Micro and nanostructured materials

Nanostructures will be developed in order to take advantage of their specific tailored properties and to support the development of multiresponsive hybrid materials. Magnetic and metallic nanoparticles produced by bacteria and plants, single and hybrid magnetic, plasmonic and photocatalytic nanoparticles will be developed, among others. Special attention will be devoted to mesoporous materials, mainly metallic organic frameworks and zeolites, which are being investigated based on their tuneability and specific intrinsic properties for sensing (e.g. gas sensing), energy (e.g. batteries, hydrogen generation and storage), environmental (e.g. contaminant absorption processes) and biomedical (therapeutic) applications. In particular, strong efforts are being develop in the area of hierarchical materials out of MOFS as well as to molecular materials such as molecular magnets.