Since 2016, first as Ramon y Cajal Fellow and now as a Researcher, Dr. José Sanchez Costa established a research group at IMDEA Nanociencia called Switchable NanoMaterials (SNM). In these 9 years, He obtained his own funding sources and engaged in training scientists. At present, the team is composed of: 3 Ph.D students (Mr. J. Sangrador, Ms. P. Jimenez, and Mrs. J. Parnell) and 5 postdocs (Dr. E. Resines, Dr. S. Gullace, Dr. R. Utrera, Dr. B. Szydlowska, and Dr. R. Turo). He published 97 articles in high-quality international journals of high impact factor, i.e. JACS, ACIE, Nat Comm, Adv. Mat., Adv. Science, Chem. Soc. Rev., Coor. Chem. Rev., Chem. Sci, receiving more than 3900 citations and with an h-index of 37 (more than 87% of the publications are in Q1). He attended more than 50 international congresses (30 oral communications), and participated in a total of 24 projects (2 International, 5 European, 11 national and 4 regional projects).

Esther finished her degree in Chemistry at Complutense University of Madrid in 2016. She obtained her Master’s degree in Chemical Science and Technology from the same university in 2017. In 2022, she obtained her PhD in the synthesis and characterization of SCO complexes with Fe(II) as metal and organic ligands based on triazoles. These complexes can be switched between two different electronic states by applying external perturbations, are promising materials thanks to their potential application in various fields, such as magnetism, electrical transport and sensing devices. Currently she is working as a Postdoctoral researcher.

Raquel completed her studies in Chemistry at the University of Granada (2014). She obtained her Master 2 “LUMOMAT (light, molecules and materials)” at the University of Angers (France). Later on, she received her PhD (2020) from the University of Nantes (France). During this period she worked with luminescent multifunctional copper iodide clusters, doing the synthesis of hybrid materials, characterization and computational calculations. After that, she worked in Rennes at the Institute of Chemical Sciences in a postdoc position in computational chemistry where she used DFT for the understanding of luminescent copper compounds with TADF and magnetic properties. Currently, she is working as a Postdoctoral researcher in the developing of new perovskites.

Rubén Turo completed the degree (2017) and master in Chemistry (2018) both at the University of Valencia (UV). He then worked on his PhD thesis (defended in 2023) under the supervision of Dr. Carlos Bartual Murgui and Prof. Dr. José Antonio Real Cabezos, on the research unit of Switchable Molecular Materials at the Instituto de Ciencia Molecular (ICMol-UV) where he specialized in the synthesis and characterization of funtional materials containing the Spin Crossover property. He is currently working as a Postdoctoral Researcher in Dr. José Sánchez Costa’s Switchable Nanomaterials group, working in the development of coordination compounds for thermal control.

Sara Gullace completed the bachelor (2015) and master (2017) degree in Chemistry at the University of Messina (Italy). During her PhD, she worked at the Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici (CNR-IPCF) in Messina and, after spending 11 months as visiting student at the University of Strasbourg, she obtained the PhD in Chemistry with the mention of Doctor Europeaus from the University of Messina (2020). From 2020 to 2023 she worked in the Nanochemistry Lab of prof. Paolo Samorì at the Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg (France) with a MSCA fellowship in the framework of the ULTIMATE project. Her research interests span from sensors to energy conversion and storage using nanomaterials such as metal nanoparticles, transition metal dichalcogenides and covalent organic frameworks. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Switchable Nanomaterials group of prof. José Sánchez Costa at IMDEA Nanociencia (Madrid, Spain), working on the development of sensors based on spin crossover compounds.

Jorge Sangrador finished his Chemistry degree in 2020 and obtained his master in Applied Chemistry in 2021, both from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He made his final grade and master projects in the synthesis of Lanthanide MOFs in the application of selective sensors under the supervision of the Dr. Sánchez Costa. Currently he is making his PhD in the synthesis and characterization of novel inorganic polymers for application as selective gas sensors.

Beata M. Szydłowska was awarded PhD in Physics from Trinity College Dublin in 2018, where she mastered Liquid Phase Exfoliation enabling isolation 2D materials. She also developed size selection method, tailoring the dispersion to application’s needs. In 2017 she received Intel Ireland Award.

After her PhD, she worked as a postdoc at Universität der Bundeswehr Munchen, where she structured LPE derived 2D layers into silicon-based devices. Since 2022, she was a Benjamin Walter Fellow at Northwestern University (USA) where she led (with Prof. M.C. Hersam) research line on printable, 2D materials enabled viral sensors. Additionally, she developed 2D materials enabled functional composite applicable in stenting technology. In 2024, she was awarded MSCA Ideal Fellowship in Spain to explore Spin Crossover MOFs to investigate their intrinsic properties and real life applications.

1. Liquid Phase Exfoliation of 2D materials, including their post processing and Optical as well as microscopic characterization of their fundamental properties.

2. Sensing, especially biosensing of viral targets with platforms based on 2D materials.

3. Printable 2D materials – individualized ink formulation and printing of nano and micro scale devices on rigid and flexible substrates.

Jaclyn Parnell received her Bachelor’s degree from Willamette University (OR, USA) in 2017 with a double major in physics and chemistry with a minor in math. During her undergrad, she did two internships: firstly as a chemical engineer intern at the Hanford Nuclear Site, and secondly as an atmospheric chemist intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Later, she moved to the University of New Mexico (NM, USA) to work in Dr. Rack’s group on correlating the nuclear and electronic structure of Ruthenium Sulfoxide complexes, where she graduated with her Master’s in Chemistry in 2020. Afterwards, she worked as an associate scientist at STA Technolgies. In October 2023, she joined the Switchable Nanomaterials Group at IMDEA Nanociencia as a PhD Student. She is currently investigating Spin Crossover tetrazole-based MOFs for sensing applications.