My research is focused on the investigation of the electronic and transport properties of nanomaterials, mostly 2D materials, by means of Density Functional Theory- (DFT) based simulations. With the aim of studying realistic materials, I paid special attention to the role of defects, strain and the impact of the underlying substrate.

link to Publons

Selected publications:

• Electronic and transport properties of graphene-based nanostructures

1. Tuning the conductance of single-walled carbon nanotubes by ion irradiation in the Anderson localization regime
C. Gómez-Navarro, P. J. De Pablo, J. Gómez-Herrero, B. Biel, F. J. Garcia-Vidal, A. Rubio & F. Flores
Nature Materials, 4, 534-539 (2005)
DOI:10.1038/nmat1414

2. Anderson localization in carbon nanotubes: Defect density and temperature effects
B. Biel, F. J. García-Vidal, A. Rubio, & F. Flores
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 266801 (2005)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.266801

3. Transport Length Scales in Disordered Graphene-Based Materials: Strong Localization Regimes and Dimensionality Effects
A. Lherbier, B. Biel, Y.-M. Niquet & S. Roche
Phys. Rev. Lett., 100, 036803 (2008)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.036803

4. Charge Transport in Disordered Graphene-Based Low Dimensional Materials
A. Cresti, N. Nemec, B. Biel, G. Niebler, F. Triozon, G. Cuniberti & S. Roche
Nano Research, 1 (5), 361-394 (2008)
DOI: 10.1007/s12274-008-8043-2
Highly cited paper according to WoK

5. Anderson localization regime in carbon nanotubes: size dependent properties
F. Flores, B. Biel, A. Rubio, F. J. García-Vidal, C. Gómez-Navarro, P. de Pablo and J. Gómez-Herrero
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 20 , 30 (2008)
DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/20/30/304211

6. Ab initio study of transport properties in defected carbon nanotubes: an O(N) approach
B. Biel, F. J. García-Vidal, Á. Rubio & F. Flores
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 20 , 29 (2008)
DOI: 10.1088/0953-8984/20/29/294214

7. Chemically Induced Mobility Gaps in Graphene Nanoribbons: A Route for Upscaling Device Performance
B. Biel, F. Triozon, X. Blase & S. Roche
Nano Letters, 9 (7), 2725-2729 (2009)
DOI: 10.1021/nl901226s

8. Anomalous Doping Effects on Charge Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons
B. Biel, X. Blase, F. Triozon & S. Roche
Phys. Rev. Lett., 102, 096803 (2009)
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.096803
Highly cited paper according to WoK

9. Quantum Transport in Graphene Nanoribbons: Effects of Edge Reconstruction and Chemical Reactivity
S. M.-M. Dubois, A. López-Bezanilla, A. Cresti, F. Triozon, B. Biel, J.-Ch. Charlier & S. Roche
ACS Nano, 4 (4), 1971-1976 (2010)
DOI: 10.1021/nn100028q

10. Atomistic Boron-Doped Graphene Field-Effect Transistors: A Route toward Unipolar Characteristics
P. Marconcini, A. Cresti, F. Triozon, G. Fiori, B. Biel, Y.-M. Niquet, M. Macucci & S. Roche
ACS Nano, 6 (9) 7942-7947 (2012)
DOI: 10.1021/nn3024046

11. Versatile synthesis and enlargement of functionalized distorted heptagon-containing nanographenes
I. R. Márquez, N. Fuentes, C. M. Cruz, V. Puente-Muñoz, L. Sotorrios, M. L. Marcos, D. Choquesillo-Lazarte, B. Biel, L. Crovetto,. E. Gómez-Bengoa, M. T. González, R. Martin, J M. Cuerva & A. G. Campaña
Chemical Science, 8 (2), 1068-1074 (2017)
DOI: 10.1039/c6sc02895k

12. DNA/RNA Sequencing Using Germanene Nanoribbons via Two Dimensional Molecular Electronics Spectroscopy
Reza Rezapour, Blanca Biel
Nanoscale 14 (13), 5147-5153 (2022)

• SPM CHARACTERIZATION OF 2D materials

1. Theoretical characterisation of point defects on a MoS₂ monolayer by scanning tunnelling microscopy
C. González, B. Biel & Y. J. Dappe
Nanotechnology, 27 (10), 105702 (2016)
DOI: 10.1088/0957-4484/27/10/105702

2. Reactivity Enhancement and Fingerprints of Point Defects on a MoS₂ Monolayer Assessed by ab Initio Atomic Force Microscopy
C. González, Y. J. Dappe & B. Biel
J. Phys. Chem. C, 120 (30), 17115¿17126 (2016)
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b05998

3. Characterization of Atomic-Scale Defects and Electronic Properties of Synthesized MoS₂ Monolayer
I. Delac Marion, D. Capeta, B. Pielic, F. Faraguna, A. Gallardo, P. Pou, B. Biel, N. Vujicic & M. Kralj
Nanotechnology, 29 (30), 305703 (2018)
http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6528/aac27d/meta

• Nanomaterials for nanoelectronics applications

1. Tunability of effective masses on MoS₂ monolayers
B. Biel, L. Donetti, E. R. Ortiz, A. Godoy, F. Gámiz
Microelectronic Engineering, 147, 302-305 (2015)
DOI: 10.1016/j.mee.2015.04.099

2. Operation and Design of van der Waals Tunnel Transistors: A 3-D Quantum Transport Study
J. Cao, D. Logoteta, S. Özkaya, B. Biel, A. Cresti, M. G. Pala & D. Esseni
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 63 (11), 4388-4394 (2016)
DOI: 10.1109/TED.2016.2605144

3. Adsorption of small inorganic molecules on a defective MoS₂ monolayer
C. González, B. Biel & Y. J. Dappe
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 19, 9485-9499 (2017)
DOI: 10.1039/C7CP00544J

4. A Potassium Metal-Organic Framework based on Perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylate as Sensing Layer for Humidity Actuators
J. M. Seco, E. San Sebastian, J. Cepeda, B. Biel, A. Salinas-Castillo, B. Fernandez, D. P. Morales, M. Bobinger, S. Gomez-Ruiz, F. C. Loghin, A. Rivadeneyra, & A. Rodriguez-Dieguez
Scientific Reports, 8, 14414 (2018)

5. Exploring a novel class of Janus MXenes by first principles calculations: structural, electronic and magnetic properties of Sc₂CXT, X = O, F, OH; T = C, S, N
S. Özcan & B. Biel
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys.., 25, 1881-1888 (2023)

6. Sc₂CX (X=N₂, ON, O₂) MXenes as a promising anode material: A first-principles study
S. Özcan & B. Biel
J. Appl. Phys. ., 133, 044301 (2023)

7. MXene-based TiC₂/Ta₂C lateral heterostructure: an intrinsic room temperature ferromagnetic material with large magnetic anisotropy
S. Özcan & B. Biel
RSC Adv. ., 13, 17222-17229 (2023)

• Academic training

- 2006 PhD in Physics
Autonomous University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain). Advisors: Fernando Flores, F.J. García-Vidal
- 1999 Bachelor of Science (Physics)
University of Granada

• Professional activity

- 2014-2019 Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow, University of Granada (Granada, Spain)
- 2012-2014 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Granada (Granada, Spain)
- 2009-2012 Juan de la Cierva Research Fellow, University of Granada (Granada, Spain)
- 2007-2009 Postdoctoral Researcher, CEA-LETI-MINATEC, Grenoble (France)
- 2006-2007 Assistant Professor, Autonomous University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain)
- 2001-2006 FPU Research Fellow, Autonomous University of Madrid (Madrid, Spain)

• Research Projects

Summary: participation in 10 research projects with European or national funding, 2 regional projects and 1 local project.

Selected active projects:

- Modelización de materiales complejos: biomoléculas y sistemas bidimensionales
(MINECO, Spain), 2018-2021
- Formation of covalent molecular complexes on surfaces driven by light induced chemical reactions
(University of Granada-H2020), 2017-2019

• Awards

- 2010 Endeavour Award - Research Fellowship, Australia
- Outstanding PhD. Award 2007, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Spain

• Institutional responsibilities

- 2016 - 2017: Board member - Higher Technical School of Information, Technology and Telecommunications Engineering, University of Granada
- 2012 - 2017: Board member - Dep. Electronics and Computer Technology, University of Granada
- 2012 - 2016: University Senate, University of Granada
- 2002 - 2003: University Senate, Autonomous University of Madrid

• Research evaluation

- ANEP - MINECO (Spain)
- Basic Energy and Science Department - BSE (USA)

• Journal referee

- APS: Physical Review Letters and Physical Review B
- IOP: Nanotechnology, New Journal of Physics, Journal of Physics D. Applied Physics, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
- IEEE: Transactions on Electron Devices
- ACS: ACS Nano
- Elsevier: Physica E

• Teaching

- Postgraduate:

- Computación científica y simulación de altas prestaciones
Máster Interuniversitario en Computación de Altas Prestaciones), Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 2011 - 2012

- Undergraduate:

- Física I
Grado en Óptica y Optometría, Universidad de Granada (2017 - 2018)

- Equipos Electrónicos
Grado en Ingeniería de Tecnologías de las Comunicaciones, Universidad de Granada (2013 - 2017)

- Análisis de Circuitos (lab.)
Grado en Ingeniería de Tecnologías de las Comunicaciones, Universidad de Granada (2012 - 2013)

- Fundamentos Físicos y Tecnológicos
Doble Grado en Ingeniería Informática y Matemáticas, Universidad de Granada (2012 - 2013)

- Fundamentos Físicos y Tecnológicos (lab.)
Grado en Ingeniería Informática, Universidad de Granada (2011 - 2012)

- Electrónica I (lab.)
Licenciatura en Ciencias Físicas, Universidad de Granada (2010-2011)

- Física II (lab.)
Licenciatura en Informática, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2005 - 2006)

- Física I (lab.)
Ingeniería Técnica Industrial, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2001 - 2005)