Thais Silva is a materials chemist specialising in the synthesis and development of advanced
functional nanomaterials for optoelectronic and particle astrophysics applications. She is
currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Astrocent, integrating the Photonics for Particle
Astrophysics and Sustainable Energy group led by Prof. Marcin Kuźniak.
She earned her PhD in Science from Universitat Jaume I (Spain), where her doctoral research
focused on the microwave-assisted synthesis of all-inorganic perovskite nanocrystals for
optoelectronic applications, particularly light-emitting devices. During her PhD, she
developed innovative synthetic strategies to obtain high-quality perovskite nanomaterials
with controlled optical properties and explored scalable production approaches. Notably, she
completed an international research stay at the University of Nottingham (UK), where she
gained advanced expertise in microwave-assisted synthesis utilising continuous-flow systems
for large-scale nanomaterial production.
At Astrocent, her research focuses on the synthesis of novel materials designed to act as
wavelength shifters (WLS) for cutting-edge particle detectors. Her work contributes directly
to the group’s key initiatives, including research and development efforts for advanced optical
materials deployed in major international dark matter and neutrino experiments such as
DarkSide-20k, DEAP-3600, and ARGO, as well as broader sustainable energy applications.
Alongside her extensive research background, Dr. Silva has actively engaged in academic
teaching and mentoring, including laboratory instruction in inorganic chemistry and tutoring
in advanced calculus.