Inorganic Nanoparticles

Group leader: Víctor F. Puntes

Overview

Main research lines

Design and development of synthetic strategies for the production of complex nanoparticles
Surface functionalisation of nanoparticles with specific relevant (bio)molecules
Study of their physicochemical and fundamental properties and reactivity
Applicability of inorganic nanoparticles in biomedicine, energy harvesting and catalysis

Group leader

Víctor F. Puntes

ICREA Research Professor and Group Leader

ICREA Research Prof. Víctor F. Puntes’ work spans the full breadth of research on nanoparticles: synthesis, conjugation and characterisation of inorganic nanoparticles; study of their physicochemical properties; nanotoxicology and nanosafety; and a wide range of applications in different fields, including energy harvesting, catalysis, medicine and environment.

Prof. Puntes completed his undergraduate studies in chemical engineering and materials science at the Université Louis Pasteur Strasbourg (France) and the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB). In 1998, he earned his PhD in physics from the Universitat de Barcelona (UB), working with Prof. Xavier Batlle and Prof. Amilcar Labarta on giant magnetoresistance in granular alloys. He then spent over three years at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, USA) in the groups led by Prof. Paul Alivisatos and Prof. Kannan Krishnan, working on the synthesis and control of nanostructures. In 2003 he returned to Catalonia with a Ramon y Cajal research grant at the UB. In 2005 he obtained an ICREA professorship at the then ICN (now ICN2) to create the Inorganic Nanoparticles Group, which he currently leads.

By the end of 2020, Víctor Puntes had 260 peer-reviewed publications and over 20,000 citations.

He is also well-known for his work in science communication to the general public, his industrial and commercial efforts, and his endeavours linking science and art.