The discovery of graphene paved the way for the isolation of novel 2D and other low dimensional systems. The number of these systems is increasing exponentially, introducing unique properties and contributing to the miniaturization of electronic and optoelectronic devices. Several approaches have been explored to obtain single-layered inorganic materials, such as nanosheets, nanotubes, and quantum dots. While CVD and micromechanical exfoliation are frequently employed, they are limited by scalability and the quality of the layers produced. The availability of naturally occurring van der Waals (vdW) crystals in bulk form is restricted, and there remains significant potential for advancement in the large-scale production technology of layered systems, which ultimately constrains the full exploitation of their properties. Consequently, there is an urgent need to enhance the current state-of-the-art synthetic approaches by developing new methodologies to produce nanostructures, with particular emphasis on the formation of heterostructures that integrate the properties of the original materials, thereby enabling the controlled nanoengineering of the system.

In this presentation, I will outline different synthetic approaches that allow both the synthesis and chemical modification of low-dimensional carbon and inorganic layered materials. These strategies enable the formation of unprecedented nanostructures with enhanced properties, which hold potential applications in biomedicine and energy.

Stefania Sandoval is a researcher (personal investigador doctor) at ICMAB. After finishing her BSc degree in Chemistry (UdeA, Colombia, 2009), she was awarded with a Fundación Carolina fellowship to carry out a Master in inorganic/molecular chemistry (UAH/UAM), where she developed Si-supported Ziegler-Natta catalysts for ring-opening polymerization.

She carried out her PhD in the doping and functionalization of carbon-based nanomaterials with N, halides and oxides (ICMAB-UAB, 2016, Cum Laude) supervised by Dr. G. Tobias and Prof. A. Fuertes (Nanoengineering of Carbon and inorganic materials and Nitride-based materials groups). She has carried out secondments in renowned institutions: Prof. CNR Rao (JNCASR-India), 1.5 months; Prof. F. Stellacci, (EPFL, Switzerland), 2.58 months.

She was a postdoc at ICMAB (2016-2020, ERC CoG NEST). Then, she moved to Chequia to work with Dr. M. Kalbac (JHIPC, 25.5 months) and developed low D heterostructures based on 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene derivatives. She studied their interaction with magnetic NPs, nanodiamons and hBN and the surface enhanced Raman scattering of monolayers and 2D heterostructures, to improve their photoresponse. Afterwards, she returned to ICMAB to develop nanocapsules for NCT of cancer (ERC PoC Tarlit).

Recently, Dr. Sandoval was awarded with an “ayuda para la contratación e incorporación de personal investigador doctor (BP2022). Her research interests focus on developing carbon/inorganic based functional nanomaterials. Special emphasis is paid to exploit their synergies by tailored obtaining of systems with novel or enhanced properties. Her main research line is the synthesis and modification of carbon nanomaterials, using synthetic strategies that involve surface functionalization, decoration and doping and the encapsulation (filling) of materials into carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and carbon nanohorns (CNHs), which allow the template assisted growth of a large variety of inorganic materials with potential in energy, electronics and biomedicine. She is also developing nanostructured inorganic functional materials based on graphene, TMDs and CNTs leading to materials with tuneable properties. In the nanooncology field, she currently works on the synthesis and advanced characterization of inorganic NPs and CNHs as nanocarriers of anticancer agents for diagnosis and therapy.

Dr. Sandoval has been involved in several research projects at national/international level with research centres and industry. She was an active member of the intersectorial ITN project RADDEL (2012-16), formed by 11 partners from 7 different countries that developed innovative products (based on CNTs filled with radioisotopes) to fight cancer. She has also gained important experience in industrial research by participating in a techtransfer project involving a private entity (ASCAMM) developing polymer-RGO composites.