Nanoscale Horizons blog

Caterina Sbandati completed her BSc and MSc in Electronics Engineering at the University of Florence in 2017 and Politecnico of Milan in 2020 respectively. In 2021, she earned an MSc in Machine Intelligence from the University of Southampton. Caterina is currently in her final year as a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering. She is investigating real-time brain activity processing using memristive devices, under the supervision of Professor Themis Prodromakis, Regius Chair of Engineering and director of Centre for Electronics Frontiers (CEF).

As a member of CEF, she coordinates with partners at Padova and Bar-Ilan Universities, actively participating in joint in-vivo experiments bridging biology and electronics. Additionally, Caterina collaborates with the European Commission Joint Research Centre, actively contributing to the Observatory for Critical Technologies. This collaborative effort is focused on shaping new policies for EU strategic autonomy, particularly in the area of semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Olga Guselnikova (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan)
Poster Title: “Hierarchical macroporous-mesoporous metal foams for the detection of large macromolecules ”

Dr Olga Guselnikova received her PhD degree in chemistry from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague (Czech Republic) and Tomsk Polytechnic University (Russia) in 2019. She is a fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, and a sub-group leader of “functional materials” at Tomsk Polytechnic University. Her research interests are related to surface chemistry for functional materials. This means that she is applying her background in organic chemistry to materials science: plasmonic and polymer surfaces are hybridized with organic molecules to create high-performance elements and devices. In 2024 Dr. Guselnikova will join CEST Center for Electrochemistry and Surface Technology (Austria) to work on plastics waste as a group leader.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Jongbeom Na (Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), South Korea)
Poster Title: “Catalytic performance enhancement of post-modified metal-organic frameworks for CO₂ cycloaddition reaction”

Jongbeom Na received his Ph.D. degree (2017) from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Yonsei University (Republic of Korea). Until 2018, he worked as a Researcher at the Chemical Laboratory of SK Chemicals Co., Ltd. After that, he joined the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at The University of Queensland as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Currently, he is a Senior Research Scientist in the Materials Architecturing Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and an Honorary Research Fellow at AIBN at The University of Queensland. His major research interest is in the design and synthesis of functional nanomaterials, organic–inorganic hybrid nanoarchitecturing, and their energy & environmental applications.

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B & C Poster Prize

Miharu Eguchi (Waseda University, Japan)
Poster Title: “Impact on charge distribution in molecules by nano-glass surfaces”

Miharu Eguchi received her doctoral. degree from Tokyo Metropolitan University under the supervision of Prof. Haruo Inoue in 2006. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow for Prof. Thomas Mallouk at The Pennsylvania State University to form anisotropic arrangement of layered materials by their diamagnetism. She joined University of Tsukuba as an assistant professor for formation and observation of the electronic interaction between metal nanoparticles and dye molecules. The studies there were supported financially by PRESTO/JST. In 2015, she moved to National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) as a senior researcher. She is currently an Associate Professor at Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University. Her major interest is physical chemistry of organic-inorganic hybrid materials.

Materials Advances Poster Prize

Kaito Kono (Nagoya University, Japan(
Poster Title: “Electroless deposition of mesoporous film by displacement plating ”

Kaito Kono is a senior at the Nagoya University School of Engineering. His main research focus is on mesoporous metal films.

RSC Applied Interfaces Poster Prize

Jerzy F. Janik (AGH University, Poland)
Poster Title: “Infrared FT-IR insight into prolonged exposure to ambient air of semiconductor kesterite Cu₂ZnSnS₄ nanopowders prepared via mechanochemical synthesis route”

Jerzy F. Janik graduated in 1987 from the University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, USA (Ph.D. in Chemistry). He spent several years as a post-doc and visiting professor at UNM (1990-1992, 2000-2002) and at Duke University, Durham, USA (1995-1998). Currently, he is full professor at the AGH University of Krakow, Poland. Throughout the years he has been involved in research on materials precursor chemistry and characterization of nanomaterials of a range of ceramic and semiconducting compounds such as silicon carbide SiC, SiC/C nanocomposites, and nitrides GaN, AlN, AlGaN, TiN, including high-pressure and high-temperature sintering of (i) pure GaN and AlN, (ii) the binary and ternary composites of the nitrides, and (iii) magnetically doped GaN/Mn nanopowders. Recently, his research has been focused on mechanochemical synthesis and sintering of the nanopowders of semiconductor kesterite Cu₂ZnsnS₄ for prospective photovoltaic applications.

Polymer Chemistry Poster Prize

Takashi Hamada (Nagoya University, Japan)
Poster Title: “Design and synthesis of sulfur-doped mesoporous carbons”

Takashi Hamada received his PhD from The University of Tokyo in 2010 under the direction of Professor Kazuaki Kudo. He worked at Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Hiroshima University, Waseda University, etc. He joined the group of Professor Yusuke Yamauchi at Nagoya University in 2023, and became a Specially Appointed Associate Professor. His current research focuses on the synthesis of mesoporous carbon material.

Molecular Systems Design & Engineering (MSDE) Poster Prize

Barbara Klimesz (Opole University of Technology, Poland)
Poster Title: “Impact of temperature on optical properties of oxyfluorotellurite glasses doped with praseodymium”

Currently a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Physics at the Opole University of Technology, Opole, Poland. PhD degree in Physics (2009) obtained at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław, Poland. Research topics include solid state physics, materials engineering and physical chemistry in the field of structural, calorimetric and spectroscopic studies. The area of research interests focuses mainly on optically active amorphous materials doped with rare earth elements (Re3+). These types of glassy systems are widely used in photonics, infrared optics, photoelectronics, telecommunications and as potential laser materials (solid-state lasers) or luminescent temperature sensors.

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Martina Martusciello (University of Genoa, Italy)
Poster Title: “Optomechanical characterization of mechanochromic photonic crystals”

Martina Martusciello is a PhD student at the University of Genoa (Italy), currently working in the Rely-Photonics Research Group under the supervision of Professor Davide Comoretto. Martina obtained her MSc cum Laude in Industrial Chemistry in 2022 at the University of Genoa under the joint supervision of Professors Paola Lova and Davide Comoretto, after obtaining a Bachelor’s degree cum Laude in Chemistry in 2019. Before joining the group for her PhD, she spent a period as visiting researcher at the Department of Physics of the University of Pavia, where she worked on the fabrication and study of thin films of PEDOT:PSS. Currently, her work is focused on the study of photonic applications of elastic materials and in particular on the realization of mechanochromic photonic crystals for sensing applications.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Ilaria Venturino (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Italy)
Poster Title: “Light controlled bio hybrid actuators”

Ilaria Venturino is currently pursuing a PhD at Politecnico di Milano and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, under the supervision of Professor Guglielmo Lanzani. She completed both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Physics at the Università degli Studi di Milano, with honors awarded for the master’s degree. Her research focuses on skeletal muscle cells stimulated with light.

Nanoscale Advances Poster Prize

Niklas Herrmann (University of Heidelberg, Germany)
Poster Title: “Polarization-dependent strong-coupling in highly aligned PDIF-CN₂ thin films”

Niklas Herrmann is a PhD student at Heidelberg University, under the supervision of Prof. Jana Zaumseil. He obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry in 2021 from Heidelberg University, Germany. His doctoral research is supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SFB 1249/2 Project C06 and focusses on solution-processing and analysis of electrical and optical properties of crystalline semiconducting N-heteropolycycles.

Chemical Science Poster Prize

Rakesh Arul (University of Cambridge, UK)
Poster Title: “Extreme light confinement for single-molecule mid-IR upconversion and superradiance”

Rakesh Arul recently completed his PhD in the Cavendish Laboratories, University of Cambridge with Prof. Jeremy Baumberg. He is starting as a Research Fellow of St. John’s College Cambridge to continue independent research in the field of nanophotonics and optoelectronics. His PhD research was supported by the Rutherford Foundation of the Royal Society Te Aparangi of New Zealand and the Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability. His research interests include the science of how light can be trapped to the nanoscale to control optoelectronic properties and affect chemical transformations.

Materials Advances Poster Prize

Olga Vodianova (University of Glasgow, UK)
Poster Title: “Exploring exciton-exciton annihilation and exciton motion in F8BT with single molecule spectroscopy”

Olga Vodianova is a PhD student in the Hedley Single Molecule Lab, the University of Glasgow, UK, under the supervision of Dr Gordon Hedley. She obtained her MSc at Ivanovo State University of Chemistry and Technology, where her primary research interests were absorption, fluorescence and time-correlated measurements of organic fluorescent BODIPY dyes in solvents and protein media. Currently, her research is focused on studying photophysics and excited state dynamics of organic semiconductors by the means of ultrafast and single molecule spectroscopy.

Jason Zhang (MIT, USA)
Poster Title: “Vaccines combining slow delivery with follicle targeting of immunogen increase both B cell clonal expansion and diversity”

Y. Jason Zhang is a Biological Engineering PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision of Dr. J. Christopher Love and Dr. Darrell J. Irvine. His research focuses on engineering vaccine delivery approaches to improve antibody-mediated immune response and developing high-throughput single-cell genomic tools and computational pipelines to study the mechanism of action of vaccines.

Patricia Nagai de Lima (Brown University, USA)
Poster Title: “Developing methylene blue-loaded liposomes for photodynamic therapy against Candida auris biofilms”

Patricia is a Ph.D. student and holder of a Master’s degree in Applied Sciences in Oral Health from São Paulo State University (UNESP), specializing in Microbiology and Immunology, has committed her research to exploring antimicrobial agents and infectious disease control. Currently, Patricia is concluding a prestigious scholarship as a Visiting Researcher Fellow at Brown University, School of Engineering, specializing in the development of nanomaterials for treating fungal infections. During her Master’s program, she gained recognition as a CAPES Productivity Scholar for her research into the use of phytotherapy against antibiotic-resistant clinical strains of fungi and bacteria. Patricia’s academic journey also includes endodontics training at the Odonto Sales Institute in 2020. With a Bachelor’s degree in Dentistry from the University of Vale do Paraíba (UNIVAP), she was a CNPq scholarship recipient during her undergraduate studies, conducting essential research in a biomedical engineering lab, focusing on biological assays for tissue engineering biomaterials.

Serena Omo-Lamai (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Poster Title: “Physicochemical targeting of lipid nanoparticles to the lungs induces clotting: mechanisms and solutions”

Serena Omo-Lamai is a PhD Candidate in Bioengineering and an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania under the supervision of Dr. Jacob Brenner. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering from Syracuse University. Her research interests are focused on optimizing lipid nanoparticles for applications in vaccines, therapy, and targeted drug delivery to the brain and lungs.

Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances Presentation Prize

Sara Domenici (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
Presentation Title: “Hybrid piezoresistive 2D MoS₂/PEGDA/PANI covalent hydrogels for wearable strain sensors”

Sara Domenici is a PhD student at Politecnico di Torino (Turin, Italy) under the supervision of Prof. Teresa Gatti. She was born in Verona (Italy) in 1998. In 2020, she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry at the University of Padova (Italy). In 2022, she completed the Double Degree Programme between the University of Padova and the Justus-Liebig University in Giessen (Germany), where she spent 12 months, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Chemistry. Her PhD project is focused on Janus two-dimensional materials for energy conversion, but she also works on hydrogel sensors and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

Journal of Materials Chemistry A, B and C Poster Prize

Masahiko Komatsu (Kochi University of Technology, Japan)
Presentation Title: “Fablication of MoS₂ using mist chemical vapor deposition”

Masahiko Komatsu is a second year graduate student at Kochi University of Technology. His main research is the deposition of MoS₂ using mist CVD.

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Christine Fiedler (Institute of Science and Technology (ISTA), Austria)
Poster Title: “Defects Matter: The role of different processing parameters on solution-processed thermoelectric materials”

Christine Fiedler is a PhD student at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria, under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Maria Ibáñez. She obtained her bachelor’s from the University of the West Indies Cave Hill, Barbados, with First Class Honours in Chemistry with Biochemistry. Her academic journey continued at Johannes Kepler University in Austria, where she earned a master’s degree in Polymer Chemistry, with a focus on synthesis and engineering of Janus micro/nanomotors and nanoparticle synthesis. Currently, Christine’s research concentrates on processing of semiconductors via solution methods for thermoelectric applications.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Oleksandra Yeromina (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), France)
Poster Title: “Synthesis of III-V quantum dots using indium monohalides and aminopnictogen precursors”

Oleksandra Yeromina is a postdoctoral research fellow at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Grenoble, France in the group of Dr Peter Reiss in the field of semiconductor nanocrystals. She obtained her PhD in Organic and Material Chemistry from the University of Namur (Belgium) in collaboration with Cardiff University (Wales, UK) in 2022. Prior to this, she obtained her double MSc in Organic and Green Chemistry from Kharkiv National University (Ukraine) and Nice Sophia Antipolis University (France) in 2017. Currently, her research interests are focused on the development of more sustainable synthetic routes for emissive III-V quantum dots for the optoelectronic application in the near-infrared light region.

Nanoscale Advances Poster Prize

Dietger Van den Eynden (University of Basel, Switzerland)
Poster Title: “Atomically precise group 4 oxo clusters as smallest conceivable nanocrystals”

Dietger Van den Eynden was born in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium) in 1995. In 2019, he graduated with a Master in chemistry from Ghent University. During his master thesis, he studied nanocrystal-vitrimers under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Isabel Van Driessche and Prof. Dr. Filip Du Prez. He is currently pursuing a joint PhD between the University of Basel (CH) and Ghent University (BE) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jonathan De Roo and Prof. Dr. Klaartje De Buysser. The subject of his PhD is atomically precise group 4 metal oxo clusters. He has developed novel zirconium and hafnium clusters as improved catalysts for esterification reactions. Additionally, he is studying the formation mechanism of these clusters and their use as inorganic monomers in recyclable polymers.

ChemComm Poster Prize

Ezat Kheradmand (Ghent University, Belgium)
Poster Title: “Ligand exchange quantification on colloidal InAs quantum dots”

Ezat Kheradmand is a PhD student in the Physics and Chemistry Department at Ghent University. She studied Materials Science during her Bachelor’s and Nanotechnology in the Nanomaterials Department at Tarbiat Modares University (M.Sc). Her current research interests are studying surface chemistry of III-V colloidal quantum dots as well as IR optoelectronic device fabrication, which is pursued under the supervision of Professor Zeger Hens.

Chemical Science Poster Prize

Jack Howley (University of Oxford, UK)
Poster Title: “Bench Stable Phosphorus Precursors to Indium Phosphide Quantum Dots”

Jack Howley is a PhD student at the University of Oxford, UK, under the joint supervision of Prof. Jose Goicoechea and Prof. Jason Davis. Jack obtained his MChem in 2019 from the University of Edinburgh, UK, under the supervision of Dr Michael Cowley. His doctoral research is supported by the Inorganic Chemistry for Future Manufacturing Centre for Doctoral Training (OxICFM CDT) and focusses on the development of novel air-stable phosphorus precursors to indium phosphide quantum dots. Prior to this he worked on earth-abundant catalysts for (de)hydroboration reactions, in addition to spending a year in industry within the mining solutions business unit at Solvay.

Nanoscale Horizons Poster Prize

Xiaofang Kang (Leiden University, Netherlands)
Poster Title: “Selective proton channel in monolayer graphene tuned by sulfophenylation of CVD graphene”

Xiaofang Kang is a Ph.D. student at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry, Leiden University, under the supervision of Assoc. Prof. Grégory Schneider. She obtained her B.S. (2017) in Materials Science and Engineering from Beijing University of Technology, and M.S. (2020) in Nano Science from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her current research focuses on the utilization of graphene as a proton transport membrane to enhance proton conductivity through the surface functionalization of graphene, while also investigating the underlying mechanisms that influence proton transport on the graphene surface.

Nanoscale Poster Prize

Hyeonwoo Cho (Seoul National University, South Korea)
Poster Title: “Incorporating graphene-quantum-dots into lithium-sulfur batteries for enhanced electrochemical performance with optimized sulfur nucleation”

Hyeonwoo Cho is an integrated M.S. and Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University, working under the guidance of Professor Byung Hee Hong. Her research focuses on exploring the potential application of nano materials with a graphene lattice, including graphene and GQDs, in the field of batteries.

Nanoscale Advances Poster Prize

Mohammad Israil Hossain (University of Manchester, UK)
Poster Title: “Synthesis of core-shell nanostructure graphene oxide-vortex rings (GO-VRs) for heavy metal purification”

Md. Israil Hossain (Rafi) is a PhD researcher in nano and functional materials at the University of Manchester, under the supervision of Prof. Aravind Vijayaraghavan. His research is focused on graphene-based composite nanomaterials and water purification. He has been awarded Commonwealth Scholarship-2020 Doc Research, UK. He obtained M.Sc. in Leather Engineering (2018) and B.Sc. in Footwear Engineering (2016) from the Institute of Leather Engineering and Technology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. He was granted the Young Scientist award-2021. He worked as a technical expert at ECOLEBAN Bangladesh joint project (Bangladesh and Spain) funded by SwitchAsia.eu. He has experience working with some other national and international organizations as well. He is an adjunct faculty and former Assistant Professor at the Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.

RSC Applied Interfaces Poster Prize

Andrew Connolly (University of Manchester, UK)
Poster Title: “Graphene reinforcement of CuW composites for high-voltage circuit breaker applications”

Andrew Connolly is a PhD student in at the University of Manchester’s Department of Materials. He is a member of the Advanced Materials research group, under the supervision of Prof. Ian Kinloch and Dr. Mark Bissett. He obtained his BA(Mod) in physics from Trinity College Dublin in 2020. He joined the University of Manchester as an MPhil student in the same year, before transferring to a PhD position in 2021. His work centres around modifying the properties of copper tungsten (CuW) metal matrix composites using graphene fillers, with a particular focus on improving electrical arcing resistance in electrical infrastructure-grade switching gear.

Nanoscale Horizons, Nanoscale and Nanoscale Advances Poster Prize

Mirette Fawzy (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Poster Title: “Ultrasensitive Rapid Cytokine Sensors Based on Asymmetric Geometry MoS₂ Diodes”

Mirette Fawzy is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Physics at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada under the supervision of Professor Karen Kavanagh and Assistant Professor Michael Adachi. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Physics from Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt and the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa respectively. Her research interests include two-dimensional materials (TMDCs), biosensors, and nanoelectronics.

Materials Horizons Poster Prize

Roberta Fabbri (National Research Council, Italy)
Poster Title: “Graphene-Glial interfaces for the selective modulation of brain signaling”

Roberta Fabbri is a PhD student in Bioengineering, at the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering “Guglielmo Marconi”, University of Bologna, Italy. She is carrying out her PhD research activity at the Institute for Organic Synthesis and Photoreactivity (ISOF), National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Bologna, under the supervision of Dr. Valentina Benfenati and Prof. Mauro Ursino, in collaboration with Prof. Vincenzo Palermo. She obtained her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bologna. Her current research focuses on the development and validation of advanced Graphene-based interfaces and devices to study brain glial cells, for future neuroscience and neuroengineering applications targeting the diagnosis and therapy of neurological disorders.

RSC Applied Interfaces Poster Prize

Alberto Brambilla (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Poster Title: “Hybrid spinterfaces for organic antiferromagnetic spintronics”

Alberto Brambilla is currently Associate Professor of Experimental Physics at the Physics Department of Politecnico di Milano. He received his Master degree in Physics at the Università degli Studi of Milano and his PhD in Physics at Politecnico di Milano. His research activity focuses on: growth and characterization of nanostructured surfaces and ultrathin films for magnetic and electronic applications; microscopy and spectroscopy of surfaces and nanostructures; magnetic properties of surfaces, interfaces and nanostructures. He is currently coordinating the European project “Selectively Activated INFOmation technology by hybrid Organic Interfaces (SINFONIA)”, which aims to develop Organic Antiferromagnetic Spintronics.