Initially I investigated the properties of 1D & 2D photonic crystals made on porous silicon.
More recently I broadened the use these porous nanosponges (from optical sensing to antimatter; from drug delivery to nanofluidics).
The control over the surface state is fundamental to give to the material the desired functionalities, thus proper functionalization strategies and characterization techniques have been applied/developed.
While I was looking for a transparent substrate to embed fluorescent Si-QD, I learned about nanocellulose (serendipity! :) ).
By investigating its possible use as responsive "smart" material me and my collegues found interesting applications of this material as mechanical actuator and core-shell forming system.
Is a flexible characterization technique that I applied to different type of nanostructured materials: from investigation of growth mechanisms of organic semiconductors, to analysis of exosomes.