News

An article about the research in perovskite appeared in "Televisión Nacional de Honduras" website, citing ICMAB, together with other research centers in Spain, where advanced research in this material is done: "Spain is one of the countries in which research (in the development of perovskite) is more advanced.

Apart from the research group in the Institute of Materials Science in Sevilla, there are many more groups specialized in its study, in the University Jaume I of Castelló, the Institute of Molecular Science (University of Valencia), the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the University Pablo de Olavide in Sevilla, and the Catalan Institue of Chemical Research (ICIQ)."

Similarly to the NFFA project in which we participate, the calls are for researchers who would like to use research infrastructures that are not available in their own centre, and are aimed to enhance the mobility and the collaboration within researchers and industries. 

Dorothy A. Silbaugh, Lidia Ferrer-Tasies, Jordi Faraudo, Jaume Veciana, Nora Ventosa*, and Brian A. Korgel*. Langmuir, 2017, 33 (50), pp 14366–14377. DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b03539

Hello everyone!
I'm Pablo, from Barcelona. I'm graduated in Biochemistry and currently I'm taking a master degree in Advanced Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (UAB). I will be working at ICMAB under the supervision of Arancha González studying nanoparticles internalization in yeasts and protein immobilization on surfaces.
I play different instruments and I love playing and improvising music with people :)

Aiming at developing internal talent and meeting the needs of ICMAB's young scientists, ICMAB's Communication & Outreach and Library & Documentation services offer from January to May 2018 a course of 15 hours (divided in 5 modules of 3 hours each) on documentation and writing tools necessary for research: "Essential documentation tools for research - Practical guide for young ICMAB researchers".

Qiaoming Zhang, Francesca Leonardi, Stefano Casalini, Marta Mas-Torrent. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2017, 27, 1703899. DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201703899

This news article, appeared at nanotechweb.org websitee (IOP publishing), features a publication recently published by Agustín Mihi and his team in Advanced Materials "Ultrathin Semiconductor Superabsorbers from the Visible to the Near-Infrared" (Pau Molet, Juan Luis Garcia-Pomar, Cristiano Matricardi, Miquel Garriga, Maria Isabel Alonso and Agustín Mihi). DOI: 10.1002/adma.201705876.

Nanostructuring a thin layer of the semiconductor germanium using a technique called nanoimprinting lithography can greatly boost the amount of light it absorbs across the visible to near-infrared wavelengths. The broadband absorption comes from the strong interplay between Brewster and photonic crystal modes in the material and the effect could benefit optoelectronics applications such as photovoltaics and telecommunications.

On 19 January 2018 we received the visit of a group of highschool students from Institut Castellbisbal. The students listened first to our Communication and Outreach Officer, who welcomed them and explained them where they were and the work we do at ICMAB, and then to a seminar on "The materials of the future for nanomedicine" given by Dr. Judith Guasch, from the NANOMOL group. The seminar was followed by a visit to four of our laboratories: X-ray diffraction, AFM, SoftLab and the lab of Dr. Judith Guasch. 

Felip Sandiumenge. Journal of Materials Research,Volume 32, Issue 21. Invited Review to Focus Issue: Jan Van Der Merwe and the Computer Age. https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2017.317

This article appeared in Physics Berkeley website on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. 

We transcribe it here, since some previous ICMAB members participated in the study, which was recently published in PNAS: Emergent chirality in the electric polarization texture of titanate superlattices (Padraic Shafer, Pablo García-Fernández,Pablo Aguado-Puente,Anoop R. Damodaran , Ajay K. Yadav, Christopher T. Nelson, Shang-Lin Hsu, Jacek C. Wojdeł, Jorge Íñiguez, Lane W. Martin, Elke Arenholz, Javier Junquer, and Ramamoorthy Ramesh). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1711652115.

Hi, I'm Albert and I'm a chemist from Barcelona. I got my bachelor's degree in Chemistry in Barcelona (UB) and then I got my PhD in 2013 (ICMAB-UAB) under the supervision of Dr. Rosario Núñez. After spending more than 4 years and a half abroad, first as a Research Fellow at Queen's University Belfast and then as a Research Scientist at Green Lizard Technologies (Belfast, UK), I'm back to ICMAB to start a collaborative project with Dr. Rosario Núñez and Dr. Gerard Tobias to synthesise boron-enriched carbon nanomaterials as Theranostic Agents for biomedical imaging and BNCT. I like to watch movies and series, hanging out with my friends, playing videogames, travelling and practising sports, especially squash. See you around!

A large number of ICMAB researchers are among those researchers in Spain with high h-index in many different disciplines: Applied Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, Crystallography, Inorganic and Nuclear Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Chemistry, and Multidisciplinary Materials Science, according to the Web of Science. 

The website h-webcindario (http://indice-h.webcindario.com) from GRUPO DIH, which compiles the h-index numbers from the researchers based in Spain, has done now the yearly update The h-index numbers are collected from the Web of Science ISI website, which is of free access for the research centers through FECYT.

Hey, I’m Miquel from Sabadell. I got both my bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and my MD in chemical research at UAB. My master’s thesis consisted in the development of ruthenium nanocatalysts for the sustainable production of hydrogen using sunlight. Recently, I started my PhD project under the supervision of prof. Clara Viñas to study the carboranes and their applications. I enjoy music, videogames, reading, basketball, traveling and having a good talk. See you around!

Joshua O. Island, Rocco Gaudenzi, Joeri de Bruijckere, Enrique Burzurí, Carlos Franco, Marta Mas-Torrent, Concepció Rovira, Jaume Veciana, Teun M. Klapwijk, Ramón Aguado, and Herre S. J. van der Zant
Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 117001. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.117001

• Xanthinuria is a rare disease caused by the accumulation of xanthine in blood, which can lead to serious pathologies, such as renal failure or gout.
• ICMAB researchers have prepared a novel hybrid graphene-based electrochemical biosensor for the fast and 100 times more sensitive detection of xanthine, with respect to previously reported sensors.
• The study, published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces, combines the properties of reduced graphene oxide and those of the organic radicals to prepare next generation, low cost electrochemical biosensors.

R. Ruiz-Rosas, I. Fuentes, C. Viñas, F. Teixidor, E. Morallóna and D. Cazorla-Amorós*. Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2018, DOI:10.1039/C7SE00503B

Richard P. Feynman was born on 11 May 1918. This new year 2018 would be his centenary, and to commemorate it, EspaiNANO, the group from the Catalan Association fos Scientific Communication for the Communication and Outreach of Nanotechnology, has organized a variety of activities and events. ICMAB also collaborates in the organization of this celebration, called FeynmanTotal. 

I'm Miquel and I am new in ICMAB. I am from Barcelona and I am currently studying a master in Advance Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. My bakground is also Nanoscience. I'll be doing my master's thesis with the Nanomol group. I enjoy mountain sports. See you around!

Helloo! I'm Niki Joosten from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. I study Molecular Life Sciences and I'm doing my master thesis about Microcontact printing. The project is a collaboration between the University of Wageningen, Bionanotechnology and ICMAB under the supervision of Arancha Gonzalez. I will stay at ICMAB for 4 months. I like to travel, play rugby and party :)

Hello. I´m Flonja. I´m from Albania. I am currently working in the Nanomol group, under the supervision of José Vidal Gancedo. Before coming to ICMAB, I completed a double PhD degree in Nanomedicine and Pharmaceutical Innovation from the Center for Research in Biological Chemistry and Molecular Materials (CiQUS) in the University of Santiago de Compostela and in Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology from the Unit of Biomimetic Micro and Nanomedicines (MINT/ INSERM U1066 ) in the University of Angers. I hold a Msc in Radiopharmacy from the University of Hacettepe and I'm a Pharmacy graduate from the University of Ankara. See you soon.

Hi, I am Halyna from Ukraine. I am right now in my last year of PhD in Paris, and coming here for a two-months visit. Before PhD, I studied in double-degree master on materials science in France/Germany. Here In ICMAB I am planning to grow thin films of ferroelectric perovskite oxides (BaTiO3 solid solutions), and to study their photovoltaic properties, making the comparison to ceramic samples of these materials.
I like travelling (both city tourism and hiking in nature), discovering ethnic dance, art etc., interested in history, pagan and oriental religions, and practices like yoga.

Researchers from ALBA Synchrotron and from ICMAB have established an enriching and fruitful collaboration over the years, which is proven by the number of publications published together since ALBA received its first users, in 2012.

In 2017, 24 publications appeared in collaboration between both institutions, which represented a 21 % of the ALBA Synchrotron articles. 

A recent publication in Advanced Functional Materials by Dr. Marta Mas-Torrent and her team has been chosen to be highlighted on Advanced Science News website. The group is working on the development of high-performance electrolyte-gated field-effect transistors (EGOFETs), electronic devices capable of working in aqueous environment. 

Dr. Ignasi Fina has been recently awarded with a collaborative project, funded by "la Caixa" Foundation, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT-SPAIN "la Caixa" Foundation SEED FUND). The project is focused on the investigation of new materials for photovoltaic applications. The aim is to study the use of a new kind of material, called a ferroelectric semiconductor, that may offer a powerful mechanism to convert sunlight into electricity.

Marcin P. Grzelczak*, Stephen P. Danks, Robert C. Klipp, Domagoj Belic, Adnana Zaulet, Casper Kunstmann-Olsen, Dan F. Bradley, Tatsuya Tsukuda, Clara Viñas, Francesc Teixidor, Jonathan J. Abramson, and Mathias Brust*. ACS Nano, Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b06600

Nanotech France 2018, the 4th edition of the international conference and exhibition, brings together leading scientists, researchers, engineers, practitioners, technology developers and policy makers in nanotechnology to exchange information on their latest research progress and innovation.

• Organic semiconductors: hybrid interfaces and charge transport (Symposium J), organized by Marta Mas-Torrent et al.

• Nanostructures for phononic applications (Symposium N), organized by Riccardo Rurali et al. 

• Engineering of functional materials with chemical coating methods (Symposium T), organized by Mariona Coll et al.

The Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) organizes the 1st Spanish Conference on Biomedical Applications of Nanomaterials (SBAN) on June 7-8, 2018. SBAN is expected to provide a unique opportunity for discussing the cutting-edge research and progress in the field of nanomedicine.

On December 2017, Dr. Enric Canadell, Research Professor at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), became elected member of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona (RACAB). Two other researchers from CSIC, Dr. Xavier Querol (IDAEA-CSIC), and Dr. Francesc Piferrer (ICM-CSIC) were also elected, together with Dra. Fàtima Bosch (UAB) and Dr. Roderic Guigó (CRG). Finally, Dra. Fabiola Gianotti (CERN) was elected as correspondent member. 

The High performance computing for next generation nanomaterials & nanodevices engineering workshop (HPCnano) is an event to be held at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) on 30-31 May 2018. Sponsored by the RED ESPAÑOLA de SUPERCOMPUTACION-RES, the event aims at presenting the use of high performance computing (HPC) in forefront research in nanomaterials, molecular electronics and nanodevices, to potential users of the RES HPC resources.

We are pleased to welcome members of the magnetic particle research community to the 12th International Conference on the Scientific and Clinical Applications of Magnetic Carriers (MagMeet 2018 for short). This meeting will be held in beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark. The conference starts with a reception on Tuesday night, May 22 and ends on Saturday, May 26, 2018 in the afternoon.

On 21 - 25 May 2018 in Trieste, Italy, the Conference on the Complex Interactions of Light and Biological Matter: Experiments meet Theory takes place. A conference for experimentalists and theoreticians investigating the photophysics and photochemistry behind the interaction of light with the organic material that make up living systems.

On Thursday, 24 May 2018, MATERPLAT co-organizes together with NanomedSpain and the NANBIOSIS network, a morning event on Nanotoxicity (Jornada de Nanotoxicidad) at the Parc Científic de Barcelona to debate about the toxicity of nanoparticles and nanotechnologies in the field of health. 

Jaume Veciana, Scientific Director of NANBIOSIS-ICTS and researcher at ICMAB at the NANOMOL group, will be at the opening of the event. Attendance is free but online registration is needed.

INSPIRACIENCIA: concurs de relats d'inspiració científica

Escriu una bona ficció científica i participa! Tens temps fins al 17 de maig de 2018. Recorda que aquest any hi ha un accèssit FEYNMAN pels relats inspirats en aquesta figura!

Between 14 and 16 May 2018, the bars of Barcelona will be full of science. Pint of Science is back in town!

Irene Anton, PhD researcher at the NN group will give a talk on "Medicina regenerativa: cas concret dels implants de pell" on Wednesday, 16 May in Alfa Bar (Gràcia); and the Master student at NANOMOL group, Javier Repetto, will show the audience how to extract DNA on Tuesday 15 May in Casa Orlandai (Sarrià), during the session of "Nanoviaje por el cuerpo humano". 

This event will include several talks and also an exhibition at the Faculty of Sciences, with a collage with a surprise effect!

On Wednesday, May 9, 2018, the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) will host the XXX IEC Chemistry Debate "Connect the Materials Science with the young students". Susagna Ricart and Arántzazu González will take part in the event, which will start at 4:00 pm at the "Sala Prat de la Riba", as speakers:

• 4:15 pm: «Àtoms, molècules… i materials» by Susagna Ricart Miró
• 5:00 pm: «Kit de materials a l’aula (ICMAB)» by Arántzazu González Campo