Miriam Mba Blázquez

Department of Chemical Sciences – University of Padova
Via Marzolo 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
tel +39 049 8275269
e-mail miriam.mba@unipd.it

Research Activity

Miriam Mba is associate professor at the Department of Chemical Sciences. Her research focuses on the design of functional supramolecular soft –materials for optoelectronics, sensing, and biomedical applications. Her strategy is to use hybrids of optically active p-conjugated molecules and self-assembling peptides to obtain soft materials, in particular gels. The peptide unit controls the supramolecular organization of the p-conjugated molecule, leading to new functionality in the supramolecular material. i.e. electrical conductivity. In addition, the use of peptides allows to obtain materials that are water processable and biocompatible.   In the context of the CMBM research, we use this general strategy to develop electroconductive gel scaffolds for tissue engineering of electrically sensitive tissues such as nerve, muscle and cardiac tissue.

Five most representative publications

• Fortunato, R.C. Hensel, S. Casalini, M. Mba “Self-Assembly and Electrical Conductivity of a New [1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]-benzothiophene (BTBT)-Peptide Hydrogel” Molecules, 2023, 28, 2917, 10.3390/molecules28072917.
• Fortunato, A. Sanzone, S. Mattiello, L. Beverina, M. Mba,”The pH- and salt-controlled self-assembly of 1 benzothieno 3,2-b 1 -benzothiophene-peptide conjugates in supramolecular hydrogels” New J. Chem. 2021, 45, 13389, 10.1039/d1nj02294f.
• Fortunato, M. Mba, “Metal Cation Triggered Peptide Hydrogels and Their Application in Food Freshness Monitoring and Dye Adsorption” Gels 2021, 7, 10.3390/gels7030085.
• Bellet, M. Gasparotto, S. Pressi, A. Fortunato, G. Scapin, M. Mba, E. Menna, F. Filippini, (2021), “Graphene-Based Scaffolds for Regenerative Medicine” Nanomaterials 2021, 11, 10.3390/nano11020404.
• Bartocci, J. A. Berrocal, P. Guarracino, M. Grillaud, L. Franco, M. Mba “Peptide-Driven Charge-Transfer Organogels Built from Synergetic Hydrogen Bonding and Pyrene-Naphthalenediimide Donor-Acceptor Interactions” Chem. Eur. J. 2018, 24, 2920, 10.1002/chem.201704487.