João Restivo completed his PhD in Environmental Engineering in 2014 awarded by the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto. He carried out his research at LSRE-LCM under the supervision of Prof. Fernando Pereira and Prof. José Órfão. His thesis focused on nano- and macro-structured catalysts for water purification, focused on the preparation of carbon nanomaterials on honeycomb cordierite monoliths as catalyst and catalyst support. From his thesis work 11 papers were published in international journals, along with almost 30 communications in national and international conferences.

After completing his degree, João started a position at University College London’s Institute for Materials Discovery, initially as a visiting researcher, transitioning to a Post-Doctoral Research Associate role, and finally as a Technical Officer. During his time at UCL João co-authored a patent application and participated in the coordination of the IMD’s research portfolio, having established collaborations inside and outside UCL towards the development of functional materials and coatings for a number of applications.

In 2016 João joined Johnson Matthey’s Clean Air division as a Senior Chemist in the Catalyst Characterisation group, part of the Clean Air Technology Centre. His role allowed him to expand his technical and leadership skills, having coordinated the activities of the group in liaison with the catalyst development teams, the customer and regional quality teams, and the company’s main customers. His efforts as responsible for the creation of a systematic approach for the development and transfer of characterisation methods allowed him to interact with the company’s sites across the globe.

João has returned to LSRE-LCM in 2019 as a Junior Research to work mainly on the development of catalytic systems with environmental applications, focusing on the interface between the nano and the macro scales.