned out

to be important discoveries. I believe that research in general, lives an era of big flow of

information. In addition, we currently have a crisis of reproducibility, many articles have

claims that cannot be duplicated. I have always been serious and detailist about my research.

In this respect, I make efforts to reconcile my results with theory or with any other

publication, and avoid explaining results which do not fit in current theories and leave them

as open questions.

My qualifications and experience are closely related to material science and renewable

energy. I feel that I am proficient in these areas and always reading to keep myself up-to-date.

Material science

This is a wide area of research. Nanotechnology is a current trend with the main idea of

making science possible within the Nano-realm. My specific line of research interest is

catalysts, where the geometric and electronic factors (i.e. active surface area and chemical

bond with reaction intermediates) are key for developing efficient materials to assist chemical

reactions, making them faster and more energy efficient. Geometric factors are enhanced by

construction methods, one example would be catalysts carriers with high surface area.

However, the electronic factor is a variable which is much difficult to improve. The main

theory behind this is the Sabatier principle. This Theory explains why certain materials as for

example those from the platinum group are good catalysts, but it does not assist to provide

new insights for the development of materials in this respect. Computational Chemistry is a

tool which is gaining more popularity to explain chemical interactions and can assist to

provide explanations or insights for the development of electronic factors. One of my

publications makes reference to the enhancement of the electronic factor by bimetallic

combination [1]. This publication belongs to one of the journal Daughters of nature.

Renewable energy

This is my second research interest. It is well known that the energy market is becoming

greener and shifting towards renewable energy. However, CO2 storage is a line of research

that is slowly meeting milestones. I am very interested in the Hydrogen economy, I made a

chapter book about hydrogen generation [2]. In this respect, I believe that water-splitting

devices would play an important role in the future, in addition a hydrogen economy has as

by-product fresh water which can alleviate locations where water is scarce. My main interest

about renewable energy is the area related to electrochemistry [3, 4].

Dario A. Delgado Aguilar Research and Teaching Statement

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Teaching Interests

I understand that research is important but more important is to share the knowledge so that

new research generations can make new science. Teaching is essential for every researcher. I

believe that areas of teaching that would be compatible with my research interest would be

chemistry in the form of a teaching course or as a demonstrator. Another teaching interest

would be courses related to energy.

Chemistry

I have always enjoyed chemistry. My performance was excellent during my undergrad

courses, including my postgrad qualifications. I can teach chemistry, in addition, I have been

a chemistry demonstrator for years at Universities. I believe that I will do great as a

chemistry teacher and demonstrator for undergrads at University.

Energy courses

This is an area that I always read publications about it, in addition, I have several

qualifications about energy engineering. Ideas such as energy market, current energy

technologies, and energy studies in general would be a course that I could create or if there is

one in place at your institution, I could incorporate new ideas. In my chapter book [2], I

discuss emerging technologies and possible scenarios for the energy supply mix. Fossil fuels

would still be in the energy mix but it will compete with technologies such as wind and solar.

We should always keep in mind technologies such as fusion energy (not conventional fission)

which is slowly meeting milestones.

References

1. Delgado, D., et al., Co/Mo bimetallic addition to electrolytic manganese dioxide for

oxygen generation in acid medium. Scientific Reports, 2015. 5: p. 15208.

2. Delgado, D., G. Hefter, and M. Minakshi, Hydrogen Generation, in Alternative

Energies, G. Ferreira, Editor. 2013, Springer: Berlin. p. 141-161.

3. Delgado, D., M. Minakshi, and D.-J. Kim, Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

on hydrogen evolution from porous Raney cobalt in alkaline solution. Int J

Electrochem Sci, 2015. 10(11): p. 9379-9394.

4. Delgado, D., et al., Modified electrolytic manganese dioxide (MEMD) for oxygen

generation in alkaline medium. J Solid State Electr, 2015.