MARTA MAS TORRENT
MARTA MAS TORRENT
Bio
Marta Mas Torrent was born in Barcelona in 1975. She studied at the IPSI school. She always knew that she liked sciences most, although she was also partial to a few Latin phrases. Right up until the last minute, she agonised over studying physics or chemistry and ending up picking the latter, although her subsequent scientific career has often led her to work in both disciplines. So, she graduated in chemistry from the University of Barcelona in 1998. She immediately began her PhD in the interdisciplinary field of materials science at the Barcelona Institute of Materials Science (ICMAB) particularly working on preparing organic materials with electrical properties.
During her doctoral dissertation, she had the chance to work in London for a year, at The Royal Institution. That was when she was thankful for her parents’ insistence that she studied English because in London, in addition to learning about electrical and magnetic properties, she also met her current partner.
After finishing her PhD in May 2002, she took a post-doc position in a physics group in Delft (Holland). There, she began to work on applying organic materials to electronic devices. Despite the bad weather, her experience in Delft was enriching, both professionally and personally, as she formed strong friendships with many people from all over the world.
At the end of 2004, she came back to ICMAB, firstly on a Ramón y Cajal grant and then as a Tenured Scientist for the CSIC. In 2012, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant project to be able to develop her lines of research. She is co-author of over 130 scientific articles and co-inventor of several patents, but her best production has doubtlessly been her three wonderful children. Júlia, Pau and Laia.
ERC project “e-GAMES: Surface Self-Assembled Molecular Electronic Devices: Logic Gates, Memories and Sensors”
Electronic devices based on organic molecules are arousing great interest due to their potential in low-cost applications and for manufacturing flexible and moldable devices. The molecules can be synthesized on a large scale, their properties can be modulated by means of chemical synthesis and they can also be integrated in low-temperature devices, which makes them compatible with flexible polymeric substrates. The e-GAMES project aims to develop smart organic electronic devices, in other words, devices that respond to different external stimuli. Two different platforms are used to meet this aim:
- The functionalization of surfaces as a single monolayer of electro-active molecules. These hybrid surfaces make it possible to modulate their chemical, electrical, magnetic and optical properties when an electrical stimulus is applied; or vice versa, their electrical properties are modified when they undergo chemical or physical changes in their environment. In this way, it has been possible to prepare memory devices, surfaces that act as toxic carbon nanoparticle sensors or surfaces on which you can control the movement of water and where you might be able to control the transport of biomolecules in a chip.
- Organic field-effect transistors. These electronic devices work as electrical transducers in sensors. In this way, work has been done on manufacturing and optimising devices using printing methods, that are low cost processes, compatible with flexible substrates and what’s more, they can be easily scaled. The optimised devices have been applied as light or radiation sensors, pressure sensors and chemical sensors, such as detecting the mercury ion in water, which is highly contaminating.
More about Marta mas Torrent
https://resources.icmab.es/annualreport2016/scientific-highlights/research-projects
Bio
Marta Mas Torrent was born in Barcelona in 1975. She studied at the IPSI school. She always knew that she liked sciences most, although she was also partial to a few Latin phrases. Right up until the last minute, she agonised over studying physics or chemistry and ending up picking the latter, although her subsequent scientific career has often led her to work in both disciplines. So, she graduated in chemistry from the University of Barcelona in 1998. She immediately began her PhD in the interdisciplinary field of materials science at the Barcelona Institute of Materials Science (ICMAB) particularly working on preparing organic materials with electrical properties.
During her doctoral dissertation, she had the chance to work in London for a year, at The Royal Institution. That was when she was thankful for her parents’ insistence that she studied English because in London, in addition to learning about electrical and magnetic properties, she also met her current partner.
After finishing her PhD in May 2002, she took a post-doc position in a physics group in Delft (Holland). There, she began to work on applying organic materials to electronic devices. Despite the bad weather, her experience in Delft was enriching, both professionally and personally, as she formed strong friendships with many people from all over the world.
At the end of 2004, she came back to ICMAB, firstly on a Ramón y Cajal grant and then as a Tenured Scientist for the CSIC. In 2012, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant project to be able to develop her lines of research. She is co-author of over 130 scientific articles and co-inventor of several patents, but her best production has doubtlessly been her three wonderful children. Júlia, Pau and Laia.
ERC project “e-GAMES: Surface Self-Assembled Molecular Electronic Devices: Logic Gates, Memories and Sensors”
Electronic devices based on organic molecules are arousing great interest due to their potential in low-cost applications and for manufacturing flexible and moldable devices. The molecules can be synthesized on a large scale, their properties can be modulated by means of chemical synthesis and they can also be integrated in low-temperature devices, which makes them compatible with flexible polymeric substrates. The e-GAMES project aims to develop smart organic electronic devices, in other words, devices that respond to different external stimuli. Two different platforms are used to meet this aim:
- The functionalization of surfaces as a single monolayer of electro-active molecules. These hybrid surfaces make it possible to modulate their chemical, electrical, magnetic and optical properties when an electrical stimulus is applied; or vice versa, their electrical properties are modified when they undergo chemical or physical changes in their environment. In this way, it has been possible to prepare memory devices, surfaces that act as toxic carbon nanoparticle sensors or surfaces on which you can control the movement of water and where you might be able to control the transport of biomolecules in a chip.
- Organic field-effect transistors. These electronic devices work as electrical transducers in sensors. In this way, work has been done on manufacturing and optimising devices using printing methods, that are low cost processes, compatible with flexible substrates and what’s more, they can be easily scaled. The optimised devices have been applied as light or radiation sensors, pressure sensors and chemical sensors, such as detecting the mercury ion in water, which is highly contaminating.
More about Marta mas Torrent
https://resources.icmab.es/annualreport2016/scientific-highlights/research-projects
