Lucía Morales

Doctoral Researcher

Kontaktperson

+49 9131-12538179

E-Mail

https://www.hi-ern.de/profile/morales_l

ORCID:

LinkedIn:

Adresse

Cauerstraße 1
91058 Erlangen
Germany

Gebäude HIERN-Cauerstr / Raum 4030

Warum und woran ich forsche

In the early stages of my research career, I worked on environmental projects that exposed me to a range of topics. These experiences highlighted that challenges such as climate change, pollution, and renewable energy require interdisciplinary approaches. My current PhD focuses on investigating degradation mechanisms in electrocatalytic materials using liquid-phase electron microscopy. This work contributes to a better understanding of redox processes, supports catalyst development, and improves insight into electrochemistry at the nanoscale. While this research addresses a small part of a larger problem, it contributes to ongoing progress in the field.

Vita

2024 - Present: Ph.D. Candidate, Helmholtz Institute Erlangen Nürnberg for Renewable Energy, Erlangen, Germany

2020 - 2023: M.Sc. Advanced Materials and Processes, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

Thesis: Evaluation and Optimization of Carbon Supported Platinum Catalysts for PEMFC Applications in a Gas Diffusion Electrode Setup

2022: Internship, Covestro Deutschland AG, Application Development Industrial Metals and Plastics

2022: HIWI, Institute of Separation Science and Technology, FAU

2021: Mini-research Project, Institute of Particle Technology (LFG): Self-Assembled Materials, FAU

2020: Summer School “Neckar Now: Transformative approaches for a sustainable future”. SRH Hochschule Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

2019: Research Assistant, Environmental Engineering Department, USFQ,

2018: Exchange-undergraduate Student of Chemical Engineering, University of New Mexico Albuquerque, United States

2014 - 2019: Degree of Chemical Engineer, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador

Thesis: Design and application of advanced BiFeO3 nano-materials for the photodegradation of organic pollutants in wastewater systems

Awards:

2022: First prize at the Poster Session Competition of the MAP with the Mini-research Project: “Simple Synthesis of Inverse Supraparticles”.

2020 - 2021: Equal Opportunity Fellowship from FAU Collaborative Research Center 1411

2014 - 2019: USFQ-Senescyt Full Fellowship from USFQ

Publikationen

2026:

Körner, A.*, Morales, A.L.*, Fritsch, B., Fiedler, L., Mulvey, J.T., Göllner, C., Alloyeau, D., Patterson, J.P., Malgaretti, P., Mayrhofer, K.J.J., Cherevko, S., Hutzler, A. (2026) Live Imaging of Silver Nanostructures Electrochemically Dissolving at Open-Circuit Potential. Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 22 (17), e13338. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202513338

Goßler, M., Wang, H., Przybysz, J., Aldabain, F.G.S., Morales, A.L., Körner, A., Göpfert, A., Hutzler, A., Cherevko, S., Ledendecker, M. (2026) Accelerated Catalyst Development via Kinetically Controlled Solid-State Laser Synthesis and Automated Electrochemical Screening. Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 22 (10), e11035. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202511035

2025:

Morales, A.L., Körner, A., Fritsch, B., Salvo, G. de, Mayrhofer, K.J.J., Cherevko, S., Hutzler, A. (2025) A snapshot review on utilizing radiolysis in electrochemical liquid phase electron microscopy for accelerated degradation analyses. MRS Advances. DOI: 10.1557/s43580-025-01393-7
Wang, H., Pfeifer, P., Lai, W., Göpfert, A., Lim, S., Zhao, W., Morales, A.L., Goßler, M., Malinovic, M., Bhuyan, P., Parada, W.A., Nikolaienko, P., Mayrhofer, K.J.J., Fortunato, G.V., Hutzler, A., Ledendecker, M. (2025) Laser-Induced Nanoscale Engineering of Iridium-Based Nanoparticles for High-Performance Oxygen Evolution. Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English), 64 (33), e202508589. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202508589
Körner, A., Fritsch, B., Morales, A.L., Malgaretti, P., Hutzler, A. (2025) Panta Rhei - tuning silver nanostructure evolution with flow and radiolysis in liquid phase STEM. Nano Today, 61, 102575. DOI: 10.1016/j.nantod.2024.102575
Lauf, P., Morales, A.L., Ehelebe, K., Hutzler, A., Mayrhofer, K.J.J., Lloret, V., Cherevko, S. (2025) Benchmarking Performance and Degradation of Pt Supported on Different Carbons for PEMFC Applications Using Gas Diffusion Electrode Half-Cell. ACS Appl. Energy Mater., 8 (12), 7939–7947. DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.5c00184

2024:

Lauf, P., Morales, A.L., Nozadze, A., Ayoub, M., Bierling, M., Ehelebe, K., Thiele, S., Mayrhofer, K.J., Lloret, V., Cherevko, S. (2024) Be aware of the effect of electrode activation and morphology on its performance in gas diffusion electrode setups. Journal of Power Sources, 623, 235352. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2024.235352

2021:

Cadenbach, T., Santillan, P., Morales, A.L., Benitez, M.J., Moncada, F., Lascano, L., Costa-Vera, C., Ochoa-Herrera, V., Vizuete, K., Debut, A. (2021) Synthesis of doped and undoped Bi1-xMxFeO3 porous networks (M = La, Gd, Nd; x = 0, 0.03, 0.05, 0.10) with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology A: Chemistry, 416, 113334. DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotochem.2021.113334

2020:

Cadenbach, T., Benitez, M.J., Morales, A.L., Costa Vera, C., Lascano, L., Quiroz, F., Debut, A., Vizuete, K. (2020) Nanocasting synthesis of BiFeO3 nanoparticles with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity. Beilstein journal of nanotechnology, 11, 1822–1833. DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.11.164

Letzte Änderung: 27.04.2026