Projects
Electrochemical synthesis of metal nanostructures Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Synthesis of nanostructured oxides and their application as catalysts for partial oxidations of natural products, biodiesel and derivates with hydrogen peroxide. KU Leuven
Lattice vibrations of metallic nanostructures and surfaces: application in superconductivity and heat transfer. KU Leuven
Nanostructured and nonhomogeneous quantum wires. University of Antwerp
3D strain fields for functional 4D material design: A unifying computational protocol to tune the phase stability of strain-engineered nanostructured materials Ghent University
Tuneable nanostructured materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are highly promising contenders for various pressing technological challenges, from efficient photovoltaic devices to high-performant shock absorbers. Their highly modifiable atomic structure and polymorphism, which can lead to large-amplitude phase transitions in response to small changes in structural composition or external ...
Combining material science and chemical engineering design for novel and fast optical nanostructured sensors. Ghent University
Due to their high relative surface area, nanofibrous materials obtained via electrospinning have shown to be ideal candidates for high-quality sensors in many sectors, including environmental monitoring, food inspection and biomedicine. The key challenges remain (i) the controlled incorporation of analyte-sensitive dye molecules in the nanofibers via chemical linkage without leaching upon application and (ii) the identification of ...
The Pizza proteins as computationally designed building blocks for biochemical nanostructures. KU Leuven
Recently we have computationally designed self-assembling symmetrical protein building blocks named Pizza. Biophysical characterization has shown that the proteins are very tolerant to truncation, permutation and introduction of multiple mutations. In this project we will combine computational protein design with experimental biochemistry to further develop the Pizza proteins as building blocks for bionanotechnology. Recent preliminary ...
Fabrication and characterization of two-dimensional materials and nanostructured surfaces KU Leuven
In 2004 graphene, i.e. one single atomic layer of carbon atoms arranged according to a honeycomb structure, was successfully isolated. The perfectly two-dimensional (2D) graphene has unique electronic properties, including surprisingly high charge carrier mobility. Graphene also has excellent mechanical properties: it is a very strong material and at the same time extremely flexible. More recently, other 2D materials with similar honeycomb ...