Research

functional nanostructures, nano-moieties, molecular (opto)electronics, nanopatterned substrates, carbon nanostructures

Research Interests

Dr Matteo Palma completed his doctoral studies under the supervision of Professor Paolo Samorì, at the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) (founded by Nobel laureate Professor. J.M. Lehn) of the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France.

During is doctoral career he investigated the nanoscale structural and electronic properties of supramolecular assemblies for organic electronics, by the use of scanning probe techniques. His doctoral work has been awarded the “Young scientist award” by the European Materials Research Society.

More recently he worked as a postdoctoral scientist in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Physics at Columbia University (New York, U.S.A.) as part of the groups of Professor James Hone and Dr. Shalom Wind, and in close collaboration with Professor Colin Nuckolls group.

At Columbia he focused research efforts on the use of surface chemistry and nanofabrication strategies to control (bio)molecular self-assembly at the nanometer scale, for i) high throughput monitoring of bio-molecular interactions at the single-molecule level, and ii) controlled self-assembly of nanostructures in materials science.

Since September 2017 he has been a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, and Principal Investigator, in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Queen Mary University of London.

Publications of specific relevance to Materials Research

Publications

2021

• Xu X, Bowen BJ, Gwyther REA, Freeley M, Grigorenko B, Nemukhin AV, Eklöf-Österberg J, Moth-Poulsen K, Jones DD and Palma M (2021). Tuning Electrostatic Gating of Semiconducting Carbon Nanotubes by Controlling Protein Orientation in Biosensing Devices. Angewandte Chemie - International Edition  vol. 60, (37) 20184-20189. 10.1002/anie.202104044
• Kousseff CJ, Taifakou FE, Neal WG, Palma M and Nielsen CB (2021). Controlling morphology, adhesion, and electrochromic behavior of PEDOT films through molecular design and processing. Journal of Polymer Science  10.1002/pol.20210522
• Degousée T, Untilova V, Vijaykumar V, Xu X, Sun Y, Palma M, Brinkmann M, Biniek L and Fenwick O (2021). High thermal conductivity states and enhanced figure of merit in aligned polymer thermoelectric materials. Journal of Materials Chemistry A  10.1039/d1ta03377h
• Freeley M, Gwyther REA, Jones DD and Palma M (2021). DNA-Directed Assembly of Carbon Nanotube–Protein Hybrids. Mdpi Ag  Biomolecules  10.3390/biom11070955
• Xu X, Mukadam Z, Amoroso G, Freeley M and Palma M (2021). Directed assembly of multiplexed single chirality carbon nanotube devices. Journal of Applied Physics  vol. 129, (2) 10.1063/5.0035820
• Zhang M, Xu X, Yue Y, Palma M, Reece MJ and Yan H (2021). Multi elements substituted Aurivillius phase relaxor ferroelectrics using high entropy design concept. Elsevier  Materials and Design  109447-109447. 10.1016/j.matdes.2020.109447
• Ye Q, Xu X, Paghi A, Bamford T, Horrocks BR, Houlton A, Barillaro G, Dimitrov S and Palma M (2021). Solution-Processable Carbon Nanotube Nanohybrids for Multiplexed Photoresponsive Devices. Advanced Functional Materials  10.1002/adfm.202105719
• Fernandez-Yague MA, Trotier A, Demir S, Abbah SA, Larrañaga A, Thirumaran A, Stapleton A, Tofail SAM, Palma M, Kilcoyne M, Pandit A and Biggs MJ (2021). A Self-Powered Piezo-Bioelectric Device Regulates Tendon Repair-Associated Signaling Pathways through Modulation of Mechanosensitive Ion Channels. Advanced Materials  10.1002/adma.202008788

2020

• Finn P, Jacobs IE, Armitage J, Wu R, Paulsen B, Freeley M, Palma M, Rivnay J, Sirringhaus H and Nielsen C (2020). Effect of polar side chains on neutral and p-doped polythiophene. Journal of Materials Chemistry C  10.1039/d0tc04290k
• Cervantes-Salguero K, Freeley M, Chávez JL and Palma M (2020). Single-molecule DNA origami aptasensors for real-time biomarker detection. Royal Society of Chemistry  Journal of Materials Chemistry B  vol. 8, (30) 6352-6356. 10.1039/d0tb01291b
• Parr ZS, Rashid RB, Paulsen BD, Poggi B, Tan E, Freeley M, Palma M, Abrahams I, Rivnay J and Nielsen CB (2020). Semiconducting Small Molecules as Active Materials for p-Type Accumulation Mode Organic Electrochemical Transistors. Advanced Electronic Materials  10.1002/aelm.202000215
• Zhang H, Giddens H, Yue Y, Xu X, Araullo-Peters V, Koval V, Palma M, Abrahams I, Yan H and Hao Y (2020). Polar nano-clusters in nominally paraelectric ceramics demonstrating high microwave tunability for wireless communication. Elsevier  Journal of The European Ceramic Society  10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.04.015
• Amoroso G, Sapelkin A, Ye Q, Araullo-Peters V, Cecconello A, Fernandez G and Palma M (2020). DNA-Driven Dynamic Assembly of MoS2 Nanosheets. Royal Society of Chemistry  Faraday Discussions  10.1039/c9fd00118b

2019

• Bode DC, Freeley M, Nield J, Palma M and Viles JH (2019). Amyloid-β oligomers have a profound detergent-like effect on lipid membrane bilayers, imaged by atomic force and electron microscopy. J Biol Chem  vol. 294, (19) 7566-7572. 10.1074/jbc.AC118.007195
• (2019). Direct synthesis of multiplexed metal nanowire based devices using carbon nanotubes as vector templates. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl  10.1002/anie.201902857
• Clement P, Trinchera P, Cervantes-Salguero K, Ye Q, Jones CR and Palma M (2019). One‐step chemical strategy for the formation of carbon nanotube junctions in aqueous solution: The Reaction of DNA‐WrappedCarbon Nanotubes with Diazonium Salts. Wiley  Chempluschem  10.1002/cplu.201900151
• Amoroso G, Ye Q, Cervantes-Salguero K, Fernández G, Cecconello A and Palma M (2019). DNA-Powered Stimuli-Responsive Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Junctions. Chemistry of Materials  vol. 31, (5) 1537-1542. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.8b04483
• HUANG D, PATEL K, Perez-Garrido S, MARSHALL J and PALMA M (2019). DNA Origami Nanoarrays for Multivalent Investigations of Cancer Cell Spreading with Nanoscale Spatial Resolution and Single- Molecule Control. American Chemical Society  Acs Nano  10.1021/acsnano.8b08010

2018

• Attanzio A, Rosillo-Lopez M, Zampetti A, Ierides I, Cacialli F, Salzmann CG and Palma M (2018). Assembly of graphene nanoflake-quantum dot hybrids in aqueous solution and their performance in light-harvesting applications. Nanoscale  vol. 10, (42) 19678-19683. 10.1039/c8nr06746e
• Freeley M, Attanzio A, Cecconello A, Amoroso G, Clement P, Fernandez G, Gesuele F and Palma M (2018). Tuning the Coupling in Single-Molecule Heterostructures: DNA-Programmed and Reconfigurable Carbon Nanotube-Based Nanohybrids. Adv Sci (Weinh)  vol. 5, (10) 1800596-1800596. 10.1002/advs.201800596
• Xu X, Clément P, Eklöf-Österberg J, Kelley-Loughnane N, Moth-Poulsen K, Chávez JL and Palma M (2018). Reconfigurable Carbon Nanotube Multiplexed Sensing Devices. American Chemical Society  Nano Letters  vol. 18, (7) 4130-4135. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.8b00856
• (2018). Attenuated Glial Reactivity on Topographically Functionalized Poly(3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene):P-Toluene Sulfonate (PEDOT:PTS) Neuroelectrodes Fabricated by Microimprint Lithography. Small  vol. 14, (28) e1800863-e1800863. 10.1002/smll.201800863
• Huang D, Freeley M and Palma M (2018). Single-Molecule Patterning via DNA Nanostructure Assembly: A Reusable Platform. Methods Mol Biol  vol. 1811, 231-251. 10.1007/978-1-4939-8582-1_16

2017

• Freeley M, Worthy HL, Ahmed R, Bowen B, Watkins D, Macdonald JE, Zheng M, Jones DD and Palma M (2017). Site-Specific One-to-One Click Coupling of Single Proteins to Individual Carbon Nanotubes: A Single-Molecule Approach. J Am Chem Soc  vol. 139, (49) 17834-17840. 10.1021/jacs.7b07362
• Taroni PJ, SANTAGIULIANA G, WAN K, Calado P, QIU M, ZHANG H, PUGNO N, PALMA M, Stingelin-Stutzmann N, Heeney M, FENWICK O, BAXENDALE M and BILOTTI E (2017). Toward Stretchable Self-Powered Sensors Based on the Thermoelectric Response of PEDOT:PSS/Polyurethane Blends. Wiley  Advanced Functional Materials  10.1002/adfm.201704285
• Biggs MJP, Fernandez M, Thomas D, Cooper R, Palma M, Liao J, Fazio T, Dahlberg C, Wheadon H, Pallipurath A, Pandit A, Kysar J and Wind SJ (2017). The Functional Response of Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Electron-Beam Patterned Elastomeric Surfaces Presenting Micrometer to Nanoscale Heterogeneous Rigidity. Advanced Materials  vol. 29, (39) 10.1002/adma.201702119
• McMorrow J, Freeley M and Palma M (2017). DNA-Wrapped Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Assemblies. Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research  vol. 56, (18) 5302-5308. 10.1021/acs.iecr.7b00429
• Huang D, Freeley M and PALMA M (2017). DNA-Mediated Patterning of Single-Quantum Dot Nanoarrays: A Reusable Platform for Single-Molecule Control. Nature Publishing Group  Scientific Reports  10.1038/srep45591
• Attanzio A, Sapelkin A, Gesuele F, van der Zande A, Gillin W, Zheng M and Palma M (2017). Carbon Nanotube-Quantum Dot Nanohybrids: Coupling with Single Particle Control in Aqueous Solution. Wiley - V C H Verlag Gmbbh & Co.  Small  10.1002/smll.201603042

2016

• Wang J, Campos I, Wu F, Zhu J, Sukhorukov GB, Palma M, Watkinson M and Krause S (2016). The effect of gold nanoparticles on the impedance of microcapsules visualized by scanning photo-induced impedance microscopy. Electrochimica Acta  vol. 208, 39-46. 10.1016/j.electacta.2016.05.017
• Hardy JG, Palma M, Wind SJ and Biggs MJ (2016). Responsive Biomaterials: Advances in Materials Based on Shape-Memory Polymers. Adv Mater  vol. 28, (27) 5717-5724. 10.1002/adma.201505417
• Zhu J, McMorrow J, Crespo-Otero R, Ao G, Zheng M, Gillin WP and Palma M (2016). Solution-Processable Carbon Nanoelectrodes for Single-Molecule Investigations. J Am Chem Soc  vol. 138, (9) 2905-2908. 10.1021/jacs.5b12086
• Penzo E, Palma M, Chenet DA, Ao G, Zheng M, Hone JC and Wind SJ (2016). Directed Assembly of Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistors. Acs Nano  vol. 10, (2) 2975-2981. 10.1021/acsnano.6b00353

2015

• PALMA M, Hardy JG, Tadayyon G, Farsan M and Wind SJ (2015). Advances in Functional Assemblies for Regenerative Medicine. Wiley Online  Advanced Healthcare Materials  vol. 4, (16) 2500-2519. 10.1002/adhm.201500412
• Penzo E, Palma M, Wang R, Cai H, Zheng M and Wind SJ (2015). Directed Assembly of End-Functionalized Single Wall Carbon Nanotube Segments. Nano Letters  vol. 15, (10) 6547-6552. 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02220

2013

• Cai H, Depoil D, Palma M, Sheetz MP, Dustin ML and Wind SJ (2013). Bifunctional nanoarrays for probing the immune response at the single-molecule level. J Vac Sci Technol B Nanotechnol Microelectron  vol. 31, (6) 10.1116/1.4823764
• Kinz-Thompson CD, Palma M, Pulukkunat DK, Chenet D, Hone J, Wind SJ and Gonzalez RL (2013). Robustly passivated, gold nanoaperture arrays for single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. Acs Nano  vol. 7, (9) 8158-8166. 10.1021/nn403447s
• Palma M, Wang W, Penzo E, Brathwaite J, Zheng M, Hone J, Nuckolls C and Wind SJ (2013). Controlled formation of carbon nanotube junctions via linker-induced assembly in aqueous solution. J Am Chem Soc  vol. 135, (23) 8440-8443. 10.1021/ja4018072
• Wang R, Palma M, Penzo E and Wind SJ (2013). Lithographically directed assembly of one-dimensional DNA nanostructures via bivalent binding interactions. Nano Research  vol. 6, (6) 409-417. 10.1007/s12274-013-0318-6

2012

• Abramson J, Palma M, Wind SJ and Hone J (2012). Quantum dot nanoarrays: self-assembly with single-particle control and resolution. Adv Mater  vol. 24, (16) 2207-2211. 10.1002/adma.201104216
• Schiros T, Mannsfeld S, Chiu C-Y, Yager KG, Ciston J, Gorodetsky AA, Palma M, Bullard Z, Kramer T, Delongchamp D, Fischer D, Kymissis I, Toney MF and Nuckolls C (2012). Reticulated Organic Photovoltaics. Advanced Functional Materials  vol. 22, (6) 1167-1173. 10.1002/adfm.201102572

2011

• Penzo E, Wang R, Palma M and Wind SJ (2011). Selective placement of DNA origami on substrates patterned by nanoimprint lithography. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B  vol. 29, (6) 10.1116/1.3646900
• Palma M, Abramson JJ, Gorodetsky AA, Penzo E, Gonzalez RL, Sheetz MP, Nuckolls C, Hone J and Wind SJ (2011). Selective biomolecular nanoarrays for parallel single-molecule investigations. J Am Chem Soc  vol. 133, (20) 7656-7659. 10.1021/ja201031g
• Schvartzman M, Palma M, Sable J, Abramson J, Hu X, Sheetz MP and Wind SJ (2011). Nanolithographic control of the spatial organization of cellular adhesion receptors at the single-molecule level. Nano Lett  vol. 11, (3) 1306-1312. 10.1021/nl104378f
• Palma M, Abramson JJ, Gorodetsky AA, Nuckolls C, Sheetz MP, Wind SJ and Hone J (2011). Controlled confinement of DNA at the nanoscale: nanofabrication and surface bio-functionalization. Methods Mol Biol  vol. 749, 169-185. 10.1007/978-1-61779-142-0_12
• Savage RC, Mativetsky JM, Orgiu E, Palma M, Gbabode G, Geerts YH and Samori P (2011). Integration of self-assembled discotic-based fibres into field-effect transistors: a comparison of preparation approaches. Journal of Materials Chemistry  vol. 21, (1) 206-213. 10.1039/c0jm01754j

2010

• Gorodetsky AA, Chiu C-Y, Schiros T, Palma M, Cox M, Jia Z, Sattler W, Kymissis I, Steigerwald M and Nuckolls C (2010). Reticulated heterojunctions for photovoltaic devices. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl  vol. 49, (43) 7909-7912. 10.1002/anie.201004055

2009

• Mativetsky JM, Kastler M, Savage RC, Gentilini D, Palma M, Pisula W, Muellen K and Samori P (2009). Self-Assembly of a Donor-Acceptor Dyad Across Multiple Length Scales: Functional Architectures for Organic Electronics. Advanced Functional Materials  vol. 19, (15) 2486-2494. 10.1002/adfm.200900366
• Schvartzman M, Nguyen K, Palma M, Abramson J, Sable J, Hone J, Sheetz MP and Wind SJ (2009). Fabrication of Nanoscale Bioarrays for the Study of Cytoskeletal Protein Binding Interactions Using Nanoimprint Lithography. J Vac Sci Technol B Microelectron Nanometer Struct Process Meas Phenom  vol. 27, (1) 61-65. 10.1116/1.3043472

2008

• Mativetsky JM, Palma M and Samorì P (2008). Exploring electronic transport in molecular junctions by conducting atomic force microscopy. Top Curr Chem  vol. 285, 157-202. 10.1007/128_2007_25
• Palma M, Levin J, Debever O, Geerts Y, Lehmann M and Samori P (2008). Self-assembly of hydrogen-bond assisted supramolecular azatriphenylene architectures. Soft Matter  vol. 4, (2) 303-310. 10.1039/b713570j

2007

• Palermo V, Liscio A, Palma M, Surin M, Lazzaroni R and Samori P (2007). Exploring nanoscale electrical and electronic properties of organic and polymeric functional materials by atomic force microscopy based approaches. Chemical Communications  (32) 3326-3337. 10.1039/b701015j

2006

• Palma M, Levin J, Lemaur V, Liscio A, Palermo V, Cornil J, Geerts Y, Lehmann M and Samori P (2006). Self-organization and nanoscale electronic properties of azatriphenylene-based architectures: A scanning probe microscopy study. Advanced Materials  vol. 18, (24) 3313-+. 10.1002/adma.200601437
• Palermo V, Palma M and Samorì P (2006). Electronic Characterization of Organic Thin Films by Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy. Scanning Probe Microscopies Beyond Imaging: Manipulation of Molecules and Nanostructures  10.1002/3527608516.ch13
• Palermo V, Morelli S, Palma M, Simpson C, Nolde F, Herrmann A, Mullen K and Samori P (2006). Nanoscale structural and electronic properties of ultrathin blends of two polyaromatic molecules: A Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy investigation. Chemphyschem  vol. 7, (4) 847-853. 10.1002/cphc.200500480
• Palermo V, Palma M and Samori P (2006). Electronic characterization of organic thin films by Kelvin probe force microscopy. Advanced Materials  vol. 18, (2) 145-164. 10.1002/adma.200501394
• Palma M, Pace G, Roussel O, Geerts Y and Samori P (2006). STM investigation of alkylated thiotriphenylene monolayers at the solid-liquid interface: Structure and dynamics. Australian Journal of Chemistry  vol. 59, (6) 376-380. 10.1071/CH06142

2005

• Palermo V, Palma M, Tomovic Z, Watson MD, Friedlein R, Mullen K and Samori P (2005). Influence of molecular order on the local work function of nanographene architectures: A Kelvin-probe force microscopy study. Chemphyschem  vol. 6, (11) 2371-2375. 10.1002/cphc.200500181

Grants of specific relevance to Materials Research

Grants

• DNA Nanotechnology for Single-Molecule Monitoring of Target-Analyte Interactions
  Palma M
  USD294,700 Air Force Office of Scientific Research Grant (01-06-2017 - 01-06-2020)
• Single-Molecule Bioelectronic Devices with Multi-Sensing Capability
  Palma M
  USD224,900 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (28-09-2016 - 01-09-2019)

• Fundamental membrane interactions of copper generated oligomers, profibrils and amyloid fibres
  Viles JH, Baker MD, Milanesi L, Palma M and Nield J
  £346,238 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (31-07-2015 - 30-07-2019)
  Abstract
• Towards Solution Processable Single- Molecule Devices: Controlled Assembly of Carbon Nanotube Electrodes for Molecular Electronics
  Palma M
  £125,000 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (01-10-2015 - 30-09-2017)
  Abstract