Manuel Melle-Franco

Principal Researcher

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Department

  • Chemistry
  • 29.3.28

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Advanced Modelling Lab @ CICECO

Manuel Melle-Franco leads the Advanced Modelling Lab @ CICECO , a strongly multidisciplinary group that focuses on the understanding of relevant problems in different broad areas such as chemistry, physics, molecular biology, and materials science. This has led to 130 publications with an added impact factor > 1000. 

Manuel's education and career are highly multidisciplinary. He has a  degree in Physical-Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), followed by an M.Sc. in Materials Chemistry from the University of Kent (UK) and a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics (2001) from the University of Kent (UK) with Alan Chadwick, with a year abroad in the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy) with Gianfranco Pacchioni. 

After that, he joined the group of Francesco Zerbetto at the University of Bologna (Italy) for 8 years. Later, he moved to Portugal, where he worked at the University of Porto and the University of Minho. Manuel has been working in CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials since 2016. 

Manuel’s research has been reported in a variety of high-visibility journals, most notably: Nature, Chem, 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* (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) review N&V pieces (*: corresponding author). 

Manuel's works have been highlighted in general media, such as radio and newspapers, and in several specialized outlets like Nature Reviews Chemistry, Chemistry World (x8), 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.

Covers

JACS COVER 2021

CS Cover

Fullerenes at High Pressures

Ongoing Supervisions

Clara Alves Ponte

PhD Student

Jorge Diogo Marques Laranjeira

PhD Student

Nuno Fortunato

PhD Student

Rita Maria Bolota Velho Pires da Fonseca

PhD Student

Veniero Lenzi

Post-Doc Fellowship

Óscar Toledano

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 during the f...

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

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

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

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...

Publications

Twisted Molecular Nanoribbons with up to 53 Linearly-Fused Rings

Dubey, RK; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A
2021, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 143, 17, 6593-6600.
ISBN: 1520-5126

Imaging and analysis of covalent organic framework crystallites on a carbon surface: a nanocrystalline scaly COF/nanotube hybrid

Weare, BL; Lodge, RW; Zyk, N; Weilhard, A; Housley, CL; Strutynski, K; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A; Khlobystov, AN
2021, NANOSCALE, 13, 14, 6834-6845.
ISBN: 2040-3372

pi-Interpenetrated 3D Covalent Organic Frameworks from Distorted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

Martinez-Abadia, M; Strutynski, K; Lerma-Berlanga, B; Stoppiello, CT; Khlobystov, AN; Marti-Gastaldo, C; Saeki, A; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A
2021, ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 60, 18, 9941-9946.
ISBN: 1521-3773

Thermoelectric properties of polypropylene carbon nanofiber melt-mixed composites: exploring the role of polymer on their Seebeck coefficient

Paleo, AJ; Krause, B; Cerqueira, MF; Melle-Franco, M; Potschke, P; Rocha, AM
2021, POLYMER JOURNAL, 53, 10, 1145-1152.
ISBN: 1349-0540

In situ laser annealing as pathway for the metal free synthesis of tailored nanographenes

Milotti, V; Melle-Franco, M; Steiner, AK; Verbitskii, I; Amsharov, K; Pichler, T
2021, NANOSCALE ADVANCES, 3, 3, 703-709.

From groove binding to intercalation: unravelling the weak interactions and other factors modulating the modes of interaction between methylated phenanthroline-based drugs and duplex DNA

Sanchez-Gonzalez, A; Castro, TG; Melle-Franco, M; Gil, A
2021, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 23, 47, 26680-26695.
ISBN: 1463-9084

Understanding charge transport in wavy 2D covalent organic frameworks

Martinez-Abadia, M; Strutynski, K; Stoppiello, CT; Berlanga, BL; Marti-Gastaldo, C; Khlobystov, AN; Saeki, A; Melle-Franco, M; Mateo-Alonso, A
2021, NANOSCALE, 13, 14, 6829-6833.
ISBN: 2040-3372

Carbon Nano-onions: Potassium Intercalation and Reductive Covalent Functionalization

Perez-Ojeda, ME; Castro, E; Krockel, C; Lucherelli, MA; Ludacka, U; Kotakoski, J; Werbach, K; Peterlik, H; Melle-Franco, M; Chacon-Torres, JC; Hauke, F; Echegoyen, L; Hirsch, A; Abellan, G
2021, JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY, 143, 45, 18997-19007.
ISBN: 1520-5126

Singlet Fission in Pyrene-Fused Azaacene Dimers

Mora-Fuentes, JP; Papadopoulos, I; Thiel, D; Alvarez-Boto, R; Cortizo-Lacalle, D; Clark, T; Melle-Franco, M; Guldi, DM; Mateo-Alonso, A
2020, ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION, 59, 3, 1113-1117.
ISBN: 1521-3773

Electroactive Organic Building Blocks for the Chemical Design of Functional Porous Frameworks (MOFs and COFs) in Electronics

Souto, M; Strutynski, K; Melle-Franco, M; Rocha, J
2020, CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL, 26, 48, 10912-10935.
ISBN: 1521-3765

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