New projects & Milestones

In 2021 five projects carried out by the group came to an end, specifically: MOP3, supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities – AEI; SGR 2017 (AGAUR), supported by the Catalan Government; SensMOF, supported by the BIST under its Ignite Seeding Phase programme; ESENS-MOP, funded through the ICN2-SO Seed Funding Programme; and Water Purification Method, funded by ICN2-SO under the Technology Valorisation Programme. In the framework of these projects, novel materials (e.g., adsorbents for water purification) and devices (e.g., sensors) made of porous reticular materials were developed. The group has also continued working on the European Genesis project, which is focused on the development of MOF-based membranes for CO2 capture, as well as on the POSE project, devoted at the detection of pollutants by integrating MOPs in optical sensors. In addition, progress in the Meta2nol project, supported by the Ramon Areces Foundation, has led to the synthesis of efficient MOF-based catalysts for CO2 conversion.

On the other hand, during 2021 the group has started two new projects. The first, CLIPOFF-CHEM –which is supported by ERC under its Advanced Grant—, aims to develop a highly innovative top-down synthetic method, based on controlling bond breaking in reticular materials to synthesize new molecules and materials. The second project, HybMOFs, funded by MCIN/AEI under the Acciones de dinamización “Europa Excelencia” call, aims at using DNA nanotechnology and reticular chemistry to design hierarchical, multi-component, porous materials based on DNA-guided assembly of pre-synthesized nanoscale molecular cages.

The group has also continued to collaborate with companies to bring customised micro- and nano-encapsulation technologies to the market, working in parallel with different entities. It has also been involved in the spin-off Ahead Therapeutics S.L., devoted to the validation of a liposome-based platform for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.