Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) – porous materials with almost unlimited chemical and structural diversity - have incited an interesting alternative to the drawbacks that nanotechnology is currently facing. The defect engineering of MOFs has been used as a tool to modify their porosity, chemical reactivity and electronic conductivity among other properties, but research is still limited in the vast majority towards Zr-MOFs. Notably, defect chemistry of Ti-MOFs remains unexplored despite that the pristine materials photoactivity, chemical and structural stability and Titanium being an abundant biocompatible metal. This project, entitled `Defective Titanium Metal-Organic-Frameworks(DefTiMOFs)’ aims to develop novel high-throughput (HT)synthetic methodologies for the control of not only defect chemistry of Ti-MOFs,but also of their particle size and inner surface (porefunctionalisation) towards the controllable modification of their properties. HT synthesis will be convened with a set of novel characterisation techniques (mainly synchrotron-based) for atomic and molecular level of characterisation of defects, aiming to correlate synthetic conditions with defect formation (defect type, densityand spatial distribution within the framework)in order to provide thebase of knowledge to anticipate their properties based on the synthetic conditions. This will then allow for defect engineering of MOFs using a wide range of materials. In view of the above and inspired by the high demand for clean and renewable energy sources including efficient and affordablewater delivery systems in places with limited access to drinkablewater, the DefTiMOFs project aims to correlate defect chemistry of Ti-MOFs with their performance towards environmentally friendly applications. This will lead to the ultimate design of materials with outstanding performance in heterogeneous catalysis, photocatalysis (hydrogen production) and water harvesting from air.

The purpose of Hy-MAC is to assess both technical and economic viability of using magnetic nanocomposites based on the combination of carbon nanoforms (graphene) with magnetic nanoparticle as hybrid supercapacitors. These hybrid magnetic materials have shown to exhibit unique supercapacitive properties, which can be significantly enhanced by application of an external magnetic field. Thus, the specific capacitance increases up to a 500% by applying an external magnetic field. Taking advantage of these results, in this proposal we plan to fabricate and test prototype supercapacitive devices exhibiting better performances than those reported for commercial supercapacitors.

Future smart multi-functional logic devices might combine switchable molecules and two-dimensional layered materials (2D-LMs). Spin crossover (SCO) compounds are a paradigmatic example of molecular switches including cooperative spin-transitions. One of their hallmarks is the huge concomitant strain arising upon SCO up to 13 % responding to numerous external stimuli even above room temperature. Besides, hundreds of 2D-LMs were discovered after the isolation of thin graphene layer(s) from graphite. Such a plethora of diverse atomic layers with distinct properties opened the door to design novel van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) with artificially engineered functionalities. Introducing external interactions or strain can give the ability to tune optical band gaps and electrical properties of 2DLMs-vdWHs. Still in its infancy, this strategy promises new properties and exciting physics seeking thereafter unprecedented device performance and applications. This interdisciplinary project intends at pioneering design, preparation and investigations of the electrical transport and magnetotransport properties of SCO/2D-LMs-vdWHs. Signs of the coexistence, or even synergy, of several physical properties of interest will be painstakingly researched. This quest encompasses manifestations of magnetism, conductivity, and superconductivity influenced by thermal- and light-induced SCO cooperative spin-transitions, pursuing innovative 2D nanoelectronics, energy applications and flexible sensors.

We propose to create heterostructures based on functional molecules and 2D materials. As molecular systems we focus on bistable magnetic molecules able to switch between two spin states upon the application of an external stimulus (temperature, light, pressure, electric field etc.). As 2D materials we concentrate on those exhibiting in particular superconductivity or magnetism. The driving idea is to tune/improve the properties of the “all surface” 2D material via an active control of the hybrid interface. This concept, which goes much beyond the conventional chemical functionalization of a 2D material, will provide an entire new class of smart molecular/2D heterostructures, which may be at the origin of a novel generation of hybrid materials and devices of direct application in highly topical fields like electronics, spintronics, molecular sensing and energy storage. Through this molecular approach, we will address major challenges in different areas of the 2D research: i) in 2D physics, we investigate the new properties that should appear in heterostructures involving 2D superconductors and 2D magnets or magnetic molecules; ii) in 2D electronics, we explore the possibility of tuning the superconducting/magnetic properties of a 2D material by applying an external stimulus (light for example), or to design smart electronic/spintronic devices able to respond to physical (light, magnetic field, etc.) or chemical stimuli (trapping of molecules); iii) in 2D composite materials, a general goal is to design hybrid molecular/2D materials with improved properties with respect to the pure 2D material to be used in the fabrication of energy storage devices. To reach these challenging goals an integrative and multidisciplinary approach is proposed in which various facets of chemistry – coordination, solid-state and supramolecular chemistry – are coupled with physics, materials science and nanotechnology.