News

Biofuels are considered sustainable and renewable alternatives to conventional fossil fuels. Biobutanol has recently emerged as an attractive option compared to bioethanol and biodiesel, but a significant challenge in its production lies in the separation stage.

Fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONs) are emerging as an attractive alternative to the well-established fluorescent inorganic nanoparticles or small organic dyes. Their proper design allows one to obtain biocompatible probes with superior brightness and high photostability, although usually affected by low colloidal stability.

The International Meeting for Chemistry Expoquimia will be hosting the INDUSTRIAL DIALOGUES Webinars, a total of 4 seminars discussing different topics related to the cores of the triennial meeting: circular economy, digitalization, and technology transference. This last topic will be covered by Nora Ventosa, from the Molecular Nanoscience and Organic Materials (NANOMOL) group. 

Researchers from the Nanomol group at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), the CIBER-BBN network and the ICTS Nanbiosis U6, and members of the TECNIO technology transfer network ACCIÓ-Generalitat de Catalunya, together with the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT, USA) and the University of Parma (UNIPR, Italy) have developed a new nanomaterial for bioimaging. The results of the study are the result of the TECNIOspring PLUS project co-financed by ACCIÓ and the European Commission.

As scientific developments get more and more complex, the challenge of communicating any innovation increases. Despite the increasing amount of applications of new materials in day to day life, explaining how they work is not an easy task, especially with younger people, who might not see any of the more advanced concepts in their science classes. Anna May Masnou, Head of the Communication Department at the ICMAB, has written an article at the SOCIEMAT magazine Material-ES about the MATHEROES initiative, which personalizes material properties into superheroes.

Researchers at the ICMAB, UAB and the ALBA Synchrotron, in collaboration with the UB and ICN2, have developed a new technique to locally modify the properties of a metamagnetic material. The method consists in applying local pressure to the surface of the material using nanometric needles and allows a much more easy and local modification than current methods. The research opens the door to a more accurate and precise control of magnetic materials and allows to improve the architecture and capacity of magnetic digital memories.

Ruthenium complexes of carboranyl ligands offer the possibility of dual action (chemo + radiotherapy) that might result in significant clinical benefits. In that frame, we describe herein the development of ruthenium–carboranyl complexes bearing bipyridyl derivatives.

The MSCA IF Project entitled Tuning COPs (Conducting Organic Polymers) with IP Clara Viñas, was selected for publication in the ‘Results in Brief’ section of the European Commission’s CORDIS website, in six languages. The article features the main results of the project. "Tuning COPs" started in October 2017 and finished in October 2019.

The Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) features in its FRONT COVER the recently published article "Too Persistent to Give Up: Aromaticity in Boron Clusters Survives Radical Structural Changes" by Francesc Teixidor et al. Do you think the balls look like Christmas balls or like billiard balls?

Epitaxial ferroelectric HfO₂ films are the most suitable to investigate intrinsic properties of the material and for prototyping emerging devices. Ferroelectric Hf_0.5Zr_0.5O₂(111) films were epitaxially stabilized on La_2/3Sr_1/3MnO₃(001) electrodes.

The researchers from four ICMAB Research Groups will be joining another 35 groups from 14 different universities, as well as research and technology centers, with the objective of boosting the energy sector in Catalunya and turning it into a strong international referent for innovation, at the R+D+I Energy for Society Network (XRE4S). 

When the SARS-CoV-2 virus began to break out in Spain, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association in Barcelona launched a fundraising campaign. Some institutions and people in China contacted them and donated them some masks. Wenchao Duan is a PhD fellow at the ICMAB and member of this Association: "On the premise of respecting their wishes, the Association has donated masks mainly to hospitals, nursing homes, health departments and research institutes in Spain", he says. 

The ICMAB has started this week to resume the scientific activity in the laboratories that were stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This week the Metropolitan Area containing Bellaterra and the UAB Campus has passsed to the advanced phase zero (phase 0.5), so researchers and other workers considered to be "non-essential" can start to return to their workplaces. The return will be at a slow pace, but we are very happy to be able to do so!

Nerea Murugarren, Biochemisry Bachelor's Degree student at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), has prepared a video entitled "BACTERIA: a nanobiotechnology factory for biomedicine" as part of her Final Degree Project. The idea came from all that she learnt during her stay at the Nanoparticles and Nanocomposites (NN) Group at the ICMAB. 

The initiative "Science in the media" calls for an improvement of society’s scientific knowledge through the use of mass media. It does so through a manifesto signed by several professional, scientific and social organisations, and directed towards the CCMA and the Govern de la Generalitat.

A research recently published on Nature Materials, carried out jointly by the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB), Nanchang University (China) and Chongqing University (China), has demonstrated that light can increase by orders of magnitude the electricity produced by bending (flexoelectricity) in semiconductors. This phenomenon, called photoflexoelectricity, allows a single device to harvest energy from multiple environmental sources.

Teresa Puig appears on the 34th volume of Superconductor Week, a monthly newsletter dedicated to bringing news and analysis about superconductivity to all related parties, from scientists to investors in the industry. Their latest issue covers the breakthrough achieved by the Superconducting Materials Research Group (SUMAN) in the field of growth of YBCO epitaxial films, which was already covered in Nature Communications 11, 334 (2020).

Harvesting environmental energy to generate electricity is a key scientific and technological endeavour of our time. Photovoltaic conversion and electromechanical transduction are two common energy-harvesting mechanisms based on, respectively, semiconducting junctions and piezoelectric insulators.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) 2020 call for Individual Fellowships (IF) is now open. Through this call, the EU will provide € 328 million to support experienced researchers. Researchers of any nationality and at any stage of their career can apply to implement their research projects in any scientific field. This will be the final call under Horizon 2020. The deadline is 9 Sept 2020.

Due to the ubiquitous presence of lithium‐ion batteries in portable applications, and their implementation in the transportation and large‐scale energy sectors, the future cost and availability of lithium is currently under debate.

We report a study where Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations and variable-temperature (30–300 K) ¹H spin–lattice relaxation time experiments nicely complement each other.

New technologies are frequently supported on innovative functional materials that allow for improvements in performance in order to leave behind the physical limitations of current materials. The economic supplement of La Razón Innovadores talked with 6 expert researchers on the field of materials, amongst which was ICMAB's Director Xavier Obradors, to find more about the future of hardware in advanced technologies. 

The Seminars & Training Committee would like to invite you to the following Online ICMAB Periodical Lecture:

Molecular probes and gated materials in biomedical applications and communication between nanoparticles

by Ramón Martíñez Máñez
Dept de Química, Escuela de Ingeniería Industrial, Instituto Interuniversitario de Investigación de Reconocimiento Molecular y Desarrollo Tecnológico, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia
Monday, 8 June 2020 @ 12 pm
Online Periodical Lecture. Register HERE to attend the seminar. 

The Seminars & Training Committee would like to invite you to the following Online ICMAB Periodical Lecture:

Crystal structure determination by diffractometric direct methods: Evolution and recent advances

by Jordi Rius, Crystallography Group, ICMAB-CSIC
Monday, 25 May 2020 @ 12 pm
Online Periodical Lecture. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO THE SEMINAR.

The May12 initiative is an opportunity for the mathematical community to celebrate women in mathematics. The initiative is supported by several organisations for women in mathematics. The day is chosen because it is the birthdate of Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian mathematician at Stanford University, expert in geometry and dynamical systems and Fields Medal awardee. She died from cancer in 2017 with 40 years old. A the ICMAB we want to join this celebration that aims to inspires women and men to pursue their dreams in science and mathematics.

The relationship between environmental factors and SARS-CoV-2 will shape the ways in which we respond to the virus as the weather changes. It is still soon to have a definitive idea of how it is affected by variables like temperature, humidity, or ultraviolet radiation, but José Vidal-Gancedo has been compiling what we know and developing a comprehensive article on the topic. His findings have been echoing on the media: he first published the article on La Vanguardia, which was followed by an interview on Aquí Cuní on SER Catalunya.

The ICMAB is now a member of SECPHO, a national technological innovation cluster formed by companies, technology centres and research centres. SECPHO is focused on promoting technological unnovation through the application of photonic technologies, or technologies based on light, to all types of sectors of our economy.

Although the concept of aromaticity in chemistry is something that chemists have in their minds very clearly, they find it very difficult to define. Moreover, among chemists, there are two currents with two distinct points of view: the experimental chemists and the theoretical chemists. What happens when we look at the aromaticity of 3D boron clusters?

The different occupancy of electronic orbitals, the so-called orbital polarization, is a key parameter determining electric and magnetic properties of materials.

The article published in JACS by Pepe Giner et al. in which the international team reports a MOF (metal-organic framework) that can separate biobutanol from the biomass fermentation products has received much attention in the American media, since there is a high demand for gasoline, and one of the research collaborators was from Oregon State University.

With cancer as the second leading cause of death worldwide, investigation on its treatment stays relevant. New mononuclear ruthenium–carboranyl complexes bearing bipyridyl derivatives are being developed for bimodal therapy applications, unifying BNCT (boron neutron capture therapy) and chemotherapy on a single smaller dose and giving a more effective response thanks to a synergistic effect. These complexes are being characterized and tested against melanoma and glioblastoma, and showing successful results so far.

Manuel Souto, former PhD researcher at the Nanomol Group, has been awarded with the European Award for Doctoral Thesis in Molecular Magnetism (ADocMolMag) call 2019, organised by the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism, for his PhD Thesis "Multifunctional Materials based on TTFPTM dyads: towards new Molecular Switches, Conductors and Rectifiers" carried out at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Congratulations, Manuel!

Corneal trauma and ulcerations are leading causes of corneal blindness around the world. These lesions require attentive medical monitoring since improper healing or infection has serious consequences in vision and quality of life.

A few weeks ago we shared with you the beginning of the touring exhibition "Científiques Catalanes 2.0”, which featured more than 20 leading researchers from various STEAM disciplines and scientific outreach, including ICMAB researchers Anna Roig and M. Rosa Palacín. The contents of this exhibition can now be viewed (and downloaded!) online, on the Associació Catalana de Comunicació Científica's (ACCC) website.

José Ángel Silva-Guillén and Enric Canadell. 2D Materials, Volume 7, Number 2.

Organic electronic devices with an X-ray sensitivity competitive with the inorganic devices in the market are developed at the Nanomol group at the ICMAB, by Marta Mas-Torrent et al. and published today, May 1, 2020, in Nature Communications.

Nora Ventosa and Nathaly Segovia, from the NANOMOL Group at the ICMAB, have been selected as part of the NARTIC Project team for an incubation program by Barcelona Activa. NARTIC is a biotech project for the development of molecular therapy based on Quatsomes for diseases such as cancer.

The article "Efficient blue light emitting materials based on m-carborane-anthracene dyads. Structure, photophysics and bioimaging studies" published in 2019 in Biomaterials Science, by Núñez et al. has been featured recently in UAB Divulga. You can find the text in English, Catalan and Spanish. 

Today, 28 April 2020, is the World Day for Safety and Health at Work. Recognizing the great challenge that governments, employers, workers and whole societies are facing worldwide to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work will focus on addressing the outbreak of infectious diseases at work, in particular, on the COVID-19 pandemic. At the ICMAB we take this job very seriously, and the Health and Safety Committee, with the help and compromise of all of us, will ensure that we will all have a safe return to our work. 

This year the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival 10alamenos9 was cancelled, due to the coronavirus. However, another initiative in the framework of the festival appeared: the short talks (around 20 minutes) about nanoscience and nanotechnology through YouTube, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12 pm, called "Vermut de Nanociència" (Nanoscience Vermouth). Anna Roig, and Judit Morlà participated in the initiative!

An article published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry , and with the participation of Elies Molins, shows a new family of molecules with high affinity to join imidazoline receptors, which are altered in the brain of those patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. According to the preclinical study, the merge of these specific ligands to I₂ receptors improves cognitive skills and some biomarkers which are indicators of brain neurodegenerative processes in murine models.

Ignasi Fina*, Nico Dix, Enric Menéndez, Enric Menéndez, Anna Crespi, Michael Foerster, Lucia Aballe, Florencio Sánchez, Josep Fontcuberta*. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, XXXX, XXX, XXX-XXX. Publication Date:March 9, 2020

Since the coronavirus outbreak in Spain, in February-March 2020, many of the research funding agencies, the European Commission, and private institutions have opened research project calls to face the COVID-19. Here we have collected some of this calls. Feel free to contact us if you think some of the important calls are missing.

Researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) have discovered a water stable metal-organic framework (MOF) that allows for the separation of butanol from acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) mixtures that are extracted from the fermentation process of biomass feedstock, as part of the standard industrial process to produce biofuels. This new compound, mCB-MOF-1, shows promising results compared to other methodologies or other MOF materials. The study is published in JACS on 27 April 2020. 

On 1 April 2020, the ICMAB researcher Ignasi Fina, from the Laboratory of Multifunctional Thin Films And Complex Structures (MULFOX) group, was interviewed in the radio show “La Buena Tarde”, broadcasted in Radio Asturias  to talk about the flexible antiferromagnetic tapes. “La Buena Tarde” is a light variety show that discusses culture and science, with a few different collaborators on every episode.