Rafael Almeida, PhD researcher at CQE, was a finalist in the University of Lisbon’s “3 Minutes Thesis” competition 2026, presenting his research on extracting melanin from human hair. His work, developed within his PhD in Technological Chemistry at Faculdade de Ciências, explores how this naturally occurring pigment, otherwise discarded, can be reused as a sustainable coating material and the potential application of ionic liquids as heat transfer fluids for solar thermal technologies. The research, carried out with CQE’s Extreme Systems and Environments, Biological and Inorganic Chemistry and Redox Biology Lab groups, characterizes thermal properties and cytotoxicity to assess real-world viability, with laboratory results showing efficiency gains of up to 30% over conventional systems. Following his presentation, Rafael wrote an account of his research for the newspaper Público, published on 22 July 2026 (read it here).
