Neus Sabaté

Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona - Centre Nacional de Microelectrònica (CSIC - IMB-CNM)

Engineering Sciences

I obtained my Degree in Physics in 1998 at the University of Barcelona (UB). After that, I joined UB Electronics Dep. to develop ionizing radiation detectors. After that I joined for several months the LAAS-CNRS in Toulouse, where I discovered my passion for silicon-based microsystems (MEMS) technologies. Back to Barcelona in 1999, I started my PhD at the Microelectronics Institute of Barcelona (CSIC) where I developed silicon-based flow and gas sensors for industrial applications. After the obtaining of my PhD in 2003, I joined again the Electronics Dep. of UB to work on sensor reliability issues. This research moved me to join  in 2004 the IZM Fraunhofer in Berlin where I played a key role in the development of a new technique for stress measurements in thin films for the microelectronics industry. In 2006 I started a research line in silicon microfabricated fuel cells at IMB-CSIC that has evolved until the biodegradable electrochemical power sources I develop today.


Research interests

Since 2006, I have focused on the development of microfuel cells, with the final goal of integrating them within microdevices requiring power autonomy. After many years of development using silicon-related technologies I decided to approach printed electronics technology that allows to build devices entirely made of polymer-based and paper materials at a very competitive cost. The main goal of my research line is to obtain single-use electrochemical power sources that can provide with power autonomy the new generation of paper-based lab-on-a-chip devices while being environmentally friendly.

Selected publications

– Jose Gonzalez-Guerrero M, Javier del Campo F, Pablo Esquivel J, Giroud F, Minteer SD & Sabate N 2016, ‘Paper-based enzymatic microfluidic fuel cell: From a two-stream flow device to a single-stream lateral flow strip’, Journal Of Power Sources, 326, 410 – 416.


Selected research activities

Invited Talks

Powerpad: Non-Toxic Capillary-Based Flow Battery for Single Use Applications – Science for Solving Society’s Problems Challenge: Grant Winners Session at the 229th ECS Meeting, May 2016, San Diego, USA.

Single Use Paper Fuel Cells – Smart and Multifunctional Materials, Structures and Systems Session at the CIMTEC 5th International Conference, June 2016, Perugia, Italy.

Paper-Based Fuel Cells and Batteries as Sustainable Power Sources for a New Generation of Disposable Analytical Devices, 67th Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, August 2016, The Hague, Netherlands.

Technology Transfer Activities

In July 2016, my spin-off FUELIUM – that develops paper batteries for in-vitro diagnostic devices – was awarded in the category of Enterpreneurial Projects with a grant of 144.000 Euros (expandable to 288.000 Euros) by the REPSOL Enterpreneurship Fund.