An ICMAB project explores a new type of time-temperature indicators based on organic semiconductors to provide visual signals of unwanted exposure to elevated temperatures and verify the cold chain. They are especially thought for pharmaceutical, medical and food industry products.

Scientists at ICMAB-CSIC will upscale a method for synthesizing multifunctional colloidal inks for the manufacture of superconducting tapes. The project is a further step towards the generalization of superconductors.

ICMAB researchers have discovered that, through the application of pulsed light, photoresponsive ferroelectric materials can switch from a low-resistance to a high-resistance state. These materials have made possible the design of memories that are able to store information permanently in different resistance states.

Scientists have developed extremely stable molecular switches of high luminosity that self-assemble into 1D nanostructures and form gel-like materials. These molecular switches can be used in biomedicine as fluorescent probes for imaging or sensing, in fluorescent displays, or in memories and information processing devices.

CSIC scientists at the ICMAB and the IMB-CNM are working to achieve an efficient zinc-air battery recharging. These batteries have more capacity than the lithium-ion ones, and are made of cheap materials, which are widely available in nature as well as safe.

A collaboration project between researchers at the IMB-CNM-CSIC, the ICMAB-CSIC and the UAB was chosen as the most innovative in the “Generating Ideas” Program focused on Smart Food, organised by the UAB Research Park (PRUAB). The initiative Cellupack aims to develop a cellulose-based material to substitute the single-use plastics in food.

Researchers from the ICN2 and the ICMM-CSIC have developed a new material able to cool another one by emitting infrared radiation. The results are published in Small and are expected to be used in devices where an increase in temperature has drastic effects on performance, like solar panels and computer systems, among other applications.

Scientists at the Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB) of the CSIC have participated in a research that compares perovskite solar cells containing different materials, in order to understand the differences in their performance.