Rafael Gomes Morais earned his master’s degree in chemical engineering from FEUP in 2017. He then joined the UniRCell team as a project researcher, where he worked until 2020, focusing on the preparation, characterization, and electrochemical applications of carbon-based materials for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions.

In 2021, he was awarded a PhD grant by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) to study noble-metal-free carbon-based materials for energy conversion and, the following year, he became part of the BiCat4Energy research team. As part of his doctoral studies, he spent three months in 2022 at Technische Universität Darmstadt as an Erasmus+ student under the supervision of Professor Bastian Etzold and successfully defended his European PhD in 2023.

Since September 2023, Rafael has been working as a Junior Researcher, focusing on the development and optimization of carbon materials as highly electroactive catalysts for renewable energy applications. In 2025, he joined the Greenship_E Project, where his research centers on catalyst preparation for ammonia decomposition, oxygen reduction and evolution reactions, and the hydrogen oxidation reaction.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Biomass-based materials
Carbon materials
Oxygen reduction and evolution reactions
Energy applications
Electrochemical applications

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

R.G. Morais, N. Rey-Raap, J.L. Figueiredo, M.F.R. Pereira. Optimization of cobalt on CNT towards the oxygen evolution reaction and its synergy with iron (II) phthalocyanine as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalyst. Catalysis Today, 2023 Morais R.G., Rey-Raap N., Figueiredo J.L., Pereira M.F.R.. Fe, Co, N-doped carbon nanotubes as bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts. Applied Surface Science, 572, 151459, 2022 R.G. Morais, N. Rey-Raap, J.L. Figueiredo, M.F.R. Pereira. Highly electroactive N–Fe hydrothermal carbons and carbon nanotubes for the oxygen reduction reaction. Journal of Energy Chemistry, 50, 260-270, 2020 R.G. Morais, N. Rey-Raap, R.S. Costa, C. Pereira, A. Guedes, J.L. Figueiredo, M.F.R. Pereira. Hydrothermal Carbon/Carbon Nanotube Composites as Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction. Journal of Composites Science, 4, 20-34, 2020 R.G. Morais, N. Rey-Raap, J.L. Figueiredo, M.F.R. Pereira. Glucose-derived carbon materials with tailored properties as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 10, 1089-1102, 2019

SELECTED PROJECTS

BiCat4Energy - Carbon-based noble metal-free bifunctional electrocatalyst for renewable energy production: Improving the Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell. Reference: PTDC/EQU-EQU/1707/2020. Funded by: FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I&DT - Projectos de I&DT em Todos os Domínios Científicos. Starting Date: 2021/03/01. Duration: 36 months. UnirCell - Unitised regenerative fuel cell for efficient renewable energy supply: from materials to device. Reference: POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016422. Funded by: FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, PAC - P2020|COMPETE -Programa de Ações Conjuntas. Starting Date: 2017/01/01. Duration: 48 months.
Rafael Morais
Investigador Doutorado
rgm@fe.up.pt