Welcome

Welcome to the Supramolecular NanoChemistry & Materials Group. We are located at the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology in Barcelona (Spain). Our group’s research interests are focused on controlling the supramolecular assembly of molecules, biomolecules, metal ions and nanoscale building blocks at the nanometer scale for the design and synthesis of novel functional architectures. The use of supramolecular chemistry to control the fabrication of new nanomaterials is a key aspect for the future of Nanoscience & Nanotechnology. We use the supramolecular chemistry as the underlying approach for exploring new complex supramolecular assemblies and bioinspired architectures with unprecedented structures, interesting physical and biological properties and applications (in close collaboration with several private companies) in diverse areas, including micro- and nanoencapsulation, drug-delivery systems, contrast agents and the development of novel sensors and magnetic platforms.

Micro- & NanoEncapsulation Services at the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology
[Download presentation]

  • Latest Publications

  • Metal–Organic Frameworks: From Molecules/Metal Ions to Crystals to Superstructures,

    A. Carné-Sánchez, I. Imaz, K. C. Stylianou, D. Maspoch, Chemistry - A European Journal 2014, DOI: 10.1002/chem.201304529. [Link]

  • Localized, Stepwise Template Growth of Functional Nanowires from an Amino Acid-Supported Framework in a Microfluidic Chip,

    J. Puigmartí-Luis, M. Rubio-Martínez, I. Imaz, B. Z. Cvetković, Ll. Abad , A. Pérez del Pino, D. Maspoch, David B. Amabilino, ACS Nano 2014, 8, 818-826. [Link]

  • Relaxometry Studies of a Highly Stable Nanoscale Metal−Organic Framework Made of Cu(II), Gd(III), and the Macrocyclic DOTP,

    A. Carné-Sánchez, C. S. Bonnet, I. Imaz, J. Lorenzo, É. Toth, D. Maspoch, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 17711-17714. [Link]

  • A Novel Liposome-Based Nanocarrier Loaded with an LPS-dsRNA Cocktail for Fish Innate Immune System Stimulation,

    A. Ruyra, M. Cano-Sarabia, S. A. MacKenzie, D. Maspoch, N. Roher, Plos One 2013, 8, 10, e76338. [Link]

  • Femtolitre chemistry assisted by microfluidic pen lithography,

    C. Carbonell, K. C. Stylianou, J. Hernando, E. Evangelio, S. A. Barnett, S. Nettikadan, I. Imaz, D. Maspoch, Nature Communications 2013, 4, 2173. [Link]
 


 

Latest News

  • Featured Image in Nature Communications

    Featured Image in Nature Communications. 25th July 2013 » Our recent article published in Nature Communications, entitled “Femtolitre chemistry assisted by microfluidic pen lithography”, has been selected for the weekly Featured Image of this prestigious journal. The image shows a nanoarray of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) crystals synthesized through the combination of femtolitre volumes of the constituents on the desired position of a surface with nanometer resolution. The mixing of the femtolitre volumes was realized using a microfluidic based lithography method.

  • Publication in Nature Chemistry

    Publication in Nature Chemistry. 11th February 2013 » NANOUP has published an article in the prestigious journal Nature Chemistry entitled "A spray-drying strategy for synthesis of nanoscale metal-organic frameworks and their assembly into hollow superstructures". The article describes how metal ions and organic ligands sprayed though a nozzle under specific conditions form nanoMOFs crystals, and how these nanoMOFs go on to self-assemble into hollow, highly-ordered, spherical superstuctures of microscale dimension, during the synthesis process. This methodology can be easily tailored to create custom MOF microstructures and highly sophisticated composites for desired applications involving specific cargo, so the possibilities for industry are basically endless. The published technology is patented under the application number EP 11183773. [Link to the article]

  • Highlighted in Nature Nanotechnology

    Highlighted in Nature Nanotechnology 4th March 2011 » Our article "Single-crystal metal-organic frameworks arrays", published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, has been recognized by Nature Nanotechnology. We have demonstrated a novel, versatile pen-type lithography-based approach for growing HKUST-1 crystals on supports and shown that through the use of surfaces with low wettability it is possible to control the growth of a submicrometer single crystal at a desired location on a surface. [Nature Nanotechnology Highlights]