Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina

Inst. de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas, La Plata

CONICET (www.conicet.gov.ar) is the major national organisation to promote science and technological development in Argentina. In a joint venture with the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) in Argentina, CONICET runs the Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas (INIFTA, see www.inifta.unlp.edu.ar). CONICET contributes to FLYHY through INIFTA, therefore CONICET is named as the legal entity for INIFTA throughout this document.  INIFTA is a theoretical and applied physical chemistry research institute. It has a total staff of 200 employees approximately including more than 100 scientists, professionals and technicians. It conducts scientific research in the field of Physical Chemistry and related sciences, namely electrochemistry (i. a. energy storage by hydrogen and electrocatalysis), kinetics and photochemistry, surfaces, theoretical chemistry, computational physical chemistry, macromolecules, biocorrosion and organic physical chemistry.

The CONICET group has been using synchrotron radiation related techniques (XPS, EXAFS, XANES) to characterise nanostructured materials for more than 10 years and has more than 60 publications in high impact international journals (Science, JACS, Nano Letters). Its main fields of research so far are the study of nanoclusters and metallic and oxide nanoparticles with respect to their size, morphology and electronics and their relationship with novel properties (thermodynamics, magnetism, etc), highly dispersed and diluted systems with catalytic properties, catalysts and occluded molecular systems in micro and highly ordered mesoporous silicates.

In FLYHY CONICET will bring in its expertise in XPS, EXAFS and XANES characterisation of nanoscaled materials for investigating the local structure and environment of the hydrogen containing and other functional groups and elements in the materials to be investigated. CONICET is in the process of acquisition of an in-house X-ray spectrometer from Rigaku Co. from Japan which will let perform most common X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments at the laboratory without the necessity to travel to a synchrotron.

Scientists involved in FLYHY:

Prof. Dr. Félix G. Requejo: international recognised expertise in the use of synchrotron radiation techniques. As a post-doc at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory he set up the first beamline in the world for high pressure XPS studies. He has more than 65 scientific publications.

Dr. José M. Ramallo-López: has specialised in the used of X-ray absorption spectroscopies techniques for the structural and electronic characterisation of nanostructured materials, ranging from catalyst to magnetic materials. He has worked in 5 different synchrotrons around the world.

Dr. Pablo M. Arnal: has large experience in the synthesis and characterisation of nano and microstructured porous and composite materials. He owns an Assistant Researcher position from CONICET with working place CONICET, and has worked in Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung (PhD and Postdoc) and at Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (Postdoc).

Selected publications:

• Arnal, P.M., F. Schüth, and F. Kleitz, A versatile method for the production of monodisperse spherical particles and hollow particles: Templating from binary core-shell structures. Chemical Communications, (2006), 11, 1203-1205.
• Ghosal, S., Hemminger, J.C., Bluhm, H., Mun, B.S., Hebenstreit, E.L.D., Ketteler, G., Ogletree, D.F., Requejo, F.G., Salmeron, M., “Electron spectroscopy of aqueous solution interfaces reveals surface enhancement of halides, Science, 307, (2005) pp. 563-566
• Ramallo-López, J.M., Requejo, F.G., Craievich, A.F., Wei, J., Avalos-Borja, M., Iglesia, E., “Complementary methods for cluster size distribution measurements: Supported platinum nanoclusters in methane reforming catalysts, Journal of Molecular Catalysis A: Chemical, 228, (2005) pp. 299-307

Presentations

• José M. Ramallo-López, Félix G. Requejo, Karina Suárez Alcántara, Ivan Saldan, José M. Bellosta von Colbe, Martin Dornheim, Torben R. Jensen, Bo Richter, Line H. Rude, José Avila, María Carmen Asensio, “Boron K-edge NEXAFS Study Of Novel Hydrogen Storage Materials”, 4th SOLEIL Users' Meeting, January 21st & 22nd, 2010, École Polytechnique – Palaiseau, Paris, France

Contact:

Dr. José M. Ramallo-López

Phone +54 (221) 425 74 30 - 144

Dr. Pablo Arnal

Phone +54 (221) 425 74 30 - 157

Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas INIFTA
Sucursal 4 - Casilla de Correo 16
1900 La Plata
Argentina

Fax +54 (221) 425-4642
http://nano.fisica.unlp.edu.ar