Francesc Puchal Salat

Francesc obtained his bachelor’s degrees in Physics and Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His final-year chemistry project focused on simulating XAS spectra of selenium compounds. He then completed a placement at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), where he worked on recycling solar panels using laser techniques. During his studies, he also undertook internships at the Institut Català d’Investigació Química (ICIQ-CSIC), researching metal oxides as catalysts, and at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), where he assessed radionuclide levels in soil samples. For his Master by Research, he will investigate metal oxide nanolayers as critical interconnects in perovskite–silicon tandem solar cells. The main focus will be developing a data analysis protocol for spectroscopy and synchrotron-based techniques.