Manuel Melle-Franco

Principal Researcher

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Department

  • Chemistry
  • 29.3.28

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Summary and Short BIO

 

Manuel Melle-Franco is a principal researcher at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) where he leads the Advanced Modelling Lab. The Lab specializes in computer modelling of carbon nanomaterials, covalent organic frameworks, and more generally, in organic and inorganic materials and biomolecules for new technologies. 

 

Manuel Chemistry Degree at the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), a Materials Chemistry M.Sc., and a Physics PhD from the University of Kent (UK). Then he worked as a researcher with Francesco Zerbetto at the University of Bologna (Italy) for 8 years before he moved to Portugal to become an independent researcher. 

 

Manuel’s research has produced several high-visibility publications in journals such as Nature, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Chemistry, Chem, Nature Communications, JACS and Angewandte Chemie among others and it has been highlighted in several specialized media outlets as well as in national radio and newspapers.

Research In Numbers

To date, Manuel Melle-Franco has coordinated 26 people, between researchers, postdocs and students, and has been awarded more than 1.5M euros of direct funding in areas ranging from bioelectronics and nanotechnology to quantum materials. Manuel has been PI of four european projects (3 active) within  the Pathfinder, FET-OPEN and M.ERA.NET initiatives and has participated in several national projects. In addition, he is one of the proponents and MC member of the NanoSpace European COST action (CA21126).  Manuel peer reviews for more than 40 different journals (including Nature and Science) and has evaluated proposals for ERC fellowships and m-era.net and COST European networks, the Europe H2020 program, the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Polish Physical Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

 

 

Manuel has currently near 150 peer reviewed publications with an added impact factor > 1200. Most notably in: Nature, Chem, Nature Chemistry, J. Am. Chem. Soc.* (x14); Angewandte Chemie* (x11); Nano Letters* (x3); ACS Nano (x2); Nature Communications (x2)*; Small; Small Methods (x2); BioMaterials; Journal of Materials Chemistry A* (x2); PNAS; Chemical Science* (x4); Carbon* (x6); ACS Appl Mater Interfaces (x5); Nano Research; NanoScale (x4); Chem. Comm.* (x6); Organic Letters* (x7) Chem. Eur. J.* (x7); Environmental Microbiology; J. Chem. Theo. Comp. (x2); Journal of Materials Chemistry C (x2) among others, in addition to Nature Nanotechnology* (x2) N&V pieces (*: corresponding author). 

 

For the public, Manuel's works have been highlighted in general media, such as radio and newspapers, and in several specialized outlets like Nature Chemistry News and Views, Nature Reviews Chemistry, Chemistry World (x7), Phys.org (x4), Derek Lowe´s In the pipeline (Science), SynFacts (x2), Chemistry Views (x4) and Computational Chemistry Highlights.

 

Selected Publications (not updated since 2018, click to go the article)

  1. Iglesias, Daniel, Manuel Melle-Franco, Marina Kurbasic, Michele Melchionna, Michela Abrami, Mario Grassi, Maurizio Prato, and Silvia Marchesan. “Oxidized Nanocarbons-Tripeptide Supramolecular Hydrogels: Shape Matters!” ACS Nano, May 22, 2018. doi:10.1021/acsnano.8b01182. IF=13.94, Q1, Comp-Exp.
  2. Cortizo-Lacalle, Diego, Juan Pedro Mora-Fuentes, Karol Strutynski, Akinori Saeki, Manuel Melle-Franco*, and Aurelio Mateo-Alonso. “Monodisperse N-Doped Graphene Nanoribbons Reaching 7.7 Nm in Length.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, In-press. doi:10.1002/anie.201710467. IF=11.7. 
  3. Carini, Marco, Marta P. Ruiz, Imanol Usabiaga, José A. Fernández, Emilio J. Cocinero, Manuel Melle-Franco, Ismael Diez-Perez, and Aurelio Mateo-Alonso. “High Conductance Values in π-Folded Molecular Junctions.” Nature Communications 8 (May 18, 2017): 15195. doi:10.1038/ncomms15195. IF=11.3. 
  4. Marco, A. Belen, Diego Cortizo-Lacalle, Iñigo Perez-Miqueo, Giovanni Valenti, Alessandro Boni, Jan Plas, Karol Strutyński, et al. “Twisted Aromatic Frameworks: Readily Exfoliable and Solution-Processable Two-Dimensional Conjugated Microporous Polymers.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, January 1, 2017, in-press. doi:10.1002/anie.201700271. IF=11.7.
  5. Melle-Franco, Manuel. “Graphene Fragments: When 1 + 1 Is Odd.” Nature Nanotechnology advance online publication (February 13, 2017). doi:10.1038/nnano.2017.9. IF=35.3.
  6. Melle-Franco, M., “Uthrene, a Radically New Molecule?” Chemical Communications 51, no. 25 (2015): 5387–90, doi:10.1039/C5CC01276G. IF=6.3.
  7. Höfinger, S., Melle-Franco, M., Gallo, T., Cantelli, A., Calvaresi, M., Gomes, J.A.N.F., Zerbetto, F., “A Computational Analysis of the Insertion of Carbon Nanotubes into Cellular Membranes” Biomaterials 32, no. 29 (October 2011): 7079–85, doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.06.011. IF=8.56.

Covers

JACS COVER 2021

CS Cover

Fullerenes at High Pressures

Videos

Ongoing Supervisions

Clara Alves Ponte

PhD Student

Francisco da Cunha Pereira

Research Fellowship

Ricardo Ortiz Cano

Junior Researcher

Sergey Pyrlin

Junior Researcher

Uxía Gómez Bouzó

Post-Doc Fellowship

Projects

Alternative SuperConducting Superlattice (SuperSuper)

Local CoordinatorFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Moiré materials have emerged as a two-dimensional platform with a broad range of states between superconducting and insulating. Despite the remarkable scientific progress, an important bottleneck is the lack of a general and facile approach for the production of moiré materials. SuperSuper is targeted at developing a disruptive straightforward b...

Engineered Conductive Proteins for Bioelectronics (E-PROT)

Local CoordinatorEuropean Comission
Proteins demonstrate exceptional structural and electrical conduction properties for designing functional materials. The goal of the EU-funded e-Prot project is to rationally design efficient conductive protein systems and produce protein-based conductive structures and materials. This breakthrough relies on a multidisciplinary scientific approa...

FantastiCOF: Fabricating and Implementing Exotic Moiré Materials from Covalent Organic Frameworks (FantastiCOF)

Local CoordinatorEuropean Comission
Superconducting devices based on Josephson Junctions (JJs) are among the most versatile devices in superconducting electronics. Yet challenges remain because conventional JJs are created using a variety of materials that have been identified as a source of noise, dissipation and dephasing, and also, that raise compatibility problems dur...

Functionalized graphene for quantum technologies (PTDC/FIS-NAN/4662/2014)

Local CoordinatorFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Grafeno; tecnología quânticas; defeitos pontuais paramagnéticas; spin interactions

Photo-responsive organic-inorganic hybrid multiferroics: A way toward multifunctional electronics (PTDC/CTM-CTM/4044/2020)

PartnerFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Organic-inorganic hybrids Multiferroics Piezoelectricity Ferroelectricity

Projeto de Investigação Exploratória: Manuel Melle (IF Manuel Melle)

CoordinatorFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Redesigning 2D Materials for the Formulation of Semiconducting Inks (2D INK)

Local CoordinatorEuropean Comission
2D-INK is targeted at developing inks of novel 2D semiconducting materials for low-cost large-area fabrication processes on insulating substrates through a new methodology, which will exceed the properties of state-of-the-art graphene- and graphene oxide based inks. Achieving this would represent an important step forward in the processing of 2D...

Redox-active Metal-Organic Frameworks as Electrode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries (RedoxMOFs)

PartnerFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
One of the main concerns of modern society is reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. Due to their low cost and low environmental impact, electrical energy storage devices are among the most promising alternatives to conventional fossil fuels, as the electricity generated from renewable sources may be efficiently stored. In particular, lithium-...

Supported Covalent Organic Frameworks for the Monitoring of Pharmaceutical Pollutants (Charm)

Local CoordinatorFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Publications

Superconductivity in the Doped Polymerized Fullerite Clathrate from First Principles

Laranjeira, J; Errea, I; Dangic, D; Marques, L; Melle-Franco, M; Strutynski, K
2024, PHYSICA STATUS SOLIDI-RAPID RESEARCH LETTERS, 18, 1.
ISBN: 1862-6270

Covalent organic frameworks as catalyst support: A case study of thermal, hydrothermal, and mechanical pressure stability of β-ketoenamine-linked TpBD-Me2

Gonçalves, LPL; Ben, JG; Strutynski, K; Rodriguez-Lorenzo, L; Araújo, J; Santos, ASGG; Soares, OSGP; Pereira, MFR; Kolen'ko, Y; Melle-Franco, M; Salonen, LM
2024, MICROPOROUS AND MESOPOROUS MATERIALS, 366.
ISBN: 1873-3093

Alkaline water electrolysis performance of mixed cation metal phosphorous trichalcogenides

Oliveira, FM; Pastika, J; Ayaz, I; Mazánek, V; Plutnarová, I; Zeng, LJ; Olsson, E; Amorim, CO; -Franco, MM; Gusma, R; Sofer, Z
2024, MATERIALS TODAY ENERGY, 39.

Molecular Graphene Nanoribbon Junctions

Marongiu, M; Ha, T; Gil-Guerrero, S; Garg, K; Mandado, M; Melle-Franco, M; Diez-Perez, I; Mateo-Alonso, A
2024, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 146, 6, 3963-3973.
ISBN: 1520-5126

Crystallization of molecular layers produced under confinement onto a surface

Tong, JC; de Bruyn, N; Alieva, A; Legge, EJ; Boyes, M; Song, XJ; Walisinghe, AJ; Pollard, AJ; Anderson, MW; Vetter, T; Melle-Franco, M; Casiraghi, C
2024, NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 15, 1.
ISBN: 2041-1723

Reentrant semiconducting behavior in polymerized fullerite structures with increasing sp3-carbon content

Laranjeira, J; Marques, L; Melle-Franco, M; Strutynski, K
2024, JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-CONDENSED MATTER, 36, 36.
ISBN: 1361-648X

Tetrathiafulvalene-based covalent organic frameworks as high-voltage organic cathodes for lithium batteries

Valente, G; Dantas, R; Ferreira, P; Grieco, R; Patil, N; Guillem-Navajas, A; Miguel, DRS; Zamora, F; Guntermann, R; Bein, T; Rocha, J; Braga, MH; Strutynski, K; Melle-Franco, M; Marcilla, R; Souto, M
2024, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, 12, 36, 24156-24164.
ISBN: 2050-7496

A redox-active organic cage as a cathode material with improved electrochemical performance

Bera, S; Goujon, N; Melle-Franco, M; Mecerreyes, D; Mateo-Alonso, A
2024, CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 15, 36, 14872-14879.
ISBN: 2041-6539

Doping Effect of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) on Carbon Nanofibers Deduced by Thermoelectric Analysis of Their Melt Mixed Films

Paleo, AJ; Serrato, VM; Manuel, JM; Toledano, O; Munoz, E; Melle-Franco, M; Krause, B; Poetschke, P; Lozano, K
2024, CHINESE JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE.
ISBN: 1439-6203

Unveiling the Role of Capping Groups in Naphthalene N-Capped Dehydrodipeptide Hydrogels

Vilaça, H; Carvalho, A; Castro, T; Castanheira, EMS; Hilliou, L; Hamley, I; Melle-Franco, M; Ferreira, PMT; Martins, JA
2023, GELS, 9, 6.

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