UAM

Adhesives constitute a potent and very broad technology, offering innovative solutions to a wide range of industries and providing craftsmen and private consumers with easy-to-use technically-advanced products. For every application in which two elements need to be fastened together, a specific adhesive can in principle be formulated. We aim at developing a novel adhesive technology, CompAd, that ultimately targets the commercialization of adhesive formulations for coating different surfaces, producing materials where bonding: 1) occurs under a pressure-sensitive contact mechanism; 2) can be classified as weak; 3) is reversible; and 4) takes place between two complementary surfaces. CompAd technology is based in chemically mimicking the operation of materials like Velcro® by using, in a bioinspired approach, complementary noncovalent interactions between molecules. This PoC Project therefore endeavours to bond the scientific bases, technical know-how and expertise acquired during the last years in the ERC Starting Grant PROGRAM-NANO project, with a novel potential applied technology that aspires to provide industry and society with an unconventional chemical adhesive product. The range of potential applications of the CompAd technology is broad, so we will focus in this project on identifying the most lucrative and feasible market niches as a function of the technical adhesion parameters measured in standard prototypes. This requires the assembly of a team comprising experienced researchers on one hand, to validate CompAd performance through well-established standard tests, and management, market and IPR experts on the other, to develop the most convenient business strategy for the exploitation of our technology. Due to its innovative nature and versatility, CompAd has a great potential to open up important technological and commercial opportunities in the design and applications of future smart adhesives.

Optical theranostic (diagnostic + therapy) techniques are low-cost, safe, and constitute a next big leap in the betterment of human healthcare. In that regard, luminescent nanoparticles (NPs) are poised to become the multifunctional instruments of personalized medicine. However, present-day theranostic NPs provide no control over their arsenal of capabilities – their competences are often entangled so that diagnostics cannot be done without therapy. In the same way that surgeons do not cut before ascertaining what and where to cut, so do light-responsive nanoparticles must have the flexibility to switch between their imaging/sensing and therapeutic modalities at-will. Rare-earth NPs (RENPs) are endowed with downshifting (Stokes) and upconversion (anti-Stokes) luminescence stimulated by near-infrared light; thus, RENPs are designed for non-invasive deep-tissue optical imaging (to diagnose) and in-situ mediation of photochemical processes (to treat). As such, RENPs are just the right candidates to decouple therapy from diagnostics, while preserving both in a single theranostic NP. With MONOCLE, I propose a tangible and timely development of RENPs with built-in control over their different emission modes. Capitalizing on the modular design of RENPs in unison with temporally modulated laser excitation, I intend to separate downshifting and upconversion processes creating truly-multifunctional theranostic RENPs (TMTs). In essence, TMTs are destined to apply “measure twice and cut once” philosophy – which constitutes benign examination and diagnosis of the target, with in-situ treatment available on-demand. Successful development of TMTs is projected to have far-reaching implications in safe and selective use of light-controlled nanomedicines. Furthermore, the multidisciplinary nature of this project is anticipated to foster new RENP architectures and alternative excitation pathways, decisively advancing not only biomedical but also luminescent materials science research.