Collaborations and team

Research group at the University of Almería

The development of DiffAtOnce has been carried out within the Advanced NMR Methods and Metal-based Catalysts (NMRMBC) group at the University of Almería. The group is specialized in the design and implementation of advanced NMR methods, in particular diffusion NMR applied to macromolecules and biopolymers in solution, as well as metal-based catalytic systems.

The group combines expertise in NMR, numerical analysis, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing, and acts as the core for developing the algorithms, workflows and integration with universal calibration and molecular weight models that underpin DiffAtOnce.

More information about the NMRMBC group: https://www.nmrmbc.com/

Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)

A close collaboration has been established with the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, specifically with the “Nuclear Hyperpolarization of Molecular Systems and Nanomaterials” group, led by Dr. Tomasz Ratajczyk, with Dr. Mateusz Urbańczyk as the main contact.

Group webpage: Nuclear Hyperpolarization of Molecular Systems and Nanomaterials – IchF PAN

Within the framework of this collaboration, researcher mgr Marek Czarnota carried out a five-month stay in our research group at the University of Almería. During this period, work focused on the implementation and testing of diffusion NMR algorithms, including the implementation of Time-Resolved Diffusion NMR and Ultra Fast Diffusion NMR, as well as on the study of molecular systems and nanomaterials of mutual interest.

This collaboration has strengthened the international dimension of the project, fostered the exchange of research staff, and enabled DiffAtOnce to be extended towards near real-time measurement scenarios and advanced diffusion experiments linked to nuclear hyperpolarization.

No applications have been submitted to European or international funding calls specifically focused on the topic of this project; therefore, no additional funding from such programmes has been received. The collaboration has been articulated through research stays, joint work and direct knowledge exchange between the groups.

Other international collaborations

In addition to the collaboration with the Institute of Physical Chemistry (Poland), DiffAtOnce and the methodologies developed within the FUNPOLYMER project have benefited from scientific collaborations with several international groups:

• With the groups of Christine Bressy and Elliot Gourlaouen at the Université de Toulon (France), in the context of coatings and functional surfaces, where NMR techniques and advanced characterization have been applied to study interfacial properties and fouling-release behaviour.
• With the group of Frank Breher at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) (Germany), in the field of organometallic compounds and metal-based catalysts, where advanced NMR and the developed methodologies have contributed to structural and dynamic characterization.
• With the group of Luiggi Cavalcanti Pessôa at Universidade Salvador and Universidade Federal da Bahia (Brazil), in the study of systems based on biopolymers and exopolysaccharides, including applications in rheology, bioprocesses and circular bioeconomy.
• With the company Dal-Tile (United States of America), which has enabled the exploration of the developed methodologies in real industrial contexts, particularly in the analysis of materials and coatings of commercial interest.

These collaborations have enabled the application and validation of the diffusion NMR, numerical inversion and AI-based methodologies implemented in DiffAtOnce across a wide range of systems (polymers, coatings, biopolymers, nanomaterials and industrial materials), consolidating their applicability in international academic and industrial environments.