Shlomo Magdassi is professor of chemistry at the Casali Center for Applied Chemistry; the Institute of Chemistry, and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His research focuses on colloid science, and in particular on formation and applications of micro and nanomaterials. During the last five years, his main activities have been in the field of synthesizing nanoparticles and in functional formulations. Specifically, his research focuses on nanoparticles for delivery systems, and for functional printing.
In the field of delivery systems, he developed with his team processes for production of organic nanoparticles, to be used in drug delivery systems and cosmetics. For example, studying new microemulsions with volatile solvents as disperse phase lead to the development a new process for the formation of water insoluble drug nanoparticles with enhanced performance. This was demonstrated for a variety of drugs, including a Ti based complex and beta carotene. He also developed new self-emulsifying systems with natural antioxidants for treatment of neurological diseases and nanocarriers for biomedical imaging.
In the field of functional and 3D printing, Prof. Magdassi developed with his team unique inks composed of metals and carbon nanotubes, which can be used in printed electronics and 3D printing. He mainly focused on inks based on methods for obtaining highly concentrated silver nanoparticles or metal precursors. Besides synthesis of nanoparticles, he discovered novel mechanisms that enable sintering of nanoparticles at low temperature, which is important for applications in plastic electronics. This finding gives the possibility to print silver on plastics and paper, as conductive inks without the need of thermal sintering. In his research, Prof. Magdassi reached very significant scientific results in the field of colloid and interface science, as reflected in his publications in highly ranked journals, and was able to utilize his scientific achievements in unique industrial applications.