HARNESING THE LIGHT AT THE NANOSCALE
Welcome to the Bio-Engineered Nanophotonics group. We innovate the light conversion field through a synergy between molecular biology and time-resolved spectroscopy.
Our mission is overcoming current challenges in developing efficient photosystems by setting-up new methods to control exciton decay mechanisms based on engineered interactions between proteins and chromophores.
Research approach: we use recombinant proteins designed with pockets to embed the chromophore in an environment that can be tuned at the nanoscale. Our designed protein scaffolds allow us to modify the protein-chromophore interaction's nature and strength in a controlled way and evaluate it as bio-chrome coupling. Using time-resolved spectroscopic methods, we track exciton evolution in real time and address key questions on the role of the amino acids in chromophore light conversion dynamics.
Our final goal is to establish the design rules for amino acid-controlled light conversion and optimize the bio-hybrid light conversion accordingly for applications in photonics, energy storage, and photochemistry.
LAB MOVING! Our group is growing and we are in a bigger lab now! (February 12, 2024)
ONE YEAR ANIVERSARY! Our group is growing and we are in a bigger lab now! (February 1, 2024)
OUTREACH! Woman and girl in science event (February 8 and 9, 2024)
BEST POSTER PRIZE AWARD. Claudia Florez was awarded with the Best Poster Prize award at the Early Stage Researcher workshop at IMDEA Nanoscience WELL DONE CLAUDIA! (December 14, 2023)
WELCOME OUR NEW GROUP MEMBER: Asier García (master student). We are looking forward to working with you! (November 20, 2023)
Our group participate in the science week at IMDEA. We have the opportunity to show our science to high school students from Colegio de estudiantes! (November 8, 2023)
WELCOME OUR NEW GROUP MEMBER: Teresa Espinosa (master student). We are looking forward to working with you! (October 20, 2023)