Group Leader: Pedro Gómez-Romero
ICN2 showcases four of its most promising spin-off companies at the 4YFN (4 Years From Now) event held in Barcelona during MWC23. InBrain Neuroelectronics, Napptilus Battery Labs, Paperdrop Diagnostics, and Cooling Photonics presented their cutting-edge technologies and business models to potential investors and collaborators.
The R+D+I Energy for Society Network (XRE4S) provides consultancy and mentoring in industrial strategy, property protection, and market positioning to researchers who are interested in transferring their technologies to an existing company or founding a new one. Five spin-offs have been recently created with the support of XRE4S and one more (from the ICN2) may be established soon.
In October a delegation from the ICN2 visited the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN), with which last May our institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaborations. A video of the laboratory tour is now available.
Two studies led by members of the ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, recently published in specialised journals, explore two parallel strategies for the development of a hybrid material –based on MXene and polyoxometalates— for the electrodes of supercapacitors, which results in improved energy storage performance.
The popular science blog of CSIC in ‘20minutos’ welcomes a contribution from ICN2 group leader Prof. Gómez-Romero, who talks in simple terms about batteries and supercapacitors for electronics and automotive.
4 Years From Now (4YFN) is the part of the Mobile World Congress focused on pioneers, founders and ground breakers. The ICN2 was present in this startup ecosystem to share in a round table the results and vision of INBRAIN Neurotechnologies, a spin-off company led by CEO Carolina Aguilar, and to present the achievements of Napptilus Battery Labs, an ICN2 spin off from the ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group.
In a review published in “Energy & Environmental Science” the recent advances of research on polyoxometalates (POMs) for energy-related applications are presented, highlighting both the great opportunities and the challenges of using these materials. This work was led by ICN2 Group Leader Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero and by Dr Deepak Dubal, from Queensland University of Technology (Australia).
The ICN2 is involved in a series of initiatives to support this day to raise awareness of the persistent gender gap un the world of research. Some ICN2 women researchers will participate in “100tífiques” to bring science and the role of women in Science closer to young students.
The contest is part of the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Festival, 10alamenos9, which aims to bring this science closer to young audiences. A jury formed by specialists in science and dissemination chose the winners and read their stories in an online ceremony.
ICMAB coordinates CSIC’s DOC-FAM excellence DOCtoral training programme in Functional Advanced Materials, which is providing excellent doctoral students to collaborator institutions such as the ICN2. The predoctoral students hired in the second call of this H2020-MSCA-COFUND action offered a short presentation about their research and personal objectives. Two of them, Alejandro Astúa and Alejandro Astúa work at the ICN2 and were supported by their group leaders, Prof. Laura Lechuga and Prof. Pedro Gómez, respectively.
After a whole week in Japan, the ICN2 mission led by the ICN2 Director Pablo Ordejón and Group Leaders such as ICREA Prof. Stephan Roche, ICREA Prof. Arben Merkoçi and Prof. Pedro Gómez, starts its return with many new scientific and commercial contacts. The agenda was full with the 1&2D Materials Conference, the Albania/Japan/Spain workshop involving CERCA, a visit to RIKEN and the NanoTech2020 International Nanotechnology Exhibition and Conference.
Together with CERCA and CSIC the ICN2 will have a central role at the Spanish Pavilion of the Nanotech 2020 starting tomorrow. With over 350 exhibitors, this event is a huge meeting point for industry and academic institutions. The event is sided by the 1&2D materials congress, starting today, a Japan-Albania-Spain workshop, to be held tomorrow and organized by ICREA Prof. Arben Merkoçi and Phantoms Foundation, and a visit to RIKEN headquarters.
Two former ICN2 PhD students, Dr Bhawna Nagar and Dr Núria Fabri Faja, have been granted the CERCA Pioneer Award 2019 for their doctoral theses. The prize is a recognition for research works that stand out for their industrial- and commercial-oriented perspective.
Earthdas arose from the Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, led by Prof. Pedro Gómez. It develops cheaper and faster-charging graphene batteries for electric vehicles.
The Societat Catalana de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia held its First Annual Congress of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology last Saturday 16 November. It counted with the participation of several ICN2 researchers as organisers and as speakers. Discussing the role of nanotechnology in the ecological challenges was the central axis of the event.
A new project aiming at developing scalable energy batteries based on redox flow will be funded by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) over the next 15 months. The ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials group will contribute to this study.
Sponsored by Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, the programme aims to foster scientific vocations in young students. The students have enjoyed the experience of being a researcher by interacting with the Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group and the Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group. Two students winning the Biology Olympiad also joined us during the summer for an immersive research experience.
The first Severo Ochoa Workshop on Energy Storage and Harvesting organized by the ICN2 took place at the Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona (CCCB) on July 12. Experts on clean energy technologies based on nanomaterials and nanodevices were invited to share the results of their research and to discuss the future of this field.
Prof. Yang Shao-Horn, Professor of Energy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds, according to Thomson Reuters, gave a talk on electrochemical energy storage on June 17 at the ICN2. The event was organized as part of the Manuel Cardona Lecture series.
Starting this morning in Rome, this edition of the Graphene Conference series (June 25-28) will bring together experts on graphene and 2D materials from around Europe, as well as companies interested in exploiting new promising technologies in this field. The ICN2 has a leading role in creating new graphene-based scientific and industrial opportunities. Visit the BIST booth we share with our colleagues from ICFO and IFAE!
Vil·la Urània, a public space with a special flavour for science dissemination at the heart of Sarrià-Sant Gervasi in Barcelona, hosted several events related with the European Week of Sustainable Energy. Prof. Pedro Gómez and Daniel Rueda, from the ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, were among the participants.
At ICN2 today, June 6, we are celebrating the first edition of the International Graphene Day.
The program, meant to introduce nanoscience in the secondary classrooms, holds a yearly contest that awards the best poster and videos on nanoscience made by students. The event included an informal talk between two top-level researchers and a science performance.
The General Directorate for Research (Ministry of Business and Knowledge, Government of Catalonia) has launched a new “Laura and Joan” storybook to bring science closer to young students. The young protagonists of this series visit the ICN2 to learn about graphene, energy and technology transference.
A work published in Advanced Materials describes a new carbon nanomaterial which provides a double profits strategy such as battery‐level energy and capacitor‐level power density. Among the authors are researchers from the ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, led by Prof. Pedro Gomez-Romero.
The event brought together a wide representation of the BIST postdoc community in a lively event at CosmoCaixa.
Disperse graphene in a suitable solvent and the resulting nanofluid will have much better thermal properties than the original liquid. Three ICN2 research groups collaborate to describe and explain this effect from the inside out. The results, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Nanoscale, provide a comprehensive analysis that alternately rules out and lends support to different existing theories as to the mechanisms driving the enhanced thermal conductivity and heat exchange found in nanofluids, bringing considerable insight into the field of thermal transport in dynamic systems.
BIST Director General says modernising research facilities and providing training to boost the social impact of science are the top priorities of the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology. The event, held at CosmoCaixa, offers an overview about several transversal research issues being tackled by the BIST institutions.
Once again the Barcelona Science Fair brought together science lovers and scientists in a wonderful setting for family fun and discussion. The ICN2 joined the celebrations around the 100th anniversary of Richard Feynman’s birth, also presenting some of the highlights of its Severo Ochoa Programme.
The 10alamenos9 Festival of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was held last week, with over 100 activities to choose from across many locations in Spain. Among them, the UAB Campus in Bellaterra, where a lively activity was run for over 200 students, including a visit to the ICN2.
ICN2 researcher and award-winning science communicator Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero appeared today on local radio to talk about the "Welcome to the Nanoscale!" exhibit and reflect on the communication of science.
Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, leader of the ICN2 Novel Energy Oriented Materials Group, has co-edited a volume with the title Metal Oxides in Supercapacitors aimed at researchers, graduate students and practitioners in the fields of materials science and energy storage.
Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, leader of the Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, has been awarded the 2016 CIDETEC award for Scientific Research in Electrochemistry.
ICN2 is a regular participant in the GraphIn events series. On December 13 2016 this workshop was held in Barcelona to offer an update of the technology developments and business opportunities in graphene commercialization. The ICN2 Knowledge and Technology Transfer Department had an active role during the event, together with researchers from different ICN2 Groups.
Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, Group Leader at ICN2, won the 2016 European Prize for Scientific Dissemination, "Estudi General", with “Creadors de futur: Ciència per a millorar el món”. His book talks about some scientific discoveries and its enormous effects on our world. Also, he describes how close the relation between science, technology and society is. In the article from the Catalan newspaper, two more books that talk about similar topics are presented.
The ICN2 delegation included the Director and a nourished representation of Group leaders involved in different approaches to graphene research and applications. After a series of contacts with Chinese representations, GrapChina becomes a strategic event to develop new contacts with key players such as the China Innovation Alliance of the Graphene Industry (CGIA).
The purpose of the alliance’s visit was to learn about graphene-related research at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) and explore possibilities of collaboration among ICN2 and the CGIA Chinese Alliance.
The prize, worth 12,000 euros, recognizes the dissemination skills of the CSIC researcher and Group Leader at ICN2 Prof Pedro Gómez-Romero. "Creators of the future", the awarded work, will be published in the collection of science dissemination books Sense Fronteres, co-published by the University of Valencia and Edicions Bromera. The award was presented at the gala of the XXVII Premis Literaris Ciutat d'Alzira held Friday night November 13, 2015.
During the first day of the forum plenty of panel discussions, outreach seminars and talks by first level representatives of the different centers took place. CSIC Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, Group Leader at ICN2 and science disseminator, underlined that for an effective dissemination of science it is important that we all enjoy during the process.
ICN2 researchers have developed a new type of fluids with graphene and other carbon nanoparticles for energy storage in flow-cells. The nanofluids can be used in applications that require high power and medium energy densities.
Eight students have developed their 2015 Joves i Ciencia Program projects at the ICN2 with the collaboration of eight of our researchers. In a two-week program, funded by the Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera, the pre-university students got in touch with real nanoscience and nanotechnology research.
ICN2 wants to congratulate CSIC Prof Pedro Gómez for his newest recognition as Fellow of The Royal Society.
Among the dissemination activities to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of CSIC, Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, Group Leader at ICN2, offered a talk entitled “From nanometers to terawatts. Nanoscience role in the energetic switch”. The sustainable future of the planet and our energy consumption relies on a scientific disruption that has already started.
The ICN2 Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group has developed a new model of hybrid energy storage device using a sponge based structure coated with Graphene and hybrid Graphene composite electrodes. The research has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The first Workshop CSIC-CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) was chaired by Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero (ICN2, CSIC) and Prof. Luigi Ambrosio (CNR).
The Session gathered experts from around Europe in the areas of Biosensors, Theory, ICT and Energy. It was an opportunity to celebrate the Severo Ochoa accreditation in the context of a first-line international event.
Four ICN2 Group Leaders will introduce the main research areas of the Severo Ochoa Program related with ICT, Energy, Biosensors and Theory. Four Keynote speakers will give their point of view on each research area.
The International Graphene Innovation Conference (GrapChina, 2014) is a major event about Graphene, celebrated in Ningbo (China) from 1st to 3rd September. ICN2 will be there with three top Invited Speakers and institutional presence in the Spanish stand.
Dr. Pedro Gómez-Romero talks about concepts related with his research, such as nanocondensers and the future electric "smart grid".
Prof. Pedro Gómez Romero, Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group Leader at ICN2, was interviewed on graphene by Tomas Molina in TV3’s (public Catalan TV station) program Espai Terra.
Carbon and inorganic nanoclusters add up to durable supercapacitor electrodes with increased energy an power densities
