This award recognizes the contributions of young Ibero-American researchers under 40 in the field of electrochemistry. Rizo accepted the award on October 22 during the XXVII SIBAE Congress, held in São Paulo, Brazil.
In addition to receiving the recognition, Rizo delivered one of the congress's plenary lectures, titled “When Structure Decides: A Journey Through Surface Electrochemistry.” He demonstrated how the structure of the electrode surface and the properties of the electrode-solution interface determine reactivity in key energy conversion processes, covering topics from single crystals to controlled-shape nanoparticles.
Rubén Rizo graduated in Chemistry from UA in 2011 and completed his Master's in Electrochemistry. Science and Technology a year later. In 2017, he earned his PhD from the University of La Laguna with an Extraordinary Doctorate Award. During this period, he conducted research stays at the Institute of Carboquímica (CSIC) in Zaragoza, Leiden University (Netherlands), Cornell University (USA), UA, and the National University of Río Cuarto (Argentina). He subsequently completed a postdoctoral stay at the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society in Berlin.
In 2020, he received a Juan de la Cierva grant, which enabled his return to UA. He currently works as a Ramón y Cajal researcher in the Surface Electrochemistry group at the university. His research focuses on fundamental electrochemical studies correlating the surface morphology of electrode materials with their reactivity in energy-related reactions. He has published over thirty articles in international journals such as the Journal of the American Chemical Society and Nature Energy. Among other accolades, he has received the Travel Award from the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE).
The Ibero-American Society of Electrochemistry (SIBAE) is a non-profit organization aimed at promoting closer ties and cooperation among professionals, educators, researchers, and technicians involved in electrochemistry, both in pure science and its applications, within Ibero-American countries. Founded in 1992, SIBAE comprises members from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It has had a cooperation agreement with the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) since 1998.
