Research Groups

RESEARCH UNIT: Molecular Nanoscience and Organic Materials (NANOMOL)

Centre of Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials (NANOMOL)

NANOMOL contributions have been focused to provide new molecule-based multifunctional advanced materials to be used in tissue engineering, in drug delivery and for the fabrication of electronic devices.

The Centre of Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials (Nanomol) is a research group with wide expertise in the synthesis, processing and study of molecular and polymeric materials, mainly for electronic and biomedical applications, with tailored chemical, electrical, magnetic and biological properties. We continuously generate new knowledge in our basic and applied research projects regarding the micro and nano structuring of funcional molecular materials.

Members

Prof. Jaume Veciana - Research Professor
Prof. Concepció Rovira - Research Professor
Dr. Nora Ventosa - Research Scientist
Dr. Marta Mas-Torrent - Research Scientist
Dr. José Vidal - Tenured Scientist
Dr. Imma Ratera - Tenured Scientist
Dr. Núria Crivillers - Tenured Scientist
Dr. Elena Laukhina - CIBER Researcher
Dr. Elisabet González - CIBER- Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Judith Guasch - Ramon y Cajal Researcher
Dr. Mariana Köber - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Raphael Pfattner - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Tommaso Salzillo - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Nathaly Segovia - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dr. Judit Morlà - Postdoctoral Researcher
Eduardo Pérez - Postdoctoral Researcher
Guillem Vargas - Postdoctoral Researcher
Dolores Bueno - PhD Researcher
Aída Carreño - PhD Researcher
Nerea González - PhD Researcher
Jinghai Li - PhD Researcher
Marc Martínez - PhD Researcher
Jesus Alejandro de Sousa Rodriguez - PhD Researcher
Adrián Tamayo - PhD Researcher
Judit Tomsen - PhD Researcher
Songbai Zhang - PhD Researcher
Lidia Ballell - PhD Researcher
Roberto Fabião Santos Abreu - PhD Researcher
José Ignacio Catalan - PhD Researcher
Sara Ruiz Molina – PhD Researcher
Ángel Campos - PhD Researcher
Simona Ricci- PhD Reseracher
Lamiaa Fijahi- PhD Researcher
Miquel Castellote – PhD Researcher
Amable Bernabé - Technical Staff
Ramón González - Technical Staff
Arnau Jaumandreu - Technical Staff
Dr. Vega Lloveras - Technical Staff
Albert Revuelta - Technical Staff
Xavier Rodríguez - Technical Staff

Left: Representation of the high-throughput method for studying cell motility on modified surfaces with nanoparticles. Right: Schematic representation of the organic electronic device using a new type of electrolyte‐gated organic field‐effect transistor showing memory.

Achievements

Positive pre-clinical in-vivo evaluation of peptide targeted nanoliposomes loaded with alfa-galactosidase (WO2014/001509) for intravenous treatment of Fabry disease.
Quatsomes nanovesicles for intravenous drug-delivery and bioimaging have been developed.
Fluorescent organic nanopoarticles (FONs) for bioimaging and theranostics, with unprecedented colloidal and photo stability. These FONs are based on quatsome nanovesicles containing a pair of fluorescent molecules that give rise to Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET).
- Enhancement of cell guidande on surfaces using a strategy based on the covalent anchoring of bacteria-based protein nanoparticles.
- Circularly polarized luminescence magnetic emitters with high racemization barrier using enantiopure propeller-like trityl-brominated organic radicals.

Development of a 3D hydrogel which mimics the properties of the lymph node and improves the ex-vivo expansion of primary human CD4+ T cells.
Application of two new patents: “A synthetic hydrogels and its use for Immunotherapy and 3D Printing” (EP20382432.1), and “An electrolyte-gated field-effect transistor” (P19382312.7)

- Fully water-soluble new polyphosphorhydrazone-based radical dendrimers have been developed by using an innovative synthetic procedure. A remarkable four times higher relaxivity compared with the gold-standard Gd-based CA, used in clinics, have been achieved either in vitro or ex vivo.
- Development of new organic polyradicals as redox mediators. We have demonstrated for the first time that the intramolecular spin-spin interactions play an important role on their electrochemical potential and their redox mediator behaviour.
- Preparation of a resistive switching device based on the use of a eutectic gallium-indium electrode with its native gallium oxide skin placed in contact with a graphene substrate.
- Low-cost organic field-effect transistors as X-ray detectors with unprecedented sensitivity.
- Organic field-effect transistors for biosensing alpha-synuclein (a Parkinson biomarker) with high sensitivity and for recording the activity of cardiomyocytes cells.

Stabilisation of surface-induced polymorphs of organic semiconductors by blending them with insulating polymers ensuring long-term device stability.

Publications

Enhancing long-term device stability using thin film blends of small molecule semiconductors and insulating polymers to trap surface-induced polymorphs.
T. Salzillo, A. Campos, A. Babuji, R. Santiago, S. T. Bromley, C. Ocal, E. Barrena, R. Jouclas, C. Ruzie, G. Schweicher, Y. H. Geerts, M. Mas-Torrent
Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, 30, 52, 2006115, 10.1002/adfm.202006115

Nanoscale mapping of the conductivity and interfacial capacitance of an electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor under operation.
A. Kyndiah, M. Checa, F. Leonardi, R. Millan-Solsona, M. Di Muzio, S. Tanwar, L. Fumagalli, M. Mas-Torrent, G. Gomila
Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, 31, 5, 2008032, 10.1002/adfm.202008032

Selection of the room temperature enantiotropic polymorphs of diF-TES-ADT in solution sheared thin film transistors.
T. Salzillo, N. Montes, R. Pfattner, M. Mas-Torrent
J. Mater. Chem. C 2020, 8, 15361-15367, 10.1039/D0TC03222K

Bioelectronic recordings of cardiomyocytes with accumulation mode electrolyte gated organic field effect transistors.
A. Kyndiah, F. Leonardi, C. Tarantino, T. Cramer, R. Millan-Solsona, E. Garreta, N. Montserrat, M. Mas-Torrent, G. Gomila
Biosensors and Bioelectronics 2020, 150, 111844, 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111844

Crystal alignment of surface stabilized polymorph in thioindigo films
A. Rivalta, A. Giunchi, L. Pandolfi, T. Salzillo, S. d’Agostino, O. Werzer, B. Schrode, N. Demitri, M. Mas-Torrent, A. Brillante, R.G. Della Valle, E. Venuti
Dye. Pigment. 2020, 172, 107847, 10.1016/j.dyepig.2019.107847

Use of N-oxide and cationic surfactants to enhance antioxidant properties of (+)-usnic acid loaded liposomes
S. Battista, P. Campitelli, L. Galantini, M. Köber, G. Vargas-Nadal, N. Ventosa, L. Giansanti
Colloids Surfaces A Physicochem. Eng. Asp. 2020, 585, 124154, 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2019.124154

MKC-Quatsomes: a stable nanovesicle platform for bio-imaging and drug-delivery Applications
G. Vargas-Nadal, M. Muñoz-Úbeda, P. Álamo, M. Mitjans, V. Céspedes, M. Köber, E. González-Mira, L. Ferrer-Tasies, M.P. Vinardell, R. Mangues, J. Veciana, N. Ventosa
Nanomedicine Nanotechnology, Biol. Med. 2020, 24, 102136, 10.1016/j.nano.2019.102136

Exploiting the versatile alkyne-based chemistry for expanding the applications of a stable triphenylmethyl organic radical on surfaces
J.A. de Sousa, F. Bejarano, D. Gutiérrez, Y.R. Leroux, E.M. Nowik-Boltyk, T. Junghoefer, E. Giangrisostomi, R. Ovsyannikov, M.B. Casu, J. Veciana, M. Mas-Torrent, B. Fabre, C. Rovira, N. Crivillers
Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 516-524, 10.1039/C9SC04499J

Fully Water-Soluble Polyphosphorhydrazone-Based Radical Dendrimers Functionalized with Tyr-PROXYL Radicals as Metal-Free MRI T1 Contrast Agents
L.F. Pinto, V. Lloveras, S. Zhang, F. Liko, J. Veciana, J.L. Muñoz-Gómez, J. Vidal-Gancedo
ACS Appl. Bio Mater. 2020, 3, 369–376, 10.1021/acsabm.9b00855

An Enantiopure Propeller-Like Trityl-Brominated Radical: Bringing Together a High Racemization Barrier and an Efficient Circularly Polarized Luminescent Magnetic Emitter
P. Mayorga-Burrezo, V.G. Jiménez, D. Blasi, T. Parella, I. Ratera, A.G. Campaña, J. Veciana
Chem. – A Eur. J. 2020, 26, 3776–3781, 10.1002/chem.202000098

Molecular Approach to Electrochemically Switchable Monolayer MoS2 Transistors
Y. Zhao, S. Bertolazzi, M.S. Maglione, C. Rovira, M. Mas-Torrent, P. Samorì
Adv. Mater. 2020, 32, 19, 2000740, 10.1002/adma.202000740

Morphology and mobility as tools to control and unprecedentedly enhance X-ray sensitivity in organic thin-films
I. Temiño, L. Basiricò, I. Fratelli, A. Tamayo, A. Ciavatti, M. Mas-Torrent, B. Fraboni
Nat. Commun. 2020, 11, 2136, 10.1038/s41467-020-15974-7

Dye-Loaded Quatsomes Exhibiting FRET as Nanoprobes for Bioimaging
J. Morla-Folch, G. Vargas-Nadal, T. Zhao, C. Sissa, A. Ardizzone, S. Kurhuzenkau, M. Köber, M. Uddin, A. Painelli, J. Veciana, K.D. Belfield, N. Ventosa
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 2020, 12, 20253–20262, 10.1021/acsami.0c03040

Cyclodextrin-based superparamagnetic host vesicles as ultrasensitive nanobiocarriers for electrosensing
J. Muñoz, N. Crivillers, B.J. Ravoo, M. Mas-Torrent
Nanoscale 2020, 12, 9884–9889, 10.1039/D0NR01702G

Neutral Organic Radical Formation by Chemisorption on Metal Surfaces
M.R. Ajayakumar, C. Moreno, I. Alcón, F. Illas, C. Rovira, J. Veciana, S.T. Bromley, A. Mugarza, M. Mas-Torrent
J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 3897–3904, 10.1021/acs.jpclett.0c00269

Electronic Performance of Polymer Carbon-Paste Nanoallotropes from 0D to 3D as Novel Gate Electrodes in Water-Gated Organic Field-Effect Transistors
A. Tamayo, J. Muñoz, M. Mas-Torrent
Adv. Electron. Mater. 2020, 6, 2000431, 10.1002/aelm.202000431

Selective Discrimination of Toxic Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Water by Targeting π-Stacking Interactions
J. Muñoz, Á. Campos-Lendinez, N. Crivillers, M. Mas-Torrent
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 26688–26693, 10.1021/acsami.0c05557

Stable anchoring of bacteria-based protein nanoparticles for surface enhanced cell guidance
M. Martínez-Miguel, A.R. Kyvik, L. M. Ernst, A. Martínez-Moreno, O. Cano-Garrido, E. Garcia-Fruitós, E. Vazquez, N. Ventosa, J. Guasch, J. Veciana, A. Villaverde, I. Ratera
J. Mater. Chem. B. 2020, 8, 5080–5088, 10.1039/D0TB00702A

Synthesis of 0D to 3D hybrid-carbon nanomaterials carrying platinum(0) nanoparticles: Towards the electrocatalytic determination of methylparabens at ultra-trace levels
J. Muñoz, I. Álvarez-Prada, E. Lopez-Lopez, L. Escriche, N. Romero, X. Sala, M. Mas-Torrent, J. García-Antón
Sensors Actuators B Chem. 2020, 305, 127467, 10.1016/j.snb.2019.127467

Highly Oxidized States of Phthalocyaninato Terbium(III) Multiple-Decker Complexes Showing Structural Deformations, Biradical Properties and Decreases in Magnetic Anisotropy
Y. Horii, M. Damjanović, M.R. Ajayakumar, K. Katoh, Y. Kitagawa, L. Chibotaru, L. Ungur, M. Mas-Torrent, W. Wernsdorfer, B.K. Breedlove, M. Enders, J. Veciana, M. Yamashita
Chem. – A Eur. J. 2020, 26, 8621–8630, 10.1002/chem.202001365

Double Beneficial Role of Fluorinated Fullerene Dopants on Organic Thin-Film Transistors: Structural Stability and Improved Performance
A. Babuji, I. Temiño, A. Pérez-Rodríguez, O. Solomeshch, N. Tessler, M. Vila, J. Li, M. Mas-Torrent, C. Ocal, E. Barrena
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 28416–28425, 10.1021/acsami.0c06418

Effects of Water and Different Solutes on Carbon-Nanotube Low-Voltage Field-Effect Transistors
A.M. Foudeh, R. Pfattner, S. Lu, N.S. Kubzdela, T.Z. Gao, T. Lei, Z. Bao
Small 2020, 16, 34, 2002875, 10.1002/smll.202002875

Tris-pyridylmethylamine (TPMA) complexes functionalized with persistent nitronyl nitroxide organic radicals
E. Badetti, V. Lloveras, F.A. Scaramuzzo, K. Wurst, J. Veciana, J. Vidal-Gancedo, G. Licini, C. Zonta
Dalt. Trans. 2020, 49, 10011–10016, 10.1039/D0DT01553A

Label-free immunodetection of α-synuclein by using a microfluidics coplanar electrolyte-gated organic field-effect transistor
S. Ricci, S. Casalini, V. Parkula, M. Selvaraj, G.D. Saygin, P. Greco, F. Biscarini, M. Mas-Torrent
Biosens. Bioelectron. 2020, 167, 112433, 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112433

CCL21-loaded 3D hydrogels for T cell expansion and differentiation
E. Pérez Del Río, F. Santos, X. Rodriguez Rodriguez, M. Martínez-Miguel, R. Roca-Pinilla, A. Arís, E. Garcia-Fruitós, J. Veciana, J.P. Spatz, I. Ratera, J. Guasch
Biomaterials 2020, 259, 120313, 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120313

Radical dendrimers based on biocompatible oligoethylene glycol dendrimers as contrast agents for MRI
S. Zhang, V. Lloveras, D. Pulido, F. Liko, L.F. Pinto, F. Albericio, M. Royo, J. Vidal-Gancedo
Pharm 2020, 12, 772, 10.3390/pharmaceutics12080772

Stability of radical-functionalized gold surfaces by self-assembly and on-surface chemistry
T. Junghoefer, E.M. Nowik-Boltyk, J.A. de Sousa, E. Giangrisostomi, R. Ovsyannikov, T. Chassé, J. Veciana, M. Mas-Torrent, C. Rovira, N. Crivillers, M.B. Casu
Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 9162–9172, 10.1039/D0SC03399E

Organic Polyradicals as Redox Mediators: Effect of Intramolecular Radical Interactions on Their Efficiency
E. Badetti, V. Lloveras, E. Amadio, R. Di Lorenzo, M. Olivares-Marín, A.Y. Tesio, S. Zhang, F. Pan, K. Rissanen, J. Veciana, D. Tonti, J. Vidal-Gancedo, C. Zonta, G. Licini
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 45968–45975, 10.1021/acsami.0c09386

Dibenzocycloheptatriene as end-group of Thiele and tetrabenzo-Chichibabin hydrocarbons
V.G. Jiménez, P. Mayorga-Burrezo, V. Blanco, V. Lloveras, C.J. Gómez-García, T. Šolomek, J.M. Cuerva, J. Veciana, A.G. Campaña
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 12813–12816, 10.1039/D0CC04489J

Electrocatalytic oxidative: Z/E isomerization of a stilbene favoured by the presence of an electroactive persistent radical
P. Mayorga-Burrezo, C. Sporer, J.A. de Sousa, N. Capra, K. Wurst, N. Crivillers, J. Veciana, C. Rovira
Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 14211–14214, 10.1039/D0CC04973E

Resistive switching observation in a gallium-based liquid metal/ graphene junction
D. Gutiérrez, J.A. de Sousa, M. Mas-Torrent, N. Crivillers
ACS Appl. Electron. Mater. 2020, 2, 3093–3099, 10.1021/acsaelm.0c00296

Reversal of the Direction of Rectification Induced by Fermi Level Pinning at Molecule-Electrode Interfaces in Redox-Active Tunneling Junctions
Y. Han, M.S. Maglione, V. Diez Cabanes, J. Casado-Montenegro, X. Yu, S.K. Karuppannan, Z. Zhang, N. Crivillers, M. Mas-Torrent, C. Rovira, J. Cornil, J. Veciana, C.A. Nijhuis
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 55044–55055, 10.1021/acsami.0c15435

Outreach activities

Diffusion of Nanomol products and technologies offers at the Open Innovation Forum organized by Biocat.
Coordination of the Nanotechnology for Therapy and Remediation Module of the Master in Advanced Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (UAB) by Imma Ratera
Press appearances about our work on organic transistors for cell activity monitoring in La Vanguardia.
Participation within a CSIC initiative in the recording of video to promote women in science.
Invited talk on “Particulate materials for drug delivery” for ClarivateCortellis Drug Discovery Intelligence, given by Nora Ventosa
Participation of Nora Ventosa in the Unprecedented Webinar:Tech Transfer: Ciencia e Industria en Acción, organized by Expoquimia
Press appearance of Nora Ventosa at the radio program la “Nit dels Ignorants” of Catalunya Radioto talk about COVID-19 from a chemists' point of view.
Training course about different techniques for characterizing particulate materials.
Judith Guasch is interviewed by the newspapers “Diari de Tarragona” and “El 3 de vuit”, as well as the digitals “Innovaspain” and “Agencia SINC” to speak about hydrogels for cancer immunotherapy.
Judith Guasch is interviewed by CosmoCaixa (Science Museum of Barcelona) about Biomimetic Materials.
Judith Guasch speaks about hydrogels for cancer immunotherapy on “Radio Nacional de Epaña” in the program “A hombros de gigantes” as well as in “De Cero al Infinito” de “Onda Cero Radio”.
News about “3D hydrogels for Cancer Immunotherapy” in more than 25 digital publications, including “La Vanguardia”, “National Geographic España”, “COPE”, “El Independiente”, and “MSN”.

Awards&Recognitgions

Renewed TECNIO certification which accredits the Research Group as a Technology Developer Organization for the period 2020-2023. The TECNIO certification is created by the Government of Catalunya, through ACCIÓ. TheTECNIO certification supports the most qualified agents involved in technology transfer processes, allows companies to access advanced R&D and develop new products and services, and increases the scope of technology projects by finding the most suitable technology partners and suppliers.

Dr. Manuel Souto awarded with the European Award for Doctoral Thesis of the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism.

Main projects

Member of Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red – Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine
CIBER-BBN
Jaume Veciana
2016

Smart-4-Fabry (ref.720942): Smart multifunctional GLA-Nanoformulation for treating Fabry Disease
H2020 EU project
Nora Ventosa
2017-2020

NANO-OLIGOMED (ref. 778133): Hybrid nanostructured oligonucleotide platforms for biomedical applications”
EU project. H2020-MSCA-RISE-2017
Luisa de Cola, Nora Ventosa
2017-2021

Fluorescent organic nanoparticles for bioimaging (FONBIO) (ref. TECSPR17-1-0035)
TECNIOSPRING Grants
Judit Morlà
2019-2020

TAGSMARTLY “Targeted Quatsome nanocarriers for the delivery of microRNA for neuroblastoma therapy”
CIBER
Nora Ventosa, Mariana Köber
2020-2022

Rising the Impact of Selected Engineered Bacterial Cellulose composites (RICE-BC)
RTI2018-096273−B-I00 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
2018-2020

Materiales moleculares y organizaciones supramoleculares para terapia, diagnosis e ingeniería tisular (MOTHER)
MAT2016-80826-R MINECO Retos
Jaume Veciana, Nora Ventosa
2018-2020

FANCY: "Functional organic materials for the Fabrication of sensors and (spin)-electronic/memory devices”
Spanish Ministry, CTQ2013-40480-R
Marta Mas-Torrent, Concepció Rovira
1/1/2017-30/12/2020

Procesamiento de moléculas para crear materiales híbridos estructurados jerárquicamente para aplicaciones biomédicas (Mol4Bio)
PID2019-105622RB-I00 MINECO Retos
Nora Ventosa, Imma Ratera
2020-2023

GENESIS: “Engineering, preparation and characterisation of organic-based high performing Electronic devices for physical and bio-sensing applications and for the development of new emerging technologies”
Spanish Ministry
Marta Mas-Torrent, Núria Crivillers
1/6/2020-20/5/2023

Between Atom and Cell: Integrating Molecular Biophysics Approaches for Biology and Healthcare (MOBIEU)
CA15126 ESF - COST Action
Imma Ratera
2016-2020

Lymph node-inspired 3D printed hydrogels for adoptive cell therapy (Gels4ACT)
CIBER-BBN
Judith Guasch, Jaume Veciana
2020-2022

Dynamic Biomimetics for Cancer Immunotherapy
Max Planck Partner Group; Max Planck Society
Judith Guasch
2017-2023

Ramón y Cajal program (RYC-2017-22614)
Spanish Ministry
Judith Guasch
2019-2024

Prevention of vascular catheter-related infections by the FUNctionalization of CATHeters with thermically activated hydrogels with antimicrobial agents of broad spectrum (FUNCATH)
Fundació La Marató de TV3
Imma Ratera
2019-2022

Red de Dendrímeros para aplicaciones Biomédicas
CTQ2017-90596-REDT
Rafael Gómez Ramirez, José Vidal Gancedo
2018-2020

Radicales y dendrímeros radicales para imagen de Resonancia Magnética Nuclear y otras aplicaciones bio
201760E080 Intramural CSIC
José Vidal Gancedo
2017-2021

UHMob:"Ultra-high Charge Carrier Mobility to Elucidate Transport Mechanisms in Semiconductors"
H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018
Yves Geerts, Marta Mas-Torrent
1/5/2019-30/4/2023

Organic Radicals as Molecular Quantum Bits (RadicalQBits)
ILINK-A-2018, Internationalization project from CSIC
Nuria Crivillers
2019-2021

BIO-PAD: "Biosensor platform based on organic transistors for the diagnosis of Alzheimer desease”
Spanish Ministry MAT2015-72760-EXP
Marta Mas-Torrent
1/3/2017-30/12/2020