Professor Antonio Castro Neto is a materials scientist and condensed matter theorist, with expertise in graphene and two-dimensional (2D) materials.
Recently, his research led to the creation of 2D-electrolytes, a new class of intelligent materials that have the structure of a 2D material, but behave like an electrolyte depending on external factors such as pH and temperature. Such intelligent materials could open new avenues for targeted cancer drug delivery, where the material releases the drug payload only when certain cellular or physiological conditions are met. 2D-electrolytes also have potential applications in self-healing mobile phone screens, artificial muscles, and energy storage.
Since graphene was first isolated in 2004, there has been an explosion in graphene-related research and applications. It is the thinnest material on Earth, yet is 200-times stronger than steel, and has wide ranging applications, from transistors to biomedical devices. The Centre for Advanced 2D Materials (CA2DM), which Prof Castro Neto directs has produced a large number of highimpact scientific publications that became invention disclosures leading to disruptive new technologies. CA2DM is currently bringing new technologies to life in terms of patents and start-up companies that are generating new jobs in Singapore as well as creating deep-tech innovation.
Prof Castro Neto and his team are committed to developing new technologies that directly address some of the biggest challenges of our time, namely, sustainability, environment, energy, health, and water. He strongly believes that it is the responsibility of scientists and engineers to address directly these fundamental issues so that new generations will have access to a healthier and more prosperous future.
Together with Professor Sir Konstantin Novoselov, Prof Castro Neto codirects the Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (I-FIM); the world’s first institute dedicated to the design, synthesis, and application of functional intelligent materials. These functional intelligent materials (FIMs). represent a new class of materials that are dynamic and interact with their environment in order to achieve tailored functionalities. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence in order to accelerate the discovery of FIMs, I-FIM will have a direct impact on the industry of the future.
Pioneering niobium-graphene batteries that are proven to have greater performance and safety compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries are being developed and tested in the newly established CBMM-CA2DM Advanced Battery Laboratory
The Institute for Functional Intelligent Materials (I-FIM) is NUS’ newest national Research Centre of Excellence (RCE), and hopes to revolutionise new interdisciplinary approaches towards materials synthesis
Known as “two-dimensional electrolytes”, these smart materials could potentially be used in many things from drug delivery to energy storage
Rodin, A., Noori, K., Carvalho, A., & Neto, A. C. (2022). Microscopic theory of ionic motion in solids. Physical Review B, 105 (22), 224310.
Costa, M. C., Marangoni, V. S., Trushin, M., Carvalho, A., Lim, S. X., Nguyen, H. T., ... & Castro Neto, A. H. (2021). 2D Electrolytes: Theory, Modeling, Synthesis, and Characterization. Advanced Materials, 33 (25), 2100442.
Andreeva, D. V., Trushin, M., Nikitina, A., Costa, M. C., Cherepanov, P. V., Holwill, M., ... & Novoselov, K. S. (2021). Two-dimensional adaptive membranes with programmable water and ionic channels. Nature Nanotechnology, 16 (2), 174-180.
Li, J., Song, P., Zhao, J., Vaklinova, K., Zhao, X., Li, Z., ... & Lu, J. (2021). Printable two-dimensional superconducting monolayers. Nature Materials, 20 (2), 181-187.
Costa, M. C., Marangoni, V. S., Ng, P. R., Nguyen, H. T., Carvalho, A., & Castro Neto, A. H. (2021). Accelerated synthesis of graphene oxide from graphene. Nanomaterials, 11 (2), 551.
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