International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory

Abstract This article explores the legal and institutional complexities faced by international organizations dedicated to research and development, using the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory ( inl ) as a case study. It examines how traditional legal frameworks, particularly those grounded in functionalist assumptions, often fall short in accommodating the hybrid nature of such organizations, which operate at the intersection of public service and market engagement. Drawing on practical scenarios and legal analysis, the paper questions prevailing interpretations of legal personality, official functions, and institutional legitimacy. It argues for a more coherent legal-theoretical approach, one that preserves institutional integrity while recognising the operational realities of research organizations. Through this lens, the paper advocates a recalibration of legal form to reflect evolving institutional purposes without undermining the foundational principles of international public law.

A novel low-temperature sintering strategy combining oxalic acid (OA) treatment and UV-Vis irradiation has been developed for the fabrication of functional conductive coatings based on bimetallic nickel@silver core@shell nanoparticles (Ni@Ag NPs). The synergistic use of OA and UV-Vis irradiation significantly improves the electrical conductivity and microstructural uniformity of the coatings compared to either method used independently. The study further demonstrates that the electrical performance of the coatings can be effectively tuned by adjusting the silver shell thickness, with thicker Ag layers facilitating improved nanoparticle coalescence and interparticle contact. Importantly, the proposed hybrid sintering approach enables the formation of dense, adherent, and highly conductive metallic networks at temperatures compatible with polymeric and other heat-sensitive substrates. These findings advance the field of functional coating technologies by offering an energy-efficient, cost-effective, and substrate-friendly route for producing conductive layers relevant to flexible, printed, and hybrid electronic systems.

Ultrafast thermal transport in low-dimensional materials challenges traditional diffusive models due to reduced scattering, strong electron–phonon coupling, and pronounced non-equilibrium effects. To address these complexities, we extend the macroscopic multi-temperature model by incorporating non-diffusive and non-local phenomena, treating electrons, optical phonons, and acoustic phonons as coupled but thermally distinct subsystems. We benchmark this enhanced framework against the multi-temperature Boltzmann transport equation, enabling detailed resolution of branch-dependent energy relaxation and identifying bottlenecks in thermalization. This approach provides a more accurate and comprehensive description of heat flow in emerging materials, offering novel insights into phonon dynamics and electron–phonon interactions. These theoretical advances pave the way for the improved design and optimization of next-generation nanoelectronic and photothermal devices.

Innovative packaging solutions are strategic in addressing current challenges in the food system, including reducing food waste, preventing foodborne diseases, and food fraud. One key area is the development of innovative intelligent packaging solutions, where the use of carbon dots (CDs) could be of particular interest due to their size, unique fluorescence, and biocompatibility properties. However, their use in packaging has been mostly explored in active packaging solutions. Herein, recent developments regarding the use of CDs for intelligent packaging solutions are explored, focusing on application areas such as the development of sensing and monitoring solutions, as well as anticounterfeiting applications. In sensing and monitoring applications, CDs have been mostly explored as indicators for food freshness, with CD-loaded films produced via solvent casting. In anticounterfeiting efforts, they have been mostly used to develop cloneable tags through the development of invisible inks under visible light, which turn fluorescent under specific excitation (most commonly in the ultraviolet range). Additionally, the literature regarding the migration potential, safety, and the regulatory status of the use of CDs as food contact materials is also discussed. Future efforts should focus on developing cheap, scalable, and sustainable CDs, lighting the path for their increased use and adoption in innovative intelligent packaging solutions. • Innovative packaging solutions are crucial and carbon dots are an area of interest. • Carbon dots use is explored in sensing and monitoring, and anticounterfeiting. • Freshness monitoring and analyte detection applications are key areas. • Lack of complete studies on the migration behavior and the biocompatibility of CDs. • Further efforts in producing cheap, green carbon dots from biomass waste are needed.

Rear interface passivation on submicrometer Cu(In,Ga)Se<sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> (CIGS) solar cells through nanopatterned dielectric layers has enabled performance gains. The combined optimization of the rear contact interface and the absorber properties enables high-efficiency ultrathin CIGS solar cells. However, the absorber quality of a standard thin 2000 nm CIGS has not been suitably maintained in absorbers with thickness values around 500 nm. Establishing an optimized Na doping, absorber crystallinity, and bandgap profile on such submicrometer CIGS solar cells has been challenging. Moreover, the Na doping may also be influenced by the rear contact architectures implemented in passivated solar cells, e.g., affecting the diffusion of Na from the soda-lime glass. Nonetheless, a proper Na supply into CIGS is critical for an optimized absorber quality. Therefore, this study evaluates the impact of the amount of Na supply controlled through a NaF precursor layer on a rear passivated ultrathin CIGS solar cell. The NaF layer thickness leading to the best performance solar cells in this study, attributed to high absorber crystallinity and low ordered vacancy compound content, is lower than that used in standard thin 2000 nm cells. It suggests that the transition to ultrathin solar cells is not straightforward, and the cell architecture influences the conditions to reach the optimum absorber properties.

Structural batteries (SBs) are gaining attention for their potential to improve lightweight, radiation-free designs in defense and transportation. Applications include aircraft, unmanned aerial-vehicles (UAVs), electric-vehicles (EVs), public transit, and vertical-take-off-and-landing (VTOL) platforms, enhancing performance and maximizing spatial efficiency by integrating energy storage into structural components. The current study focuses on the electrochemical properties of commercial carbon-fiber-plate (CFP) candidate electrode-based sodium-ion structural batteries (NISBs), specifically investigating their dual-ion storage mechanism. This research provides an in-depth understanding of the electrochemical behavior of CFP|Na cells across two voltage ranges: 0.01–3.0 V and 3.0–5.0 V, paving the way for the development of CFP|CFP functional devices. Data from CFP|Na cells operating in the 3.0–5.0 V range demonstrated stable cycling performance; however, it also revealed a less-than-optimal Coulombic efficiency (CE) due to the complex dual-ion storage kinetics. CFP|Na cells perform well within the 0.01–3.0 V range, showing favorable kinetics during both sodiation and de-sodiation. It's worth noting that these cells require at least 30 discharge-charge cycles to achieve their peak performance. The CFP|CFP symmetric full devices, fabricated using cycled CFP electrodes, demonstrated promising capabilities with good capacity and discharge potential. However, discrepancies in performance metrics need to be addressed for better NISB development. This research evaluates the practical applications of CFP-based NISB systems in relevant fields.

Improving the interface passivation and charge selectivity of electron transport layers (ETLs) is essential to enhance both performance and operational stability in perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this work, we introduce a sputtered double compact TiO2 ETL incorporating monodisperse Au nanoparticles (NPs) as an electronically active interlayer. The sputtering process ensures conformal encapsulation of the NPs and precise control of TiO2 sublayer thickness, providing a highly controlled platform to disentangle structural, optical, and electronic effects of embedded metal NPs. This architecture enables, for the first time, a systematic investigation of an electron-sink-induced field-effect modulation of the AuNPs@TiO2/perovskite interface. By precisely controlling NP size (15 and 55 nm), loading (0.15-1.20 wt %), and TiO2 encapsulation thickness (5-20 nm), we identified an optimized architecture that delivers a 1.3% absolute gain in light-to-power conversion efficiency, primarily through increased short-circuit current density. Structural and optical analyses confirm that NPs are uniformly embedded without modifying the TiO2 crystallinity and electronic structure. The results indicate that embedded Au NPs may passivate interface traps and enhance ETL selectivity, while their electron-sink behavior transiently captures charge and modulates the interface potential. At high NP concentrations (>0.30 wt %), overlapping depletion regions lead to transport constrictions and increased transport resistance. Furthermore, the Au NPs appear to suppress the UV-driven photocatalytic activity of TiO2, improving device operational stability. These findings reveal a new electron-sink mechanism in metal-oxide/metal-NP systems and establish sputtered AuNPs@TiO2 ETLs as a scalable route toward more selective and stable perovskite photovoltaics.

We present a comprehensive investigation of the low-temperature topochemical modification of the Ruddlesden–Popper-type indium oxyfluoride LaBaInO3F2 using sodium hydride (NaH). By varying NaH equivalents, we monitored phase evolution, anion exchange, and reduction pathways using combined structural, spectroscopic, elemental and the density functional theory (DFT) analysis. LaBaInO3F2 undergoes controlled anion-extraction, with hydride-for-fluoride substitution produces mixed-anion oxy-fluoride-hydride phases, LaBaInO3F2−xHy, and NaF as a stable by-product. At moderate xNaH contents (x≤1), the RP-framework incorporates hydride with minimal decomposition, supported by re-oxidation experiments and DFT-calculated reaction enthalpies that confirm oxidizable hydride and subtle modification of the indium coordination environment. For xNaH&gt;1 result in the formation of secondary phases, indicating progressive lattice degradation. XPS indicates the possibility of subtle reduction of indium, with redox changes secondary to anion exchange. The executed study revealed a pathway how to stabilize hydride ions next to In3+, which is known to be notoriously hard otherwise. Optical spectroscopy reveals bandgap narrowing and enhanced visible-light absorption in hydride-rich samples, however, DFT estimates that idealized hydride substitution widens the bandgap, consistent with the experimentally non-ideal reduction with secondary phases. Overall, these findings establish hydride-based topochemical strategies as a promising route for controlled anion exchange with implications for photocatalytic and energy applications.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectroscopy is an ultrasensitive analytical technique, the efficiency of which can be enhanced by developing plasmonic nanostructured substrates and sieving elements to capture target analytes near the plasmonic surface. This study reports the development of a plasmonic hedgehog-shaped colloidal covalent organic framework (SiO2@Au@ COFHedgehog) composite as an efficient SERS substrate. First, hedgehog-shaped COF particles were synthesized, fully characterized, and their development was studied over time to gain insight into their formation. Then, SiO2@Au@COFHedgehog composite was prepared, retaining the characteristics of the crystalline COF and the hedgehog-type morphology. The composite exhibited significantly enhanced SERS intensity for 4-nitrothiophenol (4-NTP), which has a strong affinity for the Au surface via S-Au bond formation, achieving a limit of detection (LoD) of 10-10 M. This demonstrated that molecules with high affinity for the Au surface and smaller than the COF pore size (<3 nm) can diffuse easily through the pore. Furthermore, an indirect SERS strategy for the detection of the toxic herbicide terbutryn was designed based on the reduction of the nitro group in 4-NTP to form 4,4-dimercaptoazobenzene (DMAB). This process is attributed to the proximity of terbutryn to the 4-NTP-coated AuNPs, facilitated by the high adsorption efficiency of the porous anisotropic COF shell for this herbicide (>50%). A strong correlation was found between the SERS intensity ratios of specific peaks, achieving an impressive LoD of 10-9 M (220 ng L-1). Overall, these findings underscore the potential of plasmonic hedgehog-shaped COF composites as innovative nanomaterials for SERS-based detection, highlighting the exciting possibilities for developing sensitive and selective sensors for various target molecules, with implications in environmental analysis, biomedicine, and fields requiring ultrasensitive analytical techniques.