Tuesday, Mar 19th

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Research topics

Liquid Crystals Dendrimers Polyfluorinated Compounds
Liquid crystals are materials which exhibit liquid crystalline behaviour. This behaviour appears under given conditions, when phases occur in which the molecular order is intermediate between that of an ordered solid crystal and a disordered liquid or solution; these intermediate phases are called mesophases. These materials combine properties of the solid state (optical and electrical anisotropy) and of the liquid state (mobility and fluidity).
In our group we prepare molecules derived from arylsulfonamides containing long alkyl chains that are able to show mesogenic behaviour. This work is performed in collaboration with Dr. J.L. Serrano and Dr. T. Sierra.
Dendrimers are highly hyperbranched molecules containing a large number of functions on the surface. These functions can be easily modified giving interesting applications to the resulting macromolecules. We have prepared dendrimers containing a large number of 15-membered macrocycles in their structures. These compounds were able to stabilised Pd(0) and Pt(0) nanoparticles; materials used in catalysis. We are also interested in other applications in the field of liquid crystals and nanostructured materials. This work is developed in collaboration with Dr. Anne Marie Caminade. Polyfluorinated compounds are interesting in industrial applications due to their high thermal and chemical stability and also by their high hydrophobicity. The use of classical chemical reactions has allowed us to obtain interesting results in the field of: dyes, gelators, biphasic catalysts, etc. This work has been performed in collaboration with Dr. A. Vallribera.
CO2 Activation Metal Nanoparticles Polymer Chemistry
The use of CO2 as reactant in chemical reactions is one of the goals of several scientists nowadays. At this moment we are starting a new research line in this field. This work is developed in collaboration with Dr. J. Marquet. Nowadays the use of metal nanoparticles as catalyst for organic reactions is an important  research topic. In our group we have mainly prepared Pd(0) nanoparticles stabilized by polifluorinated compounds and dendrimers. Their use as catalyst in coupling reactions has been probed and is currently in process. Polymers are one of the most useful materials used nowadays. The improvement of the polymerization process is one of the aims of several companies. Their applications as adhesives and coatings are already under study. We are developing some of these topics in collaboration with Henkel KGaA & Co.