Manuel Melle-Franco

Principal Researcher

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Department

  • Chemistry
  • 29.3.28

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Short Bio

Manuel Melle-Franco was born in Lugo (Spain) and has a  degree in Physical-Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and an M.Sc. in Materials Chemistry from the University of Kent (UK). Manuel worked one year in the Materials Department of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) with Gianfranco Pacchioni and got his PhD in Chemical Physics from the University of Kent (UK) with Alan Chadwick.  

After that, he joined the group of Francesco Zerbetto in the Department of Chemistry of the University of Bologna (Italy) for 8 years. Later, he moved to Portugal, where he worked as an independent researcher at the University of Porto and the University of Minho. He joined CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, at the University of Aveiro in 2016. 

Manuel leads the Applied Computer Modelling Lab which uses computer models to understand experimental problems in chemistry, physics, molecular biology and materials science, especially focusing on carbon-based molecules and nanomaterials. Manuel has 120 accepted publications, of which 25% as first or corresponding author, with an added impact factor ~ 1000.

Manuel has several publications in a variety of high visibility journals such as:

Nature, J. Am. Chem. Soc.* (x10); Angewandte Chemie* (x10); Nano Letters* (x3); ACS Nano (x2); Nature Communications*; Small; Small Methods (x2)  BioMaterials; Journal of Materials Chemistry A; PNAS; Chemical Science* (x3); Carbon (x4); ACS Appl Mater Interfaces (x4); Nano Research; NanoScale (x4); Chem. Comm.* (x6); Organic Letters* (x7); Chem. Eur. J.* (x5); Environmental Microbiology; J. Chem. Theo. Comp. (x2); Journal of Materials Chemistry C (x2) among others, in addition to Nature Nanotechnology* (x2) review N&V pieces (*: corresponding author). 

Manuel's work has been highlighted in general media, such as radio and newspapers, and in several specialized outlets like Nature Reviews Chemistry, Chemistry World (x7), Physics World (x3), Chemistry Views (x4), SynFacts (x2),   and Computational Chemistry Highlights.

International Projects

Selected Publications up to 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.

Artwork and Covers

JACS COVER 2021

CS CoverFullerenes at High Pressures

Ongoing Supervisions

Clara Alves Ponte

PhD Student

Rita Maria Bolota Velho Pires da Fonseca

PhD Student

Óscar Toledano

Post-Doc Fellowship

Projects

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 scientif...

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

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

PartnerFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

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

Local CoordinatorFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

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

Local 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...

Publications

Using COSMO-RS to design choline chloride pharmaceutical eutectic solvents

Abranches, DO; Larriba, M; Silva, LP; Melle-Franco, M; Palomar, JF; Pinho, SP; Coutinho, JAP
2019, FLUID PHASE EQUILIBRIA, 497, 71-78.
ISBN: 1879-0224

What a difference a methyl group makes - probing choline-urea molecular interactions through urea structure modification

Silva, LP; Araujo, CF; Abranches, DO; Melle-Franco, M; Martins, MAR; Nolasco, MM; Ribeiro-Claro, PJA; Pinho, SP; Coutinho, JAP
2019, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 21, 33, 18278-18289.
ISBN: 1463-9084

A partially-planarised hole-transporting quart-p-phenylene for perovskite solar cells

Mora-Fuentes, JP; Cortizo-Lacalle, D; Collavini, S; Strutynski, K; Tress, WR; Saliba, M; Zakeeruddin, SM; Kosta, I; Melle-Franco, M; Gratzel, M; Delgado, JL; Mateo-Alonso, A
2019, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY C, 7, 15, 4332-4335.
ISBN: 2050-7534

Isolation and Characterization of the Unexpected 1-n-Octyloxyperopyrene: A Solution-Processable p-Type Organic Semiconductor

Martinez-Abadia, M; Antonicelli, G; Saeki, A; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A
2019, JOURNAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, 84, 6, 3270-3274.

Charge transport modulation in pseudorotaxane 1D stacks of acene and azaacene derivatives

Gozalvez, C; Zafra, JL; Saeki, A; Melle-Franco, M; Casado, J; Mateo-Alonso, A
2019, CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 10, 9, 2743-2749.
ISBN: 2041-6539

Ythrene: From the Real Radical Fullerene Substructure to Hypothetical (yet?) Radical Molecules

Khamatgalimov, AR; Melle-Franco, M; Gaynullina, AA; Kovalenko, VI
2019, JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY C, 123, 3, 1954-1959.

Giant Star-Shaped Nitrogen-Doped Nanographenes

Mora-Fuentes, JP; Riano, A; Cortizo-Lacalle, D; Saeki, A; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A
2019, ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 58, 2, 552-556.
ISBN: 1521-3773

Towards understanding the active sites for the ORR in N-doped carbon materials through fine-tuning of nitrogen functionalities: an experimental and computational approach

Quilez-Bermejo, J; Melle-Franco, M; San-Fabian, E; Morallon, E; Cazorla-Amoros, D
2019, JOURNAL OF MATERIALS CHEMISTRY A, 7, 42, 24239-24250.
ISBN: 2050-7496

Canonical DNA minor groove insertion of bisbenzamidine-Ru(ii) complexes with chiral selectivity

Sanchez, MI; Rama, G; Calo-Lapido, R; Ucar, K; Lincoln, P; Lopez, MV; Melle-Franco, M; Mascarenas, JL; Vazquez, ME
2019, CHEMICAL SCIENCE, 10, 37, 8668-8674.
ISBN: 2041-6539

Revisiting Kekulene: Synthesis and Single-Molecule Imaging

Pozo, I; Majzik, Z; Pavlicek, N; Melle-Franco, M; Guitian, E; Pena, D; Gross, L; Perez, D
2019, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 141, 39, 15488-15493.
ISBN: 1520-5126

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