Monday, 29 January 2018
This plant, fitted with equipment owned by the ICN2, is unique in Catalonia and allows recycling of up to 80% of the liquid helium consumed at ALBA for its superconducting magnets and ultra-low temperature experiments. The ICN2 will also benefit from the helium produced.
Friday, 26 January 2018
In the second week of February, the ICN2 will be joining other research centres around the world to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Find out more here.
Thursday, 25 January 2018
Last week nine new ICN2 PhD candidates attended the “How to Be an Effective Researcher” course organised by the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) on behalf of its seven member institutes.
Tuesday, 23 January 2018
Ahead Therapeutics SL is the result of a joint research project with a strong nano component between the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP), the ICN2 and ICREA. It was created to advance the development of therapies for autoimmune diseases and pursue their application in a clinical setting. Just a few months in, the new company has already attracted 1.1 million euros in private investment.
Friday, 19 January 2018
Researchers of the ICN2 Oxide Nanophysics Group led by ICREA Prof. Gustau Catalan have resolved one of the great unknowns in bone remodelling: how the cells responsible for forming new bone tissue are called into action. Their work reveals the possible role of an electromechanical phenomenon at the nanoscale, flexoelectricity, not only in stimulating the cell response, but in precisely guiding it throughout the fracture repair process.
Friday, 19 January 2018
The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology has awarded three second-phase grants to collaborative projects developed jointly by BIST member institutions. The ICN2's participation in two of the three successful projects is led by ICREA Prof. Jose Antonio Garrido and ICREA Prof. Jordi Arbiol.
Wednesday, 20 December 2017
A recent article from the Graphene Flagship outlines how the strong collaborative ethos of this largescale European research initiative is accelerating developments in new graphene-based technologies. Among the featured papers are two by ICN2 group leaders ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche and ICREA Prof. Sergio O. Valenzuela.
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
Members of the ICN2 Human Resources (HR) Department are participating in the ABG Programme of “Researchers without borders” (Paris, 11-12 December). The ICN2 Head of Human Resources, Rocío Perez, presented yesterday the ICN2 approach in a round table about “Recruitment process and mobility in academia”.
Tuesday, 12 December 2017
The project Nanoplastics, launched by researchers at the Catalan Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), the Institute for Neurosciences (INC-UAB) and the Centre for Agronomic Research (CRAG), has created a single-layer biodegradable film to increase safety of packaged and extend their shelf life.
Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Experimentalists of the ICN2 Physics and Engineering of Nanodevices Group, led by ICREA Prof. Sergio O. Valenzuela, have found evidence that the spin-orbit coupling induced in graphene by proximity to transition metal dichalcogenides affects electron spins differently depending on their orientation. Published in Nature Physics, this work suggests new approaches to controlling the transport of spin and valley information in future spintronics devices.
Tuesday, 05 December 2017
ICN2 researchers have demonstrated that the application of a thermal gradient in spintronic devices can cause spin signal to increase as a result of a novel thermoelectric phenomenon predicted and subsequently observed in graphene. Specifically, the enhanced spin signal is two orders of magnitude larger than anything previously reported for thermal effects in metals. Published in Nature Nanotechnology, these findings push at the frontier of graphene spintronics technologies.
Thursday, 16 November 2017
Researchers of the ICN2 Theoretical and Computational Nanoscience Group, led by ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche, have published another paper on spin, this time reporting numerical simulations for spin relaxation in graphene/TMDC heterostructures. Published in Physical Review Letters, their calculations indicate a spin lifetime anisotropy that is orders of magnitude larger than anything observed in graphene until now. Here, lead author Aron Cummings explains the origin of this effect.
Monday, 06 November 2017
The awarded poster was titled “Novel photonic nanosensor integrating MOFs as specific receptors for gas sensing”, a shared effort involving the ICN2 NanoBiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group and the ICN2 Supramolecular NanoChemistry and Materials Group.
Friday, 03 November 2017
100xCiencia.2 was held in Alicante yesterday and today. It brought together the vanguard of Spanish research: the Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu centers of excellence. The meeting was opened by Carmen Vela, Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, and she highlighted the importance of approaching science and business: "Without transfer there is no innovation and without innovation there is no future"
Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Researchers from the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and the Institute of Materials Science of Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) have formed highly-porous metal-organic framework particles that spontaneously assemble into well-ordered 3D superstructures that present photonic crystal properties. Published in Nature Chemistry, their discoveries are expected to find applications in the design of novel photonic materials for sensing applications, among others.
Thursday, 19 October 2017
There’s no way that turning a material upside down makes it any softer, right? Wrong! Through the combined effect of two properties inherent to certain types of crystal, flexoelectricity and piezoelectricity, researchers at the ICN2 led by ICREA Prof. Gustau Catalán have found that polar materials can be made more or less resistant to dents when they are turned upside down… or when a voltage is applied to switch their polarisation. Published this week in Advanced Materials, this research points to the future development of “smart mechanical materials” for use in smart coatings and ferroelectric memories.
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Representatitves of the 25 Severo Ochoa Centres of Excellence and 16 María de Maeztu Units of Excellence accredited by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness met this afternoon for the first meeting of the Severo Ochoa – María de Maeztu Alliance (SOMMa). Presided over by the Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, Carmen Vela, the event was attended by the directors and other representatives of the research centres and units behind the alliance’s creation.
Friday, 13 October 2017
ICN2 researchers led by ICREA Prof. Jordi Arbiol, in collaboration with the IREC and ICIQ, have produced a material for use in photoelectrochemical water splitting that is not only cheaper than existing alternatives, but increases both the efficiency and output of the process. Based on the integration of several materials into a multilayer nanowire structure, the research was featured on the cover of this month’s Energy & Environmental Science.
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
ICN2 group leader ICREA Prof. Jose Antonio Garrido and fellow Graphene Flagship programme coordinator, Prof. Kostas Kostarelos of the University of Manchester, were invited by Advanced Materials to present their vision of the role of graphene in the design of advanced brain-computer interfaces. Published earlier this month, the work entitled “Graphene in the design and engineering of next-generation neural interfaces” outlines the current state-of-the-art in this field, along with the ways graphene is allowing us to overcome some of the obstacles to fully realising the next generation of neural interfaces.
Wednesday, 27 September 2017
A team of researchers from ALBA and the ICN2 have developed novel graphene-based antiferromagnetic multilayer structures featuring robust magnetic properties. These results, published in Nature Communications, demonstrate that single-layer graphene spaced magnetic thin film structures present perpendicular antiferromagnetic coupling together with a number of properties that are well suited for applications.
