Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Nanohelicoid metamaterials templated by cellulose nanocrystals with end-tethered polymers

Project description

Advanced metamaterials

Metamaterials are composite materials that are designed and manufactured artificially from units with specific properties and functions. These internal microstructures and their arrangement into specific geometries endow metamaterials with capabilities that are not possible with natural materials. Funded by the European Research Council, the CELICOIDS project aims to develop chiral metamaterials that lack mirror symmetry but can rotate electromagnetic waves. Such self-assembled metamaterials are of great interest in analytical chemistry and biology. Researchers will employ cellulose nanocrystals as a platform to generate them and functionalise them for additional applications.

Objective

Chirality plays a fundamental role in natural sciences and pharmacology. The ability to detect chiral molecules relies heavily on inherently weak circularly polarized light-matter interactions. Such interactions are enhanced in the presence of chiral metamaterials, which exhibit extraordinary electromagnetic properties not observed in nature. To date, large and broadband circular dichroism in the UV-visible spectrum requires arrays of metallic nanohelices in order to combine internal and Bragg resonances. However, their fabrication relies on costly electron/ion beam lithography or physical vapor deposition, in which it is difficult and time-consuming to control nanoscale morphology over large areas. New types of helix metamaterials and engineering processes based on self-assembly concepts are absolutely necessary in order to be viable for future technologies. Nevertheless, self-assembled metamaterials with large, broadband and tunable chiroptical responses in the UV-visible region is a great challenge due to the required subwavelength feature sizes. To this end, the helicoidal morphologies of chiral liquid crystals provide the ideal platform for maximizing chiral light-matter interactions. The objective of CELICOIDS is to investigate the use of the chiral liquid crystal phases of cellulose nanocrystals with end-tethered polyoxyethylene analogues as templates for the fabrication of a new class of metamaterial, solid metallic nanohelicoids. A recent breakthrough that now makes this project possible is the discovery that such cellulose nanocrystal hybrids form chiral liquid crystal phases. As one of the very few researchers in the world with the combined expertise in cellulose chemistry, polymer grafting and colloidal assembly, I am the ideal candidate to achieve success. New functionalities are envisioned thereafter, applicable to future devices for invisibility cloaking, super-resolution imaging and chiral sensing, prompting a change in paradigm in metamaterials.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2022-COG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 998 313,00
Address
CALLE JORDI GIRONA 31
08034 Barcelona
Spain

See on map

Region
Este Cataluña Barcelona
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 998 313,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0