Skip to main content

Home

  • Development of an open architecture system to detect radiological and nuclear threats at low cost
  • The IMB-CNM receives the María de Maeztu distinction of excellence
  • Get inside the Clean Room!
  • Join us!

News

Projects |
20 Sep 2024

Development of an open architecture system to detect radiological and nuclear threats at low cost

The European NEST project, with the participation of CSIC, has culminated in the creation of a sensor technology that makes it possible to respond to nuclear, biological and chemical alerts in real time, safely and economically. The open architecture, which allows the modular use of the system with any type of sensor, has been developed taking into account ethical considerations and has been approved by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization.

Agenda

Highlights

Una mano sostiene la batería adhesiva delante de un contenedor azul para reciclar papel y cartón. Crédito: Carles Tortosa y Marina Navarro.
Designed-by-purpose power sources: a cardboard primary battery for smart packaging
Marina Navarro-Segarra, Omar A. Ibrahim, Iñigo Martin-Fernandez, Carles Tortosa, Joseba M. Ormaetxea, Manuel Baumann, Marcel Weil, Juan Pablo Esquivel

Internet-of-Things (IoT) is considered one of the primary enablers of the next digital transformation wave. Generating and exchanging data between the increasing number of delocalized sensors comes with the need for high-performance portable power sources that also meet environmental and social responsibility standards. This article presents a portable power source to meet the energy requirements of IoT devices in the smart packaging sector that has been designed-by-purpose in an ecologically benign way since the early development stage. To minimize the environmental impact throughout its life cycle, the battery follows the value chain of paper and cardboard, from material sourcing to disposability. Naturally abundant materials, such as cellulose derivates and alginate biopolymers, are prioritized to create the separator and contain the redox species. Manufacturing techniques, easily implementable in the packaging industry, are used to fabricate an adhesive label-like battery (based on layered components) and engrave the current collectors, via laser-induced graphene. The prototype's energy adaptation capability is demonstrated by directly powering two applications particularly appealing for smart packaging, i.e., a printed electrochromic display and a wireless tracker device. Once depleted, the battery is compatible with paper and cardboard recycling standardized processes. The reconceptualization of the whole battery life cycle leads to the generation of a disruptive power source concept that aims to be an enabler of a sustainable digitalization of society.

Designed-by-purpose power sources: a cardboard primary battery for smart packaging. Energy and Environmental Science. DOI: 10.1039/D4EE00306C

DLP-Flow Photochemical Printer scheme. Advanced Materials
Multimaterial Digital-Light Processing of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Composites: A Versatile Tool for the Rapid Microfabrication of MOF-Based Devices
Carlos Carbonell, Mercedes Linares-Moreau, Sergey M. Borisov, Paolo Falcaro

Patterning Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) is essential for their use in sensing, electronics, photonics, and encryption technologies. However, current lithography methods are limited in their ability to pattern more than two MOFs, hindering the potential for creating advanced multifunctional surfaces. Additionally, balancing design flexibility, simplicity, and cost often results in compromises. This study addresses these challenges by combining Digital-Light Processing (DLP) with a capillary-assisted stop-flow system to enable multimaterial MOF patterning. It demonstrates the desktop fabrication of multiplexed arbitrary micropatterns across cm-scale areas while preserving the MOF's pore accessibility. The ink, consisting of a MOF crystal suspension in a low volatile solvent, a mixture of high molecular weight oligomers, and a photoinitiator, is confined by capillarity in the DLP projection area and quickly exchanged using syringe pumps. The versatility of this method is demonstrated by the direct printing of a ZIF-8-based luminescent oxygen sensor, a 5-component dynamic information concealment method, and a PCN-224-based colorimetric sensor for amines, covering disparate pore and analyte sizes. The multi-MOF capabilities, simplicity, and accessibility of this strategy pave the way for the facile exploration of MOF materials across a wide range of applications, with the potential to significantly accelerate the design-to-application cycle of MOF-based devices.

 C. Carbonell, M. Linares-Moreau, S. M. Borisov, P. Falcaro, Multimaterial Digital-Light Processing of Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) Composites: A Versatile Tool for the Rapid Microfabrication of MOF-Based Devices. Adv. Mater. 2024, 2408770. DOI: 10.1002/adma.202408770

The IMB-CNM in 2 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiKq0sdXRp4&t=2s