FINE-UCM

The FINE Group has its origin in the group founded by Javier Piqueras (Professor Emeritus) in 1986. Since then, the group has been growing with the incorporation of some of the doctors trained in the group.

In its beginnings, the group was called Micro- and characterization of electronic materials and its research work has been directed to the study of various families of semiconductors by techniques associated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In the group, cathodoluminescence (CL) techniques, electron beam induced current (EBIC) and electroacoustic scanning microscopy have been developed. Subsequently, near field microscopy techniques (scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM)) and confocal optical microscopy were incorporated. The equipment has been acquired through competitive projects during the last 25 years. Currently, the group consists of 11 researchers and 8 doctoral students, as can be seen in the Personnel section, grouped into two main lines of research, as described in the Research section.

The two main research lines are focused on the study of the physical properties of single and complex nanostructures based on semiconductor oxides (SMO).

Within this field, the supervisor for this proposal is more focused on the study of these materials for applications in photocatalysis, gas sensing, energy applicaions, etc. We are developing a research line to study the materials recovered from different recycling proccesses with the aim to reintroduce them in the value chain as materials with a high technological value. Our main expertise is the characterization of optical and electronic properties as well as structural a morphological study of micro- and nanostructures.
Our main goals as reflected in the most recent publications (http://piloto.fis.ucm.es/fine2/) could be divided in three main lines
* Growth and characterization of micro and nanostructures of SMO for applications in environmental applications: sensing and photocatalysis. The systems studied for this purpose are mainly ZnO doped with different elements, CuO and NiO
* Growth and characterization of micro- and nanostructures for the production of light guides and resonant cavities, Zno doped with Rare Earth elements is the main system used for this application
* Characterization of materials recovered from different sources of residues to be reintroduced in the technological lifecycle. Different oxides as those from niobium and tantalum obtained from mine tailings,zeolite from fly ashes and red muds and ZnO from the recovery of alkaline batteries are being studied as high capacitance materials, photocatalyzers and sensing materials.

Curriculum Vitae
Summary of expertise
Letter of motivation