Melanie Guillén Soler

Research profile

Digital chemistry, automation, and electrochemical discovery

I am a Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow working at the interface of digital chemistry, electrochemistry automation, and programmable chemical systems.

Glasgow, United Kingdom
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About Me

My career has strategically built an interdisciplinary profile at the forefront of digital chemistry, integrating materials science, electrocatalysis, chemical automation, and AI for sustainable energy discovery. I specialize in the development of automated platforms for the controlled stimulus of electro- and photochemistry, utilizing integrated analytical feedback to drive autonomous discovery.

During my PhD, I pioneered automated in-situ analysis to understand complex electrochemical processes at nanointerfaces, leading to a real-time gas monitoring device and a granted patent. I also designed an in-flow electrochemical cell for the ALBA synchrotron enabling real-time electrocatalysis and XANES measurements, complemented by Raman, X-ray spectroscopy and confocal microscopy studies.

My postdoctoral work at the University of Glasgow expanded into digital chemistry with the ElectroChemputer, the first universal framework for programmable electrosynthesis. Since September 2024, I have served as Postdoctoral Researcher and Team Leader of the Chemputer Reactivity Team in the Cronin Group. In this leadership role, I manage multidisciplinary projects focused on advancing reactivity and chemical discovery through robotics.

Outside the lab, I enjoy bringing science to life through illustration, video editing, and 3D modelling. Some of my artwork has even made it onto the front covers of scientific journals.

Video

Pushing the Boundaries of Digital Chemistry

Recent Updates

2026: Cover picture just got online! Check here: “Support-Controlled Reaction Pathways via Dynamic Sulfur-Mediated Interfaces for Selective Urea Electrolysis (Adv. Funct. Mater. 76/2026)” .
2026: Preprint posted on ChemRxiv: “Programming electrophotochemical selectivity through feedback-controlled synchronization” .
2026: Selected as an SLAS2026 Innovation Award finalist for “Real-Time Analytics for Accelerated Electrochemistry: The ElectroChemputer Platform.”
2026: ElectroChemputer with integrated monitoring for programmable electrochemistry published in Chem.
2025: Work on compression of molybdenum blue polyoxometalate cluster rings published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.
2024: Algorithm-driven robotic discovery of polyoxometalate-scaffolding metal-organic frameworks published in Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Scientific illustration

Cover Artwork

Selected journal cover artwork and visual pieces developed alongside my research.

Contact

Email: Melanie.GuillenSoler@glasgow.ac.uk

News

Latest Updates

Advanced Functional Materials issue 76/2026 cover artwork designed by Melanie Guillen Soler

September 2026 · Cover artwork

Cover of Advanced Functional Materials 76/2026

Our work on selective urea electrolysis made the cover, and I illustrated it. The tree stands for the sulfur-doped carbon support, painted in Procreate alongside the chemistry it represents.

See the cover

ElectroPhotoChemputer platform and synchronized reaction-control workflow

July 2026 · Preprint

New preprint: Programming electrophotochemical selectivity

Our latest work explores how synchronized light, electricity, and real-time feedback can turn a complex reaction space into an executable chemical program.

Read the preprint

Graphical abstract for support-controlled selective urea electrolysis

24 June 2026 · Publication

Published in Advanced Functional Materials

A project that began during my PhD is now published, showing how dynamic sulfur-mediated catalyst-support interfaces can steer selective urea electrolysis.

Read the paper

February 2026 · Recognition

SLAS2026 Innovation Award Finalist

I presented “Real-Time Analytics for Accelerated Electrochemistry: The ElectroChemputer Platform” as one of five Innovation Award finalists in Boston.

View the award finalists

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · July 2026

Check out our last preprint on "Programming electrophotochemical selectivity through feedback-controlled synchronization" 😊 https://lnkd.in/ePxeRbau In this work, we explore how synchronized light, electricity, and real-time feedback can steer electro-photo-chemical selectivity, turning a complex reaction space into something programmable. Great team work within the Cronin group. 👏 #DigitalChemistry #Electrochemistry #Photochemistry #Automation #ChemRxiv

Programming electrophotochemical selectivity through feedback-controlled synchronization | ChemRxiv chemrxiv.org

Preprint View on LinkedIn Read preprint

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · July 2026

I’m very happy to share that our article, “Support-Controlled Reaction Pathways via Dynamic Sulfur-Mediated Interfaces for Selective Urea Electrolysis,” has been published in Advanced Functional Materials 🥳 This work is especially meaningful to me, as it started during the first years of my PhD in Santiago de Compostela. Looking back, it represents many experiments, discussions, challenges, and learning moments that helped shape me as a researcher. In this work, we show that catalyst supports are not passive spectators. By using sulfur-doped graphitized carbon nanofibers, we demonstrate that dynamic sulfur-mediated interfaces can steer urea electrolysis pathways and improve selectivity toward N₂. This provides a novel control of the reaction pathway through adaptive catalyst–support interactions. I’m grateful to all the co-authors who made this work possible. My first co-author Lucía Vizcaíno Anaya, Ahmad, Jose and my PhD supervisor Maria Giménez. Thank you for support, and contributions throughout the process. Proud to share this milestone, and excited for what comes next. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ePJhFUMp #PhD #Research #MaterialsScience #Electrocatalysis #AdvancedFunctionalMaterials #UreaElectrolysis

Research update View on LinkedIn Read paper

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · SLAS2026

Don’t miss my talk at 11!!! See you there! #SLAS2026

SLAS2026 View on LinkedIn

Melanie Guillén Soler shared a post

LinkedIn · March 2026

Chemical automation is only as good as the tools holding it together, and fragmented device handling remains one of the biggest bottlenecks in automating chemistry labs. PyLabware tackles this and more with a unified, capability-based framework that standardises communication across preparative and analytical devices. With support for 40+ commercial and in-house instruments from 20+ manufacturers - such as rotary evaporators, hotplates, stirrers, and NMR spectrometers - it's built to scale with your chemistry, not against it, providing simple reaction control and detailed reaction insights. Also check out Dominika Urbańczyk's (https://lnkd.in/eig-Tj6W), Jacopo Zero's (https://lnkd.in/e6JWHWw8), and Melanie Guillen's (https://lnkd.in/eDdGuFJF) works showcasing how PyLabware powers execution and reaction analysis for medicinal, microwave, and electrochemical syntheses within the Chemputer platform implementation of the Chemical Description Language (χDL) framework! #RSCPoster #RSCDigital #RSCEng Royal Society of Chemistry

Chemical automation View on LinkedIn

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · March 2026

Excited to share our latest work for the #RSCPoster on the ElectroChemputer, a programmable, modular platform that unifies automated electrochemical synthesis with real-time analytical feedback! 👉 Key Highlights: - Standardized Framework: A hardware-agnostic system for programmable electrosynthesis using XDL syntax. - Real-Time Monitoring: Integrated on-line NMR spectroscopy and electroanalysis (CV, charge) to track reaction progression. - Smart Analytics: We use a Jaccard similarity index and a plateau-detection algorithm to automate endpoint detection. - Versatility: Validated across diverse reactions including nucleophilic substitutions, oxidative couplings, on-site gas generation for downstream hydrogenation and electrodeposition of polymers. Check out the full details in our recent publication in Chem! https://lnkd.in/eCjeTe9e #RSCDigital #DigitalDiscovery #RSCOrg #RSCPoster #RSCPoster26 #Automation #Electrochemistry #DigitalChemistry #Chemputer #Sustainability #Innovation

RSCPoster View on LinkedIn Publication link

Melanie Guillén Soler shared a post

LinkedIn · March 2026

Excited to share my poster on automating API synthesis for accessible drug manufacturing using the Chemputer platform and the Chemical Description Language χDL. #RSCPoster #RSCDigital Digital Discovery #RSCDigital

RSCPoster View on LinkedIn

Melanie Guillén Soler shared a post

LinkedIn · March 2026

Have you ever wanted to automate microwave chemistry? Check out how we did it using the Chemputer platform and the Chemical Description Language χDL! You can find more details in our paper: https://lnkd.in/eeujdDMe #RSCPoster #RSCDigital #RSCEng Digital Discovery #RSCDigital

RSCPoster View on LinkedIn

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · March 2026

I am very happy to share that our paper, "ElectroChemputer with integrated monitoring for programmable electrochemistry," is now published in Chem Cell Press Given the fact that electrosynthesis introduces a multitude of additional electrochemical reaction parameters (many of which are unfamiliar to traditionally trained chemists), this clearly demonstrates the urgent need for unified hardware and software approaches that streamline the development and optimization of electrosynthesis without restricting the accessible (electro-)chemical reaction space. To tackle this, we developed a modular platform that encodes electrochemical procedures into executable digital scripts. Here, we extend the digital chemistry infrastructure into the electrochemical domain by introducing hardware-agnostic control, standardized protocol execution, and real-time reaction monitoring within a unified software environment. The peer review process was incredibly constructive and rewarding. The reviewers highlighted the platform's flexibility and describing the breadth of the work as a "tour de force in electrosynthesis". One reviewer specifically pointed out our approach to generating hydrogen and oxygen gases in situ as a promising way to avoid storing hazardous reagents. By applying a plateau-detection algorithm to the course of the Jaccard similarity index, we establish an automated endpoint detection. To the best of our knowledge, this method has not been used together with electrochemical synthesis before. Most importantly, we have made our tools more accessible to the community. We detailed a minimal setup and provided open-source 3D-printable files for our reactor lids. This ensures anyone can replicate our standardized setup for reproducible preparative synthesis, even without building the fully automated robot. A big thank you to my co-authors for their hard work Robert Rauschen Kristine Laws Abhishek Sharma Niclas Grocholski Mark McNulty and Lee Cronin Read the open-access paper here: https://lnkd.in/eCjeTe9e A huge thanks to Carsten Streb's preview of our paper in the same issue: https://lnkd.in/eG67PbSN #Electrochemistry #Automation #DigitalChemistry #ChemCellPress #OpenScience #Robotics

Publication View on LinkedIn Publication link

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · 2025

🎉 I’m delighted and profoundly relieved to share that one of the key projects from my PhD research has been published in Advanced Materials! Working on this publication took intense dedication, and seeing the results finally published in such a high-impact journal is incredibly rewarding. The paper, titled "POM-Based Water Splitting Catalyst Under Acid Conditions Driven by Its Assembly on Carbon Nanotubes", focuses on the challenge of developing stable, earth-abundant, and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for water electrolysis under harsh acidic conditions. Our findings detail a novel vanadium POM material whose catalytic activity can be precisely switched from oxygen to hydrogen evolution by simply controlling its assembly on carbon nanotubes. I want to express my gratitude to all co-authours, collaborators and supervisor for the fantastic team work: María Giménez, Eugenia Pilar Quirós Díez, PhD, Carlos Herreros Lucas Alejandro López Moreno José Manuel Vila-Fungueiriño, Antonio L. Llamas-Saiz, Karol Strutynski, and Manuel Melle-Franco. You can read the full article here and see the final outcome of this research effort: https://lnkd.in/eARbrwX3 #AdvancedMaterials #Publication #Science #Innovation #MaterialScience #AcademicJournal #Electrocatalysis #Polyoxometalates

Publication View on LinkedIn Publication link

Melanie Guillén Soler

Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow · 2025

Had a fantastic time at the ACS Fall 2025 meeting in Washington DC! I had the opportunity to present my research in the Cronin group at the University of Glasgow on “Fully automated platform for programmable electrochemical reactions” and the conversations that followed were incredibly insightful. It was energizing to share my work and learn from so many brilliant minds in the field. Beyond the presentation, I met so many wonderful people and made some great connections. Special thanks to David Meier and Miguel M. de Vries Ibáñez for “Science in Pub” activity. It was an amazing informal science communication event where we presented automation in chemistry to non-specialist audience. A great reminder of the importance to making science accessible to everyone! Looking forward to stating in touch with everyone I met and continuing these valuable discussions. #ACSFall2025 #chemistry #automation #research #science