CICECO is organised in 4 research lines (thematic axes transversal to groups) expressing areas of societal challenges, and 6 groups focused on materials. 'Sustainability' is at the core of our work and computing modelling and simulation ('Materials Genome') is pervasive. Lines and groups are 'soft' structures (fostering collaboration between people) not crystallised hierarchical assemblies.
Research Groups
Porous Materials and Nanosystems
Development of new nano- and micro-sized materials, including their preparation methods, with impact in a multitude of areas of the scientific knowledge, particularly in luminescence, catalysis, gas sorption and separation, ion exchange, magnetism, MRI contrast agents, drug delivery.
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Photonic, Electronic and Magnetic Materials
Development of new and improved photonic, electronic and magnetic materials, for a wide range of application in areas including health, energy, and information technologies.
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Electrochemical Materials, Interfaces and Coatings
New materials for green energy applications, surface functionalization for corrosion protection, alternative bio-based materials (polylactic acid, cellulose, chitosan or carrageenan) and processes.
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Renewable Materials and Circular Economy
Committed to advancing the sustainable utilization of renewable materials and byproducts across different sectors, our research encompasses the biorefinery principles, biomass valorization, production of platform chemicals, biobased polymers & nanocomposites production, and industrial waste recycling.
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Biomimetic, Biological and Living Materials
Development of health-related materials, products and technologies following a bench-to-bedside concept via R&D. The group focuses on the production and application of biomimetic, biological and living materials to improve human health, viz. in regenerative medicine, drug delivery, prognosis/diagnosis, and as sensors and therapeutics.
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Virtual Materials and Artificial Intelligence
By leveraging artificial intelligence with multi-scale computer simulations using realistic models of materials, we design and analyze material structures with bespoke properties, for applications in diverse areas such as adsorption, (bio)electronics, catalysis, photonics, separation, or waste recovery.
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Digitization
Solid-state lighting, nanoscale & molecular sensing, integrated optics, photovoltaic energy conversion, internet of things, ferroic devices, interconnection and packaging technologies.
Energy
Electricity storage, alternative energy sources, valorization of industrial wastes, processes for novel technologies, additive manufacturing, materials and coatings with novel functionalities.
Sustainability
Biorefinery and circular economy, materials for sustainable energy production and materials for polution control.
Health
Biomaterials for regenerative medicine, nanoparticles (nps), drugs & drug delivery and analytical tools.
Materials for sustainable development
General Aims
Materials to be developed span from ceramics and inorganic materials to soft matter, biopolymers and organic-inorganic hybrids. They will be "right-size" materials, prepared and processed at the appropriate length scale, or hierarchically structured, often multifuncional.MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
- To design, prepare, process and characterize: Inorganic and organic-inorganic multifunctional materials and nanostructures of different (0-3D) dimensionality, for the information and communications technologies (optical, magnetic properties), photovoltaics, catalysis, biological and environmental applications; ferroics and nanostructures for integration in electronic, magnetic, electromechanic, thermal or biomedical devices and energy saving applications;
- To increase the performance and added value of materials via surface functionalisation for corrosion protection, wear resistance, various sensors, and innovative multifunctional configurations;
- To study molecular systems structure, from atoms to devices, calculate their physicochemical and electronic properties, predict their behaviour, viz., under pressure and temperature.
SUSTAINABILITY AND CIRCULAR ECONOMY
- To develop new products based on renewable resources to replace fossil raw materials as sources of commodities and specialty chemicals, materials and fuels, based on sustainable processes;
- To address in particular the “plastic problem” by developing biobased and biodegradable functional polymers, and processes that enhance the circularity of conventional plastics;
- To develop new processes to add value to waste streams, by recovering, or converting them, into a secondary source of raw materials;
- To design, prepare, process and characterize new materials for pollution control, in particular materials to assist the decarbonisation of industrial processes by CO2 separation, capture and conversion; (ad/ab)sorbents or new catalysts to remove contaminants from air (e.g., NOx, CO, VOCs) or water (e.g., heavy metals, drugs, pesticides and persistent pollutants);
- To develop and design materials and devices for sustainable energy production, namely energy harvesting, energy storage, thermoelectric energy conversion, and more efficient thermal processes without greenhouse gases;
- To assess the environmental impact of the novel solvents, materials, products and processes being studied.
BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
- Biomaterials for regenerative medicine and disease modelling: development of inorganic, macromolecular, composite or self-assembled molecules, processed by advanced methodologies to develop biomedical and cells-combined constructs that may be used in tissue engineering and personalised medicine, both for therapies to regenerate damaged tissues, and as platforms for in vitro drugs screen;
- Cell-based therapies for prevailing relevant health problems, exploring scaffold-free, nanobiomaterials and surface cell engineering approaches;
- In silico methodologies: use of quantum calculations and molecular dynamics simulations for the modelling the interaction of drugs with biological targets;
- Analytical tools: metabolomics to assess material-organism interactions and improve disease management, monitoring of complex cellular processes and biomaterials development;
- Sustainable strategies in biomedicine: valorisation of natural products for the development of advanced and multifunctional biomaterials; use of mild and green processes for the development of cost-effective purification processes for biopharmaceuticals.
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