Dr. Bañuelos leads the NICE2 Lab (Nanomaterials, Interfaces, and Confinement for Energy & the Environment Laboratory) in the Department of Physics at UTEP. He enjoys mentoring students and is committed to training competent scientists to take on today's grand challenges in science.

• Outstanding Academic and Research Excellence Graduating Senior, Linh Pham, Department of Physics Student - Department of Physics (05/08/2021)
• ADP Math and Science Teachers (MaST) Academy Scholar, Melissa Cano - ADP Math and Science Teachers (MaST) Academy (05/01/2021)
• Best Presentation: Physical Sciences, Kyle Williams, 2021 COURI Spring Symposium - COURI (04/15/2021)
• NSF Aspire Alliance for Inclusive and Diverse Faculty Fellowship ASPIRE Graduate Fellowship, Omar Avina - NSF Aspire Alliance (03/15/2021)
• 2020 U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS) Winter School, Ramon Ogaz - Texas A&M University (12/15/2020)
• Research Team’s efforts highlighted on the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ISIS Neutron Facility Website - STFC RAL ISIS (UK) webpage (11/05/2020)
• First prize/ Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research symposium, Linh Pham - Rice University (10/31/2020)
• Mayo Clinic 2020 Summer Foundations in Research Internship, Kyle Williams - Mayo Clinic (07/20/2020)
• 2020 PCCP Hot Articles Themed Collection - Journal: Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics (PCCP) (06/30/2020)
• BUILDing Scholars Program, Kyle Williams - BUILDing Scholars Program (06/01/2020)
• EERE Graduate Summer Fellowship, Jose Ali Espitia - EERE Graduate Fellowship Program and LLNL (06/01/2020)
• FermiLab Summer Internships in Science and Technology (SIST) program, Linh Pham - Fermi Natnl. Accelerator Lab. (FermiLab) (06/01/2020)
• Summer Undergraduate Research Program Assistantship (SURPASS) at UTEP, Ramon Ogaz - UTEP COURI (06/01/2020)
• Tuition Award for summer 2020, Tahmida Raheen Iqbal - UTEP (06/01/2020)
• Yale Developmental Science Summer Program, Ian Reyes - Yale University (06/01/2020)
• C. Sharp Cook Graduate Scholarship Fund, Tahmida Raheen Iqbal - UTEP (10/09/2019)
• Mentored Experiences in Research, Inquiry, and Creativity for Undergraduate Scholars (MERITUS) scholar , Francisco Ayala - UTEP COURI (09/01/2019)
• Ohio State Universty Graduate Fellowship, Francisco Ayala - Ohio State University (08/01/2019)
• National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Research Fellowship, Jose Ali Espitia - NNSA and Lawrence Livermore Natnl. Lab (LLNL) (06/01/2019)
• NSF-HBCU Summer school on Computational Modelling on Disorder Materials Location, Linh Pham - U. of Southern Mississippi (06/01/2019)
• Undergraduate Academic and Research Excellence Award UTEP College of Science, Francisco Ayala - UTEP College of Science (05/05/2019)
• Chapin High School Science Fair Sweepstakes, Advance to District Competition, student: Cesar Meza - Chapin High School (01/11/2019)
• 2019 National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Fellowship, student: Jose Espitia - Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) (12/23/2018)
• Travel Scholarship to attend 2018 SACNAS Conference, student: Carlos Cuellar - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (10/01/2018)
• Travel Scholarship to attend 2018 SACNAS Conference, student: Hasan Rahman - Society for the Advancement of Chicanos & Native Americans in Science (10/01/2018)
• First Place presentation in Translational Biomedicine, BUILDing Scholar Symposium, student: Victor Madrid - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (09/29/2018)
• Best Presentation – 2018 COURI Summer Symposium, student: Sebastian Torres - UTEP Campus Office of Undergraduate Research Initiatives (08/04/2018)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Kyle Williams - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (07/15/2018)
• Invited Speaker: Gordon Research Conference on Physics Research and Education - Gordon Research Conference on Physics Research and Education (06/10/2018)
• Geological Society of America (GSA) Student Research Grant, student: Ezequiel Moreno - Geological Society of America (06/01/2018)
• SURPASS Scholar, student: Francisco Ayala - UTEP COURI SURPASS Program (06/01/2018)
• UTEP Student Government Association Travel Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - UTEP Student Government Association (06/01/2018)
• BUILD Program Internship, UT Austin, student: Victor Madrid - UT Austin, via BUILD program (05/31/2018)
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates, Dept. of Physics, University of New Mexico, student: Crystal Rodriguez - Dept of Physics, University of New Mexico (05/31/2018)
• Internship at Sandia National Laboratories, student: Jose Espitia - Sandia National Laboratories & Consortium for Integrating Energy Systems in Engineering and Science Education (CIESESE) Program (05/15/2018)
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory Higher Educations Research Experiences Program, student: Bruce Lomeli - Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Geochemistry and Interfacial Sciences Group (05/15/2018)
• Physics Award for Academic and Research Excellence, student: Pawan Koirala - UTEP College of Science (05/01/2018)
• APS Braslau Student Travel Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - American Physical Society (04/01/2018)
• Society of Physics Student (SPS) Travel Grant Award to attend 2018 APS March meeting, student: Carlos Cuellar - Society of Physics Students (04/01/2018)
• UTEP Graduate School Travel Grant, student: Pawan Koirala - UTEP Graduate School (02/15/2018)
• RISE Bridge Program, student: Omar Avina - El Paso Community College RISE Bridge Program (01/01/2018)
• RISE Bridge Program, student: Sitri Puentes - El Paso Community College RISE Bridge Program (01/01/2018)
• Research Group featured in College of Science Fall 2017 Newsletter - UTEP College of Science (12/15/2017)
• Outstanding Presentation Award 2017 Texas Section of the APS. student: Carlos Cuellar - Texas Section of the American Physical Society (10/21/2017)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Victor Madrid - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (08/15/2017)
• MARC Research Program, student: Bruce Lomeli - UTEP MARC Program (08/15/2017)
• Petnica Summer Institute (PSI) in Cosmology in Petnica, Serbia, student: Carlos Cuellar - Petnica Summer Institute (PSI) in Cosmology (08/01/2017)
• Utrecht University Summer School in Theoretical Physics in Utrecht, The Netherlands, student: Carlos Cuellar - Utrecht University Summer School in Theoretical Physics (08/01/2017)
• Public Outreach Internship, American Physical Society, student: Francisco Ayala - American Physical Society (06/01/2017)
• SURPASS Program, student Crystal Rodriguez - COURI - Campus Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives (06/01/2017)
• Robert C. Cook Scholarship For physics graduate students, student: Kevin Vallejo - UTEP Robert C. Cook Fund (05/01/2017)
• GEM Scholarship, student Kevin Vallejo - Boise State University (04/01/2017)
• Travel Award to attend Joint APS / Soceity of Physics Students meeting in San Antonio, TX, student: Melissa Cano - Texas section of the Society of Physics Students (03/15/2017)
• Travel Award to attend Joint APS / Society of Physics Students Meeting in San Antonio, student: Francisco Ayala - Texas Section of the Society of Physics Students (03/15/2017)
• BUILDing Scholars program, student: Raul Higuera - UTEP BUILDing Scholars Program (12/15/2016)
• Physcon 2016 ,Optical Society of America (OSA) Poster Award: Applied Physics, student: Francisco Ayala - Physcon 2016 ,Optical Society of America (OSA) (11/05/2016)
• American Physical Society Travel Award to attend the Texas-Four Corners Joint Meeting of the APS, student: Kevin Vallejo - Texas and Four Corners Secitions of the APS (10/21/2016)
• MERITUS Program, student: Francisco Ayala - COURI - Campus Office for Undergraduate Research Initiatives (09/01/2016)
• 2016 Linton-Poodry Summer Leadership Institute - SACNAS - Society for Advancement of  Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (07/22/2016)

• Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2014)
• Ph D in Physics, New Mexico State University (2010)
• BS in Physics, New Mexico State University (2004)

• On precipitation hardening behaviour in a triaxial forged Mg-2Zn-2Gd alloy and relationship to mechanical properties Materials Technology (2023), Matthew Weaver, A J. Maldonado, Jose L. Banuelos, RDK Misra.
• Journal cover: Oxide- and Silicate-Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment Chemical Reviews (2023), Jose L. Banuelos.
• Oxide–and Silicate–Water Interfaces and Their Roles in Technology and the Environment Chemical Reviews (2023), Jose L. Banuelos, James Kubicki, et al..
• In-Situ Observations of Barium Sulfate Nucleation in Nanopores ACS Crystal Growth & Design (2022), Alexander B. Brady, Juliane Weber, Ke Yuan, Lawrence F. Allard, Omar Avina, Ramon Ogaz, Yao-Jen Chang, Nikhil Rampal, Vitalii Starchenko, Gernot Rother, Lawrence M. Anovitz, Jose L. Banuelos, Hsiu-Wen Wang, Andrew G. Stack.
• Rapid Adsorption Mechanism of Methylene Blue onto a Porous Mixed Ti-Nb Oxide Materials Chemistry Horizons 1 1 (2022), Tahmina Akter, Jose L. Banuelos, Daniel Andrade, Dante Bañuelos, Geoffrey B. Saupe.
• Rapid adsorption mechanism of methylene blue onto a porous mixed Ti-Nb oxide Materials Chemistry Horizons (2022), Tahmina Akter, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Subtle changes in hydrogen bond orientation result in glassification of carbon capture solvents Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 34 (2020), Jose L. Banuelos.
• Formation of ion gels by polymerization of block copolymer/ionic liquid/oil mesophases Soft Matter 16 (2020), Alireza Bandegi, Jose L. Banuelos, Reza Foudazi.
• Phase separation and performance of polyethersulfone/cellulose nanocrystals membranes Polymer 186 (2019), Fatemeh Lessan, Mohammad Karimi, Jose L. Banuelos, Reza Foudazi.
• Calorimetric Evaluation of the Operational Thermal Stability of Ribonuclease A in Hydrated Deep Eutectic Solvents ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering 7 15 (2019), Jennifer Kist, Michael Henzl, Jose L. Banuelos, Gary Baker.
• TiO2-carbon nanoporous composites prepared via ZnO nanoparticle-templated carbonization of glucose adsorb and photodegrade organic pollutants in water JOURNAL OF WATER PROCESS ENGINEERING 28 (2019), Luis A. Barrera, Alma C. Escobosa, Aileen Nevarez, Noemi Dominguez, Jose L. Banuelos, Paul Westerhoff, Juan C. Noveron.
• TiO2-carbon nanoporous composites prepared via ZnO nanoparticle-templated carbonization of glucose adsorb and photodegrade of organic pollutants in water Journal of Water Process Engineering 28 (2019), Luis Barrera, Alma Escobosa, Noemi Dominguez, Jose L. Banuelos, Paul Westerhoff, Juan Noveron.

• Invited: Network forming liquids create tunable nanostructures for efficient small molecule transport and intermolecular interactions (2024), Volume Minneapolis, MN, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Determining Heterogeneous Nucleation Rates of Mg(OH)2 on MgO Using Multiharmonic QCM-D and X-ray Scattering methods (2024), Pedro J. Hernandez, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Invited: Low-Angle Scattering Features of Network Ionic Liquids and Their Relation to Various External Stimuli (2023), Volume San Francisco, CA, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Invited: Variations in the Formation of the Nanoscale Passivation Phase on Various MgO Form Factors Under Environmental Conditions (2023), Volume San Francisco, CA, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Keynote: Connect with your critical networks, Discover nature’s secrets, Transform the world (2023), Volume El Paso, TX, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Geothermal Power & Direct Lithium Extraction (2023), Volume The University of Texas at El Paso, Benjamin Brunner, Hermann Lebit, Jose L. Banuelos, Eva M. Deemer, Mark Engle, Judith Hoyt, Natalya Kharitonova, Mya Valenzuela.
• Computational thinking and specifications grading in an introductory calculus-based mechanics course at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) (2023), Volume Las Vegas, NV, Jorge A. Munoz, Jose L. Banuelos, Eunja Kim, Ramon J. Ravelo, Yun Pil Shim.
• Water properties and ion transport in nanometer-scale hollow silica spheres with porous shells (2021), Jose L. Banuelos, Ramon Ogaz, Omar Avina, Natalia Carrasco-Rojas, Israel Ramirez, Bishnu Prasad Thapaliya, Alireza Bandegi, Gernot Rother, Sheng Dai, Reza Foudazi.
• Understanding and Control of Reactive Separations (2021), David Heldebrant, Vassiliki-Alexandra Glezakou, Jose L. Banuelos, Deepika Malhotra, Sarah I. Allec, Jotheeswari Kothandaraman, Loukas Kollias.
• Exploring the Impact of Linoleic Acid on the Temperature Dependent Micelle Formation Properties of Pluronic F-127 Micelles (2021), Kyle D. Williams, Tahmida R. Iqbal, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Q & A with Dr. José Leobardo Bañuelos (2021), Jose L. Banuelos.
• It’s All About the Interface – Harnessing Molecular and Personal Interactions for a Sustainable Future (2021), Jose L. Banuelos.
• Sustainable Science: Amazing opportunities and Doing the Right Thing (2021), Volume California State University, Dominguez Hills, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Considerations for Mineral Precipitation Under nanoporous silica confinement (2020), Volume Mesilla, NM, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Ions and Fluids in Nano-Pores - How Can They Help Address Challenges in Our Planet’s Climate, Water and Energy Needs? (2019), Volume UTEP Undergraduate Learning Center, Jose L. Banuelos.
• The Impact of Deep Eutectic Solvent on the Structural Stability of Myoglobin (2019), Volume El Paso, TX, Linh Pham, Supriyo Ray, Jennifer Kist, Maria Marquez, Reza Foudazi, Gary Baker, Jose L. Banuelos.
• Tackling Urgent Global Problems Begins with Good Mentorship and Early Engagement in Research (2019), Volume Española, NM, Jose L. Banuelos.

• 2024 Hill Prize: For developing clean, emission-free direct lithium extraction using geothermal energy
• Texas Research Expanding Nuclear Diversity
• Fundamental Mechanisms Driving Efficiency of CO2 Capture Using Mineral Looping
• Reimagining the CORE: Redesign of Introductory Mechanics, PHYS 2320
• UTEP COS Next Generation Software and Instrumentation for Student Access to Nanoscale Characterization – Enabling Excellence in Our Technical Workforce
• mini grant Big Ideas in Physics – Undergraduate Research Fundamentals (A freshmen-year research-intensive experience)