I am a 1st year undergraduate Chemistry student at the University of Oviedo. I am passionate about Chemistry since the first time I was in contact with the subject. Since then, I have always dreamed of spending my summer in a laboratory and thanks to Prof. Susana García my dream came true. She gave me the opportunity to join the Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS) group for a month as an intern. My internship was part of Susana’s SRUK Award where she aims to promote girls in Science and Engineering.
As a part of the team, I was able to participate in their research as they investigate materials for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Specifically, I learned how to characterise a sorbent by collecting CO2 & N2 isotherms and analysing the data to determine its CO2 adsorption capacity and surface area. These properties are critical to understand how they may perform in industry. In addition, I coated monoliths with the investigated sorbents to study the changes in their performance. I hope this will be helpful when applying these materials in CCS.
During my stay here I have learned not only chemistry, but also improved my English. Moreover, I attended the RCCS Carbon Capture meetings each week, which helped me to develop my presentation skills and showed me the importance of teamwork. Now I feel more confident and comfortable when I am in a lab. This experience has made me grow academically and personally. It is still early to decide which path I want to take once I finish my university degree but after my time here, I know for sure that I want to get more and more involved in research.
