Researcher
Verónica Karina Díez, graduated in Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering (FIQ) of the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL) in March 1994 and in 1999 obtained her PhD in Chemistry (UNL). She has been a member of CONICET's Scientific Researcher Staff since November 2002 and is currently an Independent Researcher (since February 2017).
Currently, she is Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering of the UNL in the subjects General Chemistry-Chemistry I of the Department of Chemistry.
Regarding the human resources training, she has directed four graduate theses (doctoral fellowships) and two undergraduate theses. Currently, she directs one doctoral fellow and one postdoctoral fellow. She has also directed 19 undergraduate students in research fellowships and internships.
Her research activities are framed within the area of heterogeneous catalysis. She is devoted to the development of catalysts with textural, structural, acid-base and metallic properties suitable for obtaining valuable chemical compounds and their characterization through various physical and spectroscopic techniques (TPD of NH3 and CO2, XRD, FTIR of pyridine, UV- Vis-DRS, XPS). Specifically, it is investigating solid catalysts with Brønsted and Lewis acid properties, basic catalysts based on alkaline earth metal oxides and mixed Mg-Al oxides, bifunctional metal/acid-base catalysts based on Cu, Co, Ni, Sn, Zn, Mo, Fe prepared in such a way as to generate controlled surface properties in them.
Among the reactions she has investigated are: aldol condensation reactions in liquid phase and in gas phase; alcohol elimination reactions; cyclization reactions of unsaturated ketones; dehydration-esterification reactions of dihydroxyacetone to obtain ethyl lactate and lactic acid; reduction reactions of fatty acid methyl esters to synthesize fatty alcohols, oxidation reactions of aromatic alcohols or polyols to obtain compounds with higher added value.
Results obtained in her research have been shared with the international scientific community through the publication of 23 articles in international journals and 5 book chapters. In addition, she has made 95 presentations in national and international congresses. She is also author of a patent submitted in 2014 and approved in 2021.
To contact Dr. Veronica Diez please send an email to: