Carlos J. Durán-Valle is Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Extremadura (Spain). He holds a degree in Chemical Sciences (1988) and a PhD in Sciences (1994) from the same university. He has worked as a lecturer at the University of Castilla la Mancha and the University of Extremadura. His doctoral thesis was carried out on the synthesis and structural determination of carbohydrate derivatives. This thesis was awarded the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize of the University of Extremadura. Subsequently, he started working on the preparation of vegetable carbons and activated carbons. Later, he joined both lines by using carbonaceous materials in the synthesis of fine chemicals. He has also investigated adsorption processes for the removal of pollutants and, more recently, advanced oxidation processes for the same purpose. He is currently focusing on the applications of hydrothermal carbons, both in catalysis and adsorption.