Regular biography
Dr Valentina Erastova is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at The University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on inorganic energy, environmental, and sustainable chemistry, with an emphasis on functional materials, structural chemistry, and chemical dynamics. She specializes in interfacial chemistry, adsorption, and the behavior of molecules in porous and confined systems. Dr Erastova's work includes studies on clay minerals, biochar, and organic-mineral interactions, with applications in environmental remediation, energy storage, and nuclear waste management. She is also involved in the development of open-source computational tools such as ClayCode and DynDen. Her research has been published in journals such as Nature Communications and Chemical Communications.
Scholar-generated biography
Valentina Erastova's research focuses on molecular modelling, interfaces, origins of life, biochar, and clay minerals. Her work explores the origins of life through the study of prebiotic peptide formation on mineral surfaces and the role of clay minerals in concentrating biomolecules. She investigates molecular interactions at mineral surfaces, including the effects of salinity and hydration on organic-mineral interactions. Her research also addresses the development of biochar molecular models and their applications in environmental and energy systems. Additionally, she contributes to understanding fluid behavior in nanopores and the synthesis of layered double hydroxides for various applications.