Tomás R. Calmeiro

Universidade NOVA de Lisboa | NOVA · Centre of Materials Research (CENIMAT)

Highly luminescent CsPbBr3 perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have gained huge attention in research due to their various applications in optoelectronics, including as a light absorber in photovoltaic solar cells. To improve the performances of such devices, it requires a deeper knowledge on the charge transport dynamics inside the solar cell, which are...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by chronic joint inflammation and one of the main causes of chronic disability worldwide with high prevalence in the ageing population. RA is characterized by autoantibody production, synovial inflammation and bone destruction, whose most accepted biomarker is rheumatoid facto...

The combination of cardiomyocytes (CM) and non-myocyte cardiac populations, such as endothelial cells (EC), and mesenchymal cells (MC), has been shown to be critical for recapitulation of the human heart tissue for in vitro cell-based modeling. However, most of the current engineered cardiac microtissues still rely on either (i) murine/human limite...

The charge transfer dynamics at interfaces are fundamental to know the mechanism of photovoltaic processes. The internal potential in solar cell devices depends on the basic processes of photovoltaic effect, such as charge carrier generation, separation, transport, recombination etc. Here we report the direct observation of the surface potential de...

Early and accurate detection of infection by pathogenic microorganisms, such as Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, is critical for clinical diagnosis and ultimately determines the patient's outcome. We have combined a polystyrene-based microfluidic device with an immunoassay which utilises Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to dete...

Flexible and transparent microelectrodes can provide large-scale neural recordings with temporal and spatial resolution when used alongside functional calcium imaging. Patterned metal grids defined by direct laser writing (DWL) are a promising approach for these electrodes, as they resort to standard microfabrication processes and materials, allowi...

The preparation of visible-light-driven photocatalysts has become highly appealing for environmental remediation through simple, fast and green chemical methods. The current study reports the synthesis and characterization of graphitic carbon nitride/titanium dioxide (g-C3N4/TiO2) heterostructures through a fast (1 h) and simple microwave-assisted...

Encapsulins are protein nanocages capable of harboring smaller proteins (cargo proteins) within their cavity. The function of the encapsulin systems is related to the encapsulated cargo proteins. The Myxococcus xanthus encapsulin (EncA) naturally encapsulates ferritin-like proteins EncB and EncC as cargo, resulting in a large iron storage nanocompa...

A new concept of oxide-metal-oxide structures that combine photothermoelectric effect with high reflectance (~ 80%) at wavelengths in the infrared (> 1100 nm) and high transmittance in the visible range is reported here. This was observed in optimized ITO/Ag/ITO structure, 20 nm of Silver (Ag) and 40 nm of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), deposited on Alumi...

The extracellular matrix (ECM) of engineered human cardiac tissues corresponds to simplistic biomaterials that allow tissue assembly, or animal derived off-the-shelf non-cardiac specific matrices. Decellularized ECM from human cardiac tissue could provide a means to improve the mimicry of engineered human cardiac tissues. Decellularization of cardi...

Microstructured transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) have shown great potential as photonic electrodes in photovoltaic (PV) applications, providing both optical and electrical improvements in the solar cells’ performance due to: (1) strong light trapping effects that enhance broadband light absorption in PV material and (2) the reduced sheet resist...

A new method for depositing PDMS directly onto conductive carbon yarns is proposed to produce Triboelectric Nanogenerator Yarns (TENG yarns) that can serve as the basic building blocks for energy scavenging wearables. The in-situ PDMS curing method described in this study allows the fast formation of a uniform thick coating over conductive surfaces...

The development of robust and sensitive point-of-care testing platforms is necessary to improve patient care and outcomes. Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS)-based immunosensors are especially suited for this purpose. Here, we...

Lead-halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are currently the most promising emergent thin-film photovoltaic technology, having already reached power conversion efficiency (PCE) levels of state-of-the-art wafer-based silicon cells. The class of wide bandgap PSCs has also demonstrated high PCE values, thus becoming highly attractive for top sub-cells...

A new concept of oxide-metal-oxide structures that combine photothermoelectric effect with high reflectance (~80%) at wavelengths in the infrared (> 1100 nm) and high transmittance in the visible range is reported here. This was observed in optimized ITO/Ag/ITO structure, 20 nm of Siver (Ag) and 40 nm of Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), deposited on Aluminu...

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) possess significant therapeutic potential due to their high self-renewal capability and potential to differentiate into specialized cells such as cardiomyocytes. However, generated hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CM) are still immature, with phenotypic and functional features resembling the fetal rat...

A missense mutant of a Dps protein (DNA-binding protein from starved cells) from Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus was used as a building block to develop a new supramolecular assembly complex which enhances the iron uptake, a physiological function of this mini-ferritin. The missense mutation was conducted in an exposed and flexible region of the...

Cuprous oxide (Cu2O) is known to show significant variation in its electrical properties. This article presents a correlation between local conductivity and preferential orientation of grains in polycrystalline Cu2O thin films. Out-of-plane current in the grain region and in-plane macroscopic conductivity are analysed and both show the same orienta...

Over the last decades, zinc oxide nanostructures (NSs) have been studied due to outstanding chemical and physical properties, able to serve a plethora of applications. The growth of NSs on different substrates coated with ITO film allow their direct implementation in various micro-/nano-devices. The microwave-assisted hydrothermal method is a new h...

Energy conversion by surface plasmonic effect is considered a promising alternative to an effective transformation of solar energy in photovoltaic devices through the generation of hot electrons in plasmonic nanostructures. Here, we report the direct visualization of the space charge potential profile across the cross-section of the perovskite sola...

Combining well known oxide materials with biocompatible polymers such as chitosan (Cs) and antimicrobial agents such as Ag can bring new functionalities to materials for electronics and lead to new border applications in the field of stretchable wearable bioelectronics and drug delivery systems. The paper reports on new hybrid thin films based on z...

In this study, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanostructured films were synthesized under microwave irradiation through low temperature synthesis (80 °C) and integrated in ultraviolet (UV) photodetectors and as photocatalysts. Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC), tracing paper, and polyester film were tested as substrates, since they are inexpensive, flexible,...

Direct evidence for the presence of a CuO structure in the grain boundaries of Cu2O thin films by chemical vapor deposition is provided by high resolution automated phase and orientation mapping (ASTAR), which was not detectable by classical transmission electron microscopy techniques. Conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) revealed that the CuO...

Transport properties of photo-induced charge carriers through different grains in the polycrystalline photovoltaic devices strongly depend on the microstructural pattern of the active layers. Therefore, photocurrent mapping with nanoscale resolution is important to know about the electrical responses of the different grains in the polycrystalline p...

ZnO/Cu2O based combinatorial hetero-junction device library was successfully fabricated by a simple spray pyrolysis technique using ITO coated glass as substrate. The combinatorial approach has been introduced for analyzing the impact of the ZnO and Cu2O layer thicknesses on the performances of the cells. The thickness of the ZnO layer varied from...

Metal nanoparticles are of great interest for light trapping in photovoltaics. They are usually incorporated in the rear electrode of solar cells, providing strong light scattering at their surface plasmon resonances. In most cases, the nanoparticles are self-assembled by solid-state dewetting over a transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layer incorpo...

High conductivity in the off-state and low field-effect mobility compared to bulk properties is widely observed in the p-type thin-film transistors of Cu 2O, especially when processed at moderate temperature. This work presents results from in situ conductance measurements at thicknesses from sub-nm to around 250 nm with parallel X-ray photoelectr...

The present work reports the influence of zinc oxide (ZnO) seed layer annealing temperature on structural, optical and electrical properties of ZnO nanorod arrays, synthesized by hydrothermal method assisted by microwave radiation, to be used as UV sensors. The ZnO seed layer was produced using the spin-coating method and several annealing temperat...

Mechano-electrical writing and reading in polyaniline (PANI) thin film are demonstrated via metal-polymer contact electrification mechanism (CEM). An innovative conception for a non-destructive self-powered writable-readable data sheet is presented which can pave the way towards new type of stress induced current harvesting devices. A localized for...

Transparent metal oxides thin films are a class of inorganic conductors and semiconductors with significant importance for use in portable electronics, displays, flexible electronics, multi-functional windows and solar cells. Due to the recent development of transparent and flexible electronics, there is a growing interest in depositing metal-oxide...

Solution-processed field-effect transistors are strategic building blocks when considering low-cost sustainable flexible electronics. Nevertheless, some challenges (e.g., processing temperature, reliability, reproducibility in large areas and cost effectiveness) are requirements that must be surpassed in order to achieve high-performance transistor...

The main requirements for transparent conducting oxide (TCO) films acting as electrodes are a high transmission rate in the visible spectral region and low resistivity. However, in many cases, tolerance to temperature and humidity exposure is also an important requirement to be fulfilled by the TCOs to assure proper operation and durability. Beside...