Kasper Moth-Poulsen (KMP) studied Chemistry and obtained his PhD from University of Copenhagen (Denmark) in 2007. He worked as a postdoc in denmark for 2 years before moving to UC Berkeley as a post doctoral Scholar. In 2011 KMP joined Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg (Sweden) as an assistant professor and later associate and full professor (2019). Since October 2021 KMP is awarded a professor position at the Catalan Institute of Advanced Studies (ICREA) and joins the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC) as a professor.

Research interests

My research in nanomaterials chemistry has focused on 3 research topics, the most prominent is the development of solar energy storage in molecular photoswitches, so-called MOST systems. This class of materials offers an emission free way to capture and store solar energy, the work has been featured internationally by BBC, CNN, Thompson reuters and more. In a second research area, I have been developing nanomaterials for molecular electronics, catalysis and sensing. Notable achievements are the development of the plastic plasmonics concept where we combine nanoparticle based sensors with functional polymers.  Another outcome is the use of flow chemistry to produce large amounts of nanoparticles with specific surface facets. The flow chemistry allows for a high degree of automation, reaction optimization and quality monitoring using artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts. This research has lead to the formation of the startup Nano Scientifica Scandinavica AB. This research line has been financed by (among others), and ERC Starting Grant. Additionally, research in my group has been focusing on materials for photon upconversion, new battery materials, accelerated discovery through lab automation and gender equality.