Our research areas

Porous materials such as zeolites, porous carbon, metal-organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks are highly functional materials that are suitable for a number of applications, including gas separation, catalysis, water treatment, drug delivery, and energy harvesting and storage. Our research include synthesis optimization, characterization, functionalization and nanoengineering of new and existing porous materials for applications related to the energy and environment.

Responsible researchers:  Ocean Cheung and Chao Xu

Read more about the research area "Functional Porous Materials for Energy and Environmental Applications"

The purpose of this project is to bring forward rapid, low-cost and easy-to-use molecular diagnostic methods based on magnetic nanoparticles for detection of pathogenic viruses and bacteria. The methods are based on magnetic detection of changes in the motion (Brownian relaxation) of suspended functionalized magnetic nanoparticles when they interact with DNA molecules from pathogens. The method also involves different DNA amplification techniques of the probe-target DNA complex. These diagnostic tools can serve as efficient analytical platforms for use at local health centers or at home, allowing for simple individual healthcare solutions as well as more advanced clinical analysis.

Responsible researchers: 
Teresa Zardán Gómez de la Torre and Darío Sánchez Martín

Read more about the project "Magnetic nanoparticles for diagnostic applications"

We study nanomaterials for biomedical applications with special focus on investigating the interactions between nanomaterials and biological systems. Our research activities aim to understand how the materials’ properties affect the response of biological systems. This approach allows us to elucidate what type of design or material modification could contribute to the success or failure of a material towards a specific biomedical application. Another research focus is the safety aspects of nanomaterials, where we foresee nanosafety as a fundamental part of the developing process of nanomaterials by the industry and the academia.

Responsible researcher: Natalia Ferraz 

Read more about the research area "NanoBiomaterials"

With the transition to a sustainable, carbon neutral society comes an enormous need for new ways to convert and store energy and our aim is to contribute to resolving that challenge. Electrical energy is clean, but transient and needs to be produced on demand which can be accomplished by the conversion between chemical and electrical energy in a battery or a fuel cell. Our research focus on developing sustainable, organic and metal-organic materials for use as active materials in organic batteries as well as for catalysis to enable conversion of clean energy to electricity via fuels derived from water.

Responsible researcher: Martin Sjödin

Read more about the research area "Sustainable Energy Storage and Conversion"

Additive Manufacturing (AM), or 3D-printing, is becoming ubiquitous in nearly all fields of research, and pharmaceutical materials development is no exception. The overall aim of the project is to create the scientific and technological basis for a personalized medication platform for applications where traditional dosage forms are not optimal or do not meet the requirements of the individual patients. Different AM techniques such as fused deposition modeling (FDM) and selective laser sintering (SLS) are used to produce novel tailor-made dosage forms.

Responsible researchers: Jonas Lindh and Ken Welch

Read more about one of the research projects within this area: 
“Additive Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms Containing Mesoporous Materials”

This research area involves the development of microsensors for in vivo clinical use, specifically for the localization of anomalous tissues associated with chronic pain. At present, there is only one research project in the area and that is “In vivo Microsensor for the Localization of Pain Sources”. The overall aim of this research is to develop an in vivo microsensor that will aid the clinician in localizing and identifying muscular tissues associated with chronic neuromuscular or myofascial pain.

Responsible researcher: Ken Welch

Read more about the research project “In vivo Microsensor for the Localization of Pain Sources”.