The Laser Processing Research Group continued working for innovation in the field of nanostructured functional materials through different laser techniques, mainly by Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation (MAPLE) and Laser Surface Processing (LSP).

On the one hand, reactive inverse MAPLE was used for obtaining the deposition of thin films constituted by hybrid composites of nanocarbon (reduced graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, graphitic carbon nitride) coated with transition metal oxide nanostructures as ZnO or TiO2. Even nanocarbon - (Bi, La) ferrite compounds were developed by laser irradiation of targets containing graphene oxide / ferrites nanofibers mixtures. The developed method, in which complex precursor targets were used, not only allowed the deposition but also the chemical transformation of the precursors leading to the synthesis of materials with unique structures and remarkable functionalities. Accordingly, thin electrodes for supercapacitive energy storage as well as photocatalysts able to decompose organic dyes and antibiotics (chloramphenicol) were successfully fabricated.

On the other hand, LSP method was employed for the eco-friendly and low cost fabrication of graphene-based flexible electrodes either on polymer substrates or in self-standing configuration. A low power visible laser system was used for the irradiation of graphene oxide layers sandwiched between glass slides with the aim to provoke an efficient reduction of graphene oxide material through laser-induced spatially confined heating. In such way, robust, bendable and highly conducting graphene-based electrodes were manufactured, finding application in energy storage and electrochemical sensing technologies.