The “Nanofunctional and Nanocomposite Materials Laboratory” emerged from the “Phylosil” Lab after its reorganization in 2006.

The laboratory is focused on the development of nanostructured materials with targeted functionalities and properties for environment and energy applications. New research directions have been established including synthesis and characterization of oxide, metallic, dense and hollow nanoparticles, thin films and coatings, with functional (photocatalytic, hydrophilic, antibacterial, magnetic and etc) properties, as well as carbogenic nanostructures (carbon nanotubes, graphite, conductive polymers) and nanocomposite materials for various applications. Continuous effort is applied for development of new, chemistry based methods, for nanoparticles synthesis (sol-gel, hydrothermal treatment, pyrolytic methods etc). The Electromagnetic radiation scattering and transmission phenomena of nanostructured and artificial materials from microwaves to optics are also subject of research.Current interests include: Conversion of CO2 to high value added products; Graphene and 2D materials for supercapacitors; Graphene/polymer composites for tailoring O₂ and H₂O barrier properties; TiO₂ and new photocatalytic materials; Semiconductor morphology control, doping, surface modification and composites’ synthesis for efficient photocatalysts; Applications in photocatalytic air pollutants’ degradation; H₂ production from water splitting and CO₂ to hydrocarbons reduction; Development of novel synthetic routes; surface modification for endowing materials with selected functionalities.