NANOUP in El Periódico 23th February 2013 » A research project in which NANOUP participates has been highlighted in El Periódico. The project is related to the development of new strategies that include micro- and nanoencapsulation techniques to fight against salmonella bacteria. The project, which is supported by the RecerCaixa program (Fundació La Caixa), is now in the in vitro phase, and the micro- and nanoencapsulated bacteriophages will be tested in animals in a near future. [Link to El Periódico]

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.

Prof. Daniel Maspoch has given an invited talk in the XXXIV Reunion Bienal de la Real Sociedad Española de Química. 25th September 2013 » Prof. Daniel Maspoch has given an invited talk entitled “Nanoscale Metal-Organic Frameworks: Synthesis and Assembly in the Air and on Surfaces” in the XXXIV Reunion Bienal de la Real Sociedad Española de Química, which took place from 16th to 18th September in Santander (Spain). [Link to the RSEQ website]

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]

Technology Transference Contract with Chemipol 26th November 2012 » ICN and the company Chemipol have signed a technology transference contract related to the development of new products based on micro- and nanoencapsulation technologies. According to this contract, both institutions establish a collaboration to scale-up and commercialize these new products.  [Link to Chemipol website]

New Equipment: a major leap forward in gas sorption measurements 27th August 2012 » NANOUP group has recently acquired an automated gas sorption analyzer equipment, the highly sophisticated platform Autosorb-iQ-AG (Quantachrome Instruments), which will allow us to tackle any pore size, surface area or catalyst characterization problem. Usable with nitrogen, argon, carbon dioxide and a host of other gases, even ammonia, the instrument has instant appeal for a precise, accurate, and reliable characterization of powdered and porous materials (gas sorption isotherms surface area measurement, pore size distribution, chemisorptions studies, water sorption behavior, etc.). These properties are essential qualities of the advanced nanoMOFs that we develop in our research group, and their measurement will make possible their optimization for being used in real life applications.

New Advanced Equipment: desktop nanofabrication system 21st September 2011 » NANOUP group has acquired an advanced nanolithographic instrument, the NLP 2000 System, provided by NanoInk. Inc. NLP 2000 System is a desktop nanofabrication system that will allow us to rapidly design and create custom engineered and functionalized surfaces on the micro and nanoscale, using Dip Pen Nanolithography (DPN) to transfer minute amounts of materials over a large, environmentally controlled work area. NLP 2000 System will be used to research supramolecular nanomaterials, nano and bottom up combinatorial chemistry, antibody and antigen interactions, and to facilitate material discoveries and the study of their fundamental properties. [Link to NanoInk, Inc. press release]

New Advanced Equipment: Mini and Nano Spray Dryer 17th January 2011 » NANOUP has recently acquired advanced technology for new product development at the micro- and nanometer scale. Mini and Nano Spray Dryer instruments have been recently installed at NANOUP´s quarters, being the Nano Spray Dryer one of the first ones to be set up in Spain. Both systems provide the possibility to MINIATURIZE (micronization, nanonization) and ENCAPSULATE molecular materiasls (e.g. peptides, drugs, food ingredients, etc.) in a range from 100 nm to 100 μm. Furthermore both can work with aqueous and organic solvents. Thus, from now onwards, NANOUP will be able to realize leading research on the development and fabrication of new supramolecular nanomaterials, specially synthetized from biomolecules, and to explore the nanoencapsulation of different active substances (e.g. drugs), for biomedical applications.