I completed my doctorate in 2003 at the University of Indiana (USA). Afterward, I carried out two post-doctorates: at the Max Planck Institut für Bioanorganische Chemie (MPI, Germany, 2003-2005) and at the Leiden University (The Netherlands, 2005-2007). In 2007 I started as ICREA Researcher in the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Barcelona (UB) and in September 2012 became ICREA Researcher Professor and moved to the Institut de Ciències dels Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB) where I am the group leader of "Functional Nanomaterials & Surfaces" since 2014 (FunNanoSurf, http://departments.icmab.es/funnanosurf/). My research focuses on multifunctional molecules and polymers, their nanostructuration and application of their magnetic, electronic and/or fluorescent properties in the bulk, on surfaces and as a components in nanodevices.

Research interests

My work focuses on the relevance and necessity of molecular design in Nanoscience, where functional molecules play a key role since they provide homogeneous tunable nanometer-size units and properties ready to be exploited (as reliable sensors, switches, quantum computing materials or molecular electronics). Our key factors are the design of specific molecules and their control and organization on surfaces/nanodevices where their properties can be tuned. In my group, we synthesize different molecular systems (of porphyrinic, curcuminoid or polymeric natures with or without coordination to metal ions), characterize and study them on surfaces (eg.: graphene, gold, SWCNTs) and together with collaborators on nanodevices (transistors) we analyze their electronic behavior. So far, our work in progress has shown the advantages of our systems as (i) biomarkers (luminescent properties), (ii) transistors (gateable molecular junctions) and (iii) as Single-Molecule Magnets (SMMs).