Research
Our research effort is focused on the generation and manipulation of light by using oxides, fluorides, semiconductors, metallic and others nanomaterials and nanostructures for applications in solid-state lighting, solar cells, food safety, biosensors and biomedical applications including detection, imaging, diagnostics and therapy.
We are interested in the fabrication of nanomaterials and devices with high impact both from a fundamental and technological point of view taking advantage of the photonics properties.
One of our major goals is the training of future Ph.D. research scientists with expanded skills and expertise who can develop new solutions to fundamental research and engineering problems.
We have projects on the following topics
Biosensors
In our lab, we develop biosensing technologies for point of care devices, environmental monitoring and food safety taking advantage of photonics properties of nanomaterials. Including wearable devices.
We are interested in the selective detection of over expressed proteins associated to health problems, personal drug monitoring (PDM), glucose, tuberculosis and breast and cervix cancer.
We use different techniques such as, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), luminescence (FRET/turn on/off), localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and colorimetry.
We synthesize gold and other metallic NPs controlling size and shape to tune the LSPR and the dominance of absorption or scattering coefficient, especially SERS for ultrasensitive detection.
We synthesize quantum dots (QDs) and lanthanide doped ceramic and fluoride nanoparticles to produce fluorescence after UV and near infrared excitation.
Biomedical applications
Engineered nanoparticles are leading many and highly valuable applications in different domains of biomedical sciences. Thanks to their unique properties, nanoparticles are revolutionizing and pushing up varied research areas including detection and diagnosis, imaging, drug delivery, tissues engineering and targeted therapies.
In our lab, different nanoparticles (metallic NPs, QDs and lanthanide-doped NPs) are synthesized and studied the photoluminescence for detection, imaging, drug deliver (DD), photodynamic (PDT) and photothermal (PTT) therapy for breast and cervix cancer.
We design targeted theranostic nanocomplex, which include detection, diagnostic, imaging and therapy (PDT, PTT, DD) in the same nanostructure, making possible to evaluate the effect of therapy.
Solid-State Lighting
Solid-state lighting is a technology in which light-emitting diode (LED) replace conventional incandescent or fluorescent lamps for illumination purposes.
The high photoluminescence quantum yields, wide wavelength tunability and ultra-narrow band emissions of nanomaterials make them be suitable candidates for display and lighting technology.
In our lab, we synthesize core/shell QDs and lanthanide doped nanomaterials to design LEDs and to study the laser emission on different nanostructures.
We are also interested to design smart light sources that include tunability, communication, sensing and surveillance.
Solar cells
Solar energy is the most abundant energy sources on the earth´s surface and has motivated the development of new materials to design the new generation of solar cells.
In our group, we study the charge transport phenomena of perovskite solar cells both mesoporous and inverted configuration. The highest conversion efficiency we have obtained is 19.7%.
We also use binary, ternary and quaternary QDs to design solar cells on inverted configuration and as a sensitizer on mesoporous configuration. The combination of QDs and perovskite is explored to improve both efficiency and stability.
