News

Interaction-Limited Aggregation: Fine-Tuning the Size of pNIPAM Particles by Association with Hydrophobic Ions

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Título : Interaction-Limited Aggregation: Fine-Tuning the Size of pNIPAM Particles by Association with Hydrophobic Ions
Autores: Jordi Faraudo*, Arturo Moncho-Jordá, Delfi Bastos-González, and Carlos Drummond*
Citation and DOI:
Macromolecules 2023, 56, 6, 2246–2257
Publication Date: March 17, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.3c00132
PlumX: Interaction-Limited Aggregation: Fine-Tuning the Size of pNIPAM Particles by Association with Hydrophobic Ions
We have investigated the formation of stable clusters of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) chains in water at temperatures above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST), induced by the presence of sodium tetraphenylborate, NaPh4B. The hydrophobic Ph4B– ions interact strongly with the pNIPAM chains, providing them with a net effective negative charge, which leads to the stabilization of pNIPAM clusters for temperatures above the LCST, with a mean cluster size that depends non-monotonically on salt concentration.

Biomaterials

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Complete collection of CSIC Scientific Challenges White Paper in our Manuel Cardona Library

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The complete collection of CSIC Scientific Challenges: towards 2030, the CSIC White Paper formed by 14 volumes, is now available on paper in our ICMAB Manuel Cardona library (and available for loan), in the handbooks section. 

Access to the electronic version (ebook) is available at the Editorial CSIC website.

What is the contribution of ICMAB researchers on these Scientific Challenges? Continue reading to know more. 

Outreach publications, Breaking News, timeline

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Accurate Prediction of Hall Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials through Gauge-Covariant Quadrupolar Contributions

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Título : Accurate Prediction of Hall Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials through Gauge-Covariant Quadrupolar Contributions
Autores: Samuel Poncé*, Miquel Royo, Marco Gibertini, Nicola Marzari, and Massimiliano Stengel
Citation and DOI: Phys. Rev. Lett. 130, 166301 – Published 20 April 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.130.166301
PlumX: Accurate Prediction of Hall Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials through Gauge-Covariant Quadrupolar Contributions
Despite considerable efforts, accurate computations of electron-phonon and carrier transport properties of low-dimensional materials from first principles have remained elusive. By building on recent advances in the description of long-range electrostatics, we develop a general approach to the calculation of electron-phonon couplings in two-dimensional materials. We show that the nonanalytic behavior of the electron-phonon matrix elements depends on the Wannier gauge, but that a missing Berry connection restores invariance to quadrupolar order.

Oxides

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Warsaw, Poland | E-MRS 2023

Submit your abstract for the 2023 E-MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit (18-21 Sept 2023)

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Date : 2023-09-18

The 2023 Fall Meeting of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) will take place from September 18 to 21, 2023 at the main campus of the University of Technology in Warsaw (Poland) and will consist of parallel symposia with invited speakers, oral and poster presentations assorted by one plenary session to provide an international forum for discussing recent advances in the field of materials science. The conference will be augmented by an exhibition of products and services of interest to the conference participants.

Meetings Organization, External Events, timeline

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2nd Open call 2023 for preferential access to NANBIOSIS ICTS units

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Título Artículo: 2nd Open call 2023 for preferential access to NANBIOSIS ICTS units

NANBIOSIS opens in June the 2nd competitive open call 2023 for its “Cutting-Edge Biomedical Solutions” and services. At ICMAB we host the U6 of NANBIOSIS: Biomaterial Processing and Nanostructuring Unit. 

Project Calls

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Lithium halide filled carbon nanocapsules: Paving the way towards lithium neutron capture therapy (LiNCT)

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Título : Lithium halide filled carbon nanocapsules: Paving the way towards lithium neutron capture therapy (LiNCT)
Autores: Gil Gonçalves, Stefania Sandoval, Marina Llenas, Belén Ballesteros, Tatiana Da Ros, Silva Bortolussi, Laura Cansolino, Cinzia Ferrari, Ian Postuma, Nicoletta Protti, Manuel Melle-Franco, Saverio Altieri, Gerard Tobías-Rossell 
Citation and DOI: Carbon Volume 208, May 2023, Pages 148-159
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2023.03.034
PlumX: Lithium halide filled carbon nanocapsules: Paving the way towards lithium neutron capture therapy (LiNCT)
Neutron capture therapy (NCT) is a form of radiotherapy that exploits the potential of some specific isotopes to capture thermal neutrons and subsequently yield high linear energy transfer (LET) particles, suitable for cancer treatment. Recently, relevant technological improvements have been made in terms of accelerators as suitable neutron sources for NCT at hospitals. However, low selective delivery of current drugs to cancer cells remains as the main challenge for successful clinical application of NCT. This work presents an innovative and previously unexplored approach for the design of nanotherapeutic NCT agents.

Biomaterials

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Presentation of APL Energy, new open access journal of AIP Publishing

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Date : 2023-06-06

The new APL Energy journal is presented to the ICN2, ICMAB and IMB-CNM community on Tuesday, 6 June 2023.

APL Energy is a new gold open access journal from AIP Publishing featuring research related to energy, applications of energy storage and conversion, energy sources and materials, and renewable energy and sustainability. The journal also considers research that addresses the environmental impacts of energy technologies.

Come to this morning session and discover this new opportunity: a new journal and some tips to publish and increase the impact of your research.

Periodical Lectures & Invited Seminars, Breaking News, timeline

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Effect of surfactants on SARS-CoV-2: Molecular dynamics simulations

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Título : Effect of surfactants on SARS-CoV-2: Molecular dynamics simulations
Autores: Marc Domingo, Jordi Faraudo
Citation and DOI:
J. Chem. Phys. 158, 114107 (2023)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0135251
PlumX: Effect of surfactants on SARS-CoV-2: Molecular dynamics simulations
Surfactants are commonly used as disinfection agents in personal care products against bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. However, there is a lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the inactivation of viruses by surfactants. Here, we employ coarse grain (CG) and all-atom (AA) molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the interaction between general families of surfactants and the SARS-CoV-2 virus. To this end, we considered a CG model of a full virion.

Biomaterials

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Facile, fast and green synthesis of a highly porous calcium-syringate bioMOF with intriguing triple bioactivity

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Título : Facile, fast and green synthesis of a highly porous calcium-syringate bioMOF with intriguing triple bioactivity
Autores: Albert Rosado, * Oriol Vallcorba, Blanca Vázquez-Lasa, Luís García-Fernández, Rosa Ana Ramírez-Jiménez, María Rosa Aguilar, Ana M. López-Periago, Concepción Domingo * and José A. Ayllón
Citation and DOI: Inorg. Chem. Front., 2023,10, 2165-2173
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/D2QI02639B
PlumX: Facile, fast and green synthesis of a highly porous calcium-syringate bioMOF with intriguing triple bioactivity

A facile, fast and green strategy based on ethanol is utilized to prepare a new bioMOF, namely, CaSyr-1, with particular characteristics of full biocompatibility given by using just calcium and syringic acid, the latter being a phenolic natural product found in fruits and vegetables, permanent porosity with an outstanding surface area >1000 m2 g−1, and a micropore diameter of 1.4 nm close to mesopore values. Collectively, these data establish CaSyr-1 as one of the most porous bioMOFs reported to date, with high molecular adsorption capacity.

Biomaterials

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Mixed-Valence Conductors from Ni Bis(diselenolene) Complexes with a Thiazoline Backbone

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Título : Mixed-Valence Conductors from Ni Bis(diselenolene) Complexes with a Thiazoline Backbone
Autores: Hadi Hachem, HengBo Cui, Reizo Kato, Pere Alemany, Enric Canadell*, Olivier Jeannin, Marc Fourmigué*, and Dominique Lorcy*
Citation and DOI:
Inorg. Chem. 2023, 62, 10, 4197–4209
Publication Date:February 24, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.inorgchem.2c04300
PlumX: Mixed-Valence Conductors from Ni Bis(diselenolene) Complexes with a Thiazoline Backbone
Highly conducting, mixed-valence, multi-component nickel bis(diselenolene) salts were obtained by electrocrystallization of the monoanionic species [Ni(Me-thiazds)2]−1 (Me-thiazds: N-methyl-1,3-thiazoline-2-thione-4,5-diselenolate), with 1:2 and 1:3 stoichiometries depending of the counter ion used (Et4N+ and nBu4N+vs Ph4P+, respectively). This behavior strongly differs from that of the corresponding monoanionic dithiolene complexes whose oxidation afforded the single component neutral species.

Molecular

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Stable Organic Radical for Enhancing Metal–Monolayer–Semiconductor Junction Performance

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Título : Stable Organic Radical for Enhancing Metal–Monolayer–Semiconductor Junction Performance
Autores: J. Alejandro De Sousa, Raphael Pfattner, Diego Gutiérrez, Kilian Jutglar, Stefan T. Bromley, Jaume Veciana, Concepció Rovira, Marta Mas-Torrent, Bruno Fabre, and Núria Crivillers*
Citation and DOI:
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2023, 15, 3, 4635–4642
Publication Date:January 15, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c15690
PlumX: Stable Organic Radical for Enhancing Metal–Monolayer–Semiconductor Junction Performance
The preparation of monolayers based on an organic radical and its diamagnetic counterpart has been pursued on hydrogen-terminated silicon surfaces. The functional monolayers have been investigated as solid-state metal/monolayer/semiconductor (MmS) junctions showing a characteristic diode behavior which is tuned by the electronic characteristics of the organic molecule. The eutectic gallium–indium liquid metal is used as a top electrode to perform the transport measurements and the results clearly indicate that the SOMO–SUMO molecular orbitals impact the device performance.

Molecular

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Unraveling the ferroelectric switching mechanisms in ferroelectric pure and La doped HfO2 epitaxial thin films

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Título : Unraveling the ferroelectric switching mechanisms in ferroelectric pure and La doped HfO2 epitaxial thin films
Autores: Alexandre Silva, Ignasi Fina, Florencio Sánchez, José P.B. Silva, Luís Marques, Veniero Lenzi
Citation and DOI: Materials Today Physics Volume 34, May 2023, 101064
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2023.101064
PlumX: Unraveling the ferroelectric switching mechanisms in ferroelectric pure and La doped HfO2 epitaxial thin films

Epitaxial orthorhombic phase La doped HfO2films are promising for achieving robust ferroelectric polarization without wake-up effect. However, lowering the coercive field is crucial for achieving low-power memory devices. In this work, we have investigated the influence of the La content effect on the structural and ferroelectric properties of epitaxial HfO2thin films. We show that while the remanent polarization is optimum for 2–5 at. % La-doped HfO2 films, the coercive field is decreased with La doping.

Oxides

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13 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral positions in the first DocFam+ call

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On 15 May 2023, the first call for doctoral contracts within the DocFam+ (Doctoral training programme in Functional Advanced Materials) MSCA-COFUND coordinated by ICMAB-CSIC will open. 

DocFam+ is a 5-year doctoral training programme in Functional Advanced Materials presented by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and coordinated through the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) in collaboration with several partner research institutions from the region, six of them contributing to the co-funding of the programme: Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM-CSIC), Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), Catalonia Institute for Energy Research (IREC), High Energy Physics Institute (IFAE), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and ALBA Synchrotron.

PhD Fellows, New Projects, Breaking News

  • Hits: 2045

Regulating Oxygen Ion Transport at the Nanoscale to Enable Highly Cyclable Magneto-Ionic Control of Magnetism

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Título : Regulating Oxygen Ion Transport at the Nanoscale to Enable Highly Cyclable Magneto-Ionic Control of Magnetism
Autores: Zhengwei Tan, Zheng Ma, Laura Fuentes, Maciej Oskar Liedke, Maik Butterling, Ahmed G. Attallah, Eric Hirschmann, Andreas Wagner, Llibertat Abad, Nieves Casañ-Pastor, Aitor F. Lopeandia, Enric Menéndez*, and Jordi Sort*
Citation and DOI:
ACS Nano 2023, 17, 7, 6973–6984
Publication Date:March 27, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.3c01105
PlumX: Regulating Oxygen Ion Transport at the Nanoscale to Enable Highly Cyclable Magneto-Ionic Control of Magnetism
Magneto-ionics refers to the control of magnetic properties of materials through voltage-driven ion motion. To generate effective electric fields, either solid or liquid electrolytes are utilized, which also serve as ion reservoirs. Thin solid electrolytes have difficulties in (i) withstanding high electric fields without electric pinholes and (ii) maintaining stable ion transport during long-term actuation. In turn, the use of liquid electrolytes can result in poor cyclability, thus limiting their applicability.

Energy

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NABIHEAL project launches website

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The website for NABIHEAL, the EU-funded Horizon Europe project developing biomaterials for complex wound healing, is now online. Find out more about the project and what its impact will be, and browse the 14 partners from 7 countries to see how each contributes to the project’s objectives.

Project Results

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Welcome Susana Gutérrez at ICMAB!

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Nombre y apellidos: Susana Gutérrez
Hello everyone, I'm Susana from León, México! I have a PhD in Chemistry Science and Technology and now I am doing a postdoc at the Laser Group under supervision of Dr. Angel Pérez. Music is my passion and I really enjoy live music concerts; In the same way, I really enjoy to travel and see new places. See you arround!

México

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Welcome Roger Morales at ICMAB!

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Nombre y apellidos: Roger Morales
Hi! My name's Roger and I'm 23 years old from Premià de Mar. I'm here at ICMAB to work with Dr. Pablo Guardia in the NN group on magnetic and thermoelectric materials. About me, I enjoy sports and being outside on the mountains or the beach. See you around!

Spain

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Interplay Between Doping, Morphology, and Lattice Thermal Conductivity in PEDOT:PSS

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Título : Interplay Between Doping, Morphology, and Lattice Thermal Conductivity in PEDOT:PSS
Autores: Paolo Sebastiano Floris, Claudio Melis, Riccardo Rurali
Citation and DOI: Adv. Funct. Mater. 2023, 2215125. 
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202215125
PlumX: Interplay Between Doping, Morphology, and Lattice Thermal Conductivity in PEDOT:PSS
Organic materials for thermoelectric (TE) applications have attracted a fair amount of attention in recent years due to remarkable advances achieved in terms of their figure of merit, ZT: a value of 0.42 has been reported by for poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) films treated with dimethyl sulfoxide, while 0.25 has been obtained for PEDOT: Tosylate. In this study various PEDOT morphologies are investigated, considering both neutral and doped (bipolaronic) samples, by means of classical molecular dynamics, by taking advantage of a recently developed all-atom force field.

Energy

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Plate-Like Colloidal Metal Nanoparticles

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Título : Plate-Like Colloidal Metal Nanoparticles
Autores: Leonardo Scarabelli* , Muhua Sun, Xiaolu Zhuo, Sungjae Yoo, Jill E. Millstone*, Matthew R. Jones*, and Luis M. Liz-Marzán*
Citation and DOI:
Chem. Rev. 2023, 123, 7, 3493–3542
Publication Date:March 22, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00033
PlumX: Plate-Like Colloidal Metal Nanoparticles
The pseudo-two-dimensional (2D) morphology of plate-like metal nanoparticles makes them one of the most anisotropic, mechanistically understood, and tunable structures available. Although well-known for their superior plasmonic properties, recent progress in the 2D growth of various other materials has led to an increasingly diverse family of plate-like metal nanoparticles, giving rise to numerous appealing properties and applications.

Energy

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Welcome Ona Mola Bertran at ICMAB!

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Nombre y apellidos: Ona Mola
"Hi everyone! I am Ona Mola Bertran from Barcelona and I am going to do my PhD in the superconducting materials group (SUMAN) under the supervision of Prof. Teresa Puig. About me, I enjoy reading (if you have book recommendations, please tell me!) and watching films, but my biggest passion is hiking in the mountains and bouldering. In the picture you can see me in the Pyrenees! See you around!"

Spain

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Welcome Andrés Tellez at ICMAB!

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Nombre y apellidos: Andrés Tellez
Currently, I am a physics graduate student at West Virginia University which is visiting ICMAB during May. I mainly focus in developing computational tools in condensed matter physics.

Spain

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