FIMDEAM group (IMDEA Materials)

IMDEA Materials contributes to FOTOART with a multidisciplinary team comprising three research groups in the areas of computational chemistry, synthesis of multifunctional nanomaterials and development of hybrid optoelectronic materials and devices. The groups total around 24 researchers, most of who work on topics directly related to the project. Being groups led by young people (< 40 years of age) they have in total more than 300 publications (Science, Nature Materials, Adv. Mater., Adv. Energy Mat., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., Energy Environ. Sci.), h-indexes of 33, 19 and 34, and 14 patents. Their group leaders have Ramon y Cajal grants. The common denominator of these research groups is the development of new low-dimensional materials with controlled methods to elucidate and enhance energy transformation processes. At the same time, they seek to ensure that the tools and materials synthesized are compatible with their industrial implementation.

Multifunctional nanocomposites group. (J.J. Vilatela) The group focuses on the development of hybrid materials from macroscopic fibre made of CNTs, produced with molecular control and at a semi-industrial scale (10km/day). The aim is to study the transport, mechanical and electrochemical properties of such systems, and their relationship with the complex multi-scale structure of the resulting electrodes. They use and develop advanced in situ X-ray and spectroscopic techniques to study the reinforcement mechanisms at different scales, and the electrochemical interaction of CNT fibres with liquids, polymers and inorganic solids.

Hybrid optoelectronic materials and devices group. His research involves three main lines: (i) the application of nanocarbon-based hybrids in solar cells, (ii) the development of new sustainable electroluminescent materials for single-layer ionic lighting devices, and (iii) the development of bio-inspired components for lighting, energy conversion and diagnostic applications.

Computacional Chemistry group. (M. Haranczyk) Activities focus on the area of computational data-driven materials discovery and design, focusing on porous materials for energy applications (CO2 capture, methane storage), design of ionic liquids and characterization of nanoparticles. His work combines computational approaches in materials with traditional computational techniques in materials science such as electronic structure calculations and/or molecular simulations.
Singular resources relevant to the project:

• Large-scale (10km/day) molecularly controlled CNT fibre synthesis reactor.
• Methods and equipment for growth of nanostructured semiconducting metal oxide nanostructured coatings by hydrothermal, solgel, electrodeposition processes.
• Equipment and expertise in fabrication of organic and inorganic, electronic grade, dry box thin film photoelectrochemical thin film devices.
• Photophysical process laboratory: solar simulator, quantum yield, impedance, lifetime, emission/absorption spectrometers. IMVS, IMPS, EIS.
• High performance computer cluster (consisting of 660 Intel Xeon CPU cores and NVIDIA GPU acceleration with a computing power of more than 90Tflops).
• Electrochemical cell for spectroscopy, on-site Raman for stability and charge transfer studies.
• Electrochemical cell for insitu WAXS/SAXS with synchrotron radiation (NCDSWEET Alba beam time) for structural study of electrodes.