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Daniel Maspoch

Daniel Maspoch

Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia

Engineering Sciences

Born in L'Escala (Girona) in 1976. He graduated in chemistry at the Universitat de Girona and obtained his PhD in materials science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona. He then moved to Northwestern University, where he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the group of professor Chad A. Mirkin. He moved back to the Institut Català de Nanotecnologia (ICN) thanks to a Ramón y Cajal contract, where he founded the Supramolecular NanoChemistry & Materials Group. Since September 2011 he is ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader at the Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia (ICN2). He is a recipient of European Research Council (ERC) Advanced, Consolidator and PoC Grants.


Research interests

My research interests are focused on controlling the assembly -Supramolecular Chemistry- of molecules, metal ions and nanoparticles for the creation of functional nanostructured materials -Nanotechnology- with empty spaces; and use them to encapsulate, store, separate, react and deliver molecules of interest. My main contributions are in the fields of nanoporous Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), Covalent-Organic Frameworks (COFs), Metal-Organic Polyhedra (MOPs) and Delivery Systems for applications in myriad areas, including Energy (e.g. gas storage), Catalysis, the Environment (e.g. pollutant removal, CO2 storage), Encapsulation (e.g. long-lasting fragrances), and Life Science –Medicine and animals health– (e.g. drug-delivery systems and contrast agents).

Selected publications

– Grancha T, Carné-Sánchez A, Zarekarizi F, Hernández-López L, Albalad J, Khobotov A, Guillerm V, Morsali A, Juanhuix J, Gándara F, Imaz I, Maspoch D 2021, ‘Synthesis of polycarboxylate rhodium(II) metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) and their use as building blocks for highly connected metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)’, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, vol. 60, pp. 5729 – 5733.

– Hernández-López L, Martínez-Esaín J, Carné-Sánchez A, Grancha T, Faraudo J, Maspoch D 2021, ‘Steric hindrance in metal coordination drives the separation of pyridine regioisomers using rhodium(II)-based metal-organic polyhedra’, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, vol. 60, pp. 11406– 11413.

– Martín-Illán J. Á., Rodríguez-San-Miguel D, Castillo O, Beobide G, Pérez-Carvajal J, Imaz I, Maspoch D, Zamora F 2021, ‘Macroscopic ultralight aerogel monoliths of imine-based covalent organic frameworks’, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, vol. 60, pp. 13969– 13977.

– Ubasart E, Borodin O, Fuertes-Espinosa C, Xu Y, García-Simón C, Gómez L, Juanhuix J, Gándara F, Imaz I, Maspoch D, von Delius M, Ribas X, 2021 ‘A three-shell supramolecular complex enables the symmetry-mismatched chemo- and regioselective bis-functionalization of C-60‘, Nature Chemistry, vol. 13, pp 420-427.

– Boix G, Han X, Imaz I, Maspoch D 2021, ‘Millimeter-shaped metal-organic framework/inorganic nanoparticle composite as a new adsorbent for home water-purification filters‘, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, vol. 13, 15, pp 17835 – 17843.

– Liu Y, Wang J, Imaz I, Maspoch D 2021, ‘Assembly of colloidal clusters driven by the polyhedral shape of metal–organic framework particles’Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 143, 33, pp. 12943–12947.


Selected research activities

ERC Advanced Grant

ICREA Memoir 2021