As CSIC President Dª. Rosa Menéndez López says, 2019 was a good year for a lot of CSIC centers, achieving all the objectives set up as part of the 2018-2021 Strategic Plan. This includes the consolidation of 35 interdisciplinary themed platforms that are dedicated to finding answers to some of the challenges that society faces in fields like health, agriculture, environmental issues, digitalization, energy and materials. 

CSIC holds also a very good position internationally, ranking #51 in the international Nature Index for 2019, and staying in the Top 5 in European projects within H2020. The internationalization of CSIC centers leads to a 64% of all of the CSIC publications being the result of international collaboration. A total of 14.000 publications have been released this year in indexed journals, accompanied by a strong push for open science.

ICMAB’s Highlights in the Global Field of Matter

As part of the CSIC, some of the research being developed at ICMAB is also highlighted in their CSIC Annual Report 2019, particularly in the Global Field of Matter, which involves more than 3.400 workers in 44 research centers.

A Paper that Turns Residual Heat into Electric Energy

Some ICMAB researchers have collaborated in the creation of a thermoelectric material made with bacterial nanocellulose and carbon nanotubes. This material could be used in devices to generate electricity through residual heat, which usually is wasted, through a process that is both sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Read the article: Farming thermoelectric paper (Energy Environ. Sci.)

Carbon Nanocapsules for Localized Tumor Radiotherapy

In collaboration with the Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2) and an international team, some ICMAB Researchers have developed carbon nanocapsules filled with Samarium atoms that when activated through radiation can destroy and reduce the growth of tumoral cells, and it can also be used for in Vivo imaging. It is a promising step forward for nanomedicine that has already been tested in mice.

Read the article: Neutron Activated ¹⁵³ Sm Sealed in Carbon Nanocapsules for in vivo Imaging and Tumor Radiotherapy (ACS Nano) 

Biotransistors that Register the Smallest of Heartbeats

ICMAB Researchers in collaboration with the Institut de Bioenginyeria de Catalunya (IBEC) have developed a platform of biocompatible, affordable, flexible transistors that can register an electrocardiogram from cells and cellular tissues, based on EGO-FET transistors. This has applications in the design of implanted devices for medical purposes, since they have the ability of measuring the effect off drugs in cardiac cells.

Read the article: Bioelectronic Recordings of Cardiomyocytes with Accumulation Mode Electrolyte Gated Organic Field Effect Transistors (Biosensors and Bioelectronics)

Electric Control of Heat Flow for Electronics without Power Waste

In collaboration with the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST), ICMAB Researchers have proven the possibility to control thermal conductivity through an external electric field. This knowledge can suppose a change of paradigm by which, instead of loosing heat when transmitting information with energy, phonons can become the element for energy transmission.

Read the article: Giant Electrophononic Response in PbTiO₃ by Strain Engineering (Physics Review Letters)

More information

Besides these highlights, ICMAB is also remarkable for being on it’s last year of the Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence Award (2015 -2019), with continuity on the following four years since ICMAB has been awarded for a second time in a row. 

For more information, read the full CSIC Annual Report 2019 (SPANISH) or in ENGLISH!  

Referenced articles

Cover image: Annual Report CSIC 2019