Personal website Sara Bals

• Place & date of birth: Antwerp (Belgium) August 25, 1977
• Master Sc.Phys: University of Antwerp, 1999
• Ph.D. Physics: "Optimisation of superconducting thin films and tapes by transmission electron microscopy ", University of Antwerp, 2003

• 2018-now: Full Professor, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 2014-now: Professor, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 2012-2014: Associate Professor, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 2007-2012: Assistant Professor, Department of Physics, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 2004-2007: FWO Postdoc at EMAT, University of Antwerp, Belgium
• 2003-2004: Postdoc at NCEM (National Center for Electron Microscopy) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
• 1999-2003: Ph.D. Researcher at the University of Antwerp

• Chiral nanomaterials
• In situ 3D characterization of nano materials
• Atomic resolution electron tomography
• Quantitative electron tomography
• Study of nanoparticles and ultra small clusters using aberration corrected (S)TEM
• Exit wave reconstruction
• Interfaces between soft and hard matter

• Over 475 publications in international journals with referee system
• Invited speaker at several international conferences and institutions
• Co-author of a book chapter on Electron Tomography ( "Handbook of Nanoscopy" Wiley-VCH, ed. G. Van Tendeloo, D. Van Dyck, S. Pennycook in press )
• Over 24000 citations, h-index of  80 (Google Scholar)
• Promotor of many European and National projects
• Principal investigator of ERC Starting Grant "Colour Atoms"
• Francqui Research Professor
• Principal investigator of ERC Consolidator Grant "REALNANO"
• Elected member of the Royal Flemish Acad. of Belgium for Science and the Arts: Natural Sciences
• Awarded with the European Microscopy Society Award 2020
• Awarded with the ACS Nano Lectureship Award 2021
• ACS Nano Associate editor

​Chiral Seeded Growth of Gold Nanorods Into Fourfold Twisted Nanoparticles with Plasmonic Optical Activity

Bing Ni, Mikhail Mychinko, Sergio Gómez-Graña, Jordi Morales-Vidal, Manuel Obelleiro-Liz, Wouter Heyvaert, David Vila-Liarte, Xiaolu Zhuo, Wiebke Albrecht, Guangchao Zheng, Guillermo González-Rubio, José M. Taboada, Fernando Obelleiro, Núria López, Jorge Pérez-Juste, Isabel Pastoriza-Santos, Helmut Cölfen, Sara Bals, Luis M. Liz-Marzán
Advanced Materials - 05 January 2023

​

Thermal activation of gold atom diffusion in Au@Pt nanorods
Adrian Pedrazo Tardajos, Ece Arslan Irmak, Vished Kumar, Ana Sánchez-Iglesias, Qiongyang Chen, Maarten Wirix, Bert Freitag, Wiebke Albrecht, Sandra Van Aert, Luis M. Liz-Marzán, Sara Bals
ACS nano - 2022

Micelle-directed chiral seeded growth on anisotropic gold nanocrystals
Guillermo González-Rubio, Jesús Mosquera, Vished Kumar , Adrián Pedrazo-Tardajos , Pablo Llombart, Diego M Solís , Ivan Lobato , Eva G Noya , Andrés Guerrero-Martínez , José M Taboada , Fernando Obelleiro , Luis G MacDowell , Sara Bals, Luis M Liz-Marzán
SCIENCE - 26 Jun 2020 Vol 368, Issue 6498

Tunable porous nanoallotropes prepared by post-assembly etching of binary nanoparticle superlattices
Udayabhaskararao T., Altantzis T., Houben L., Coronado-Puchau M., Langer J., Popovitz-Biro R., Liz-Marzán L. M., Vuković L., Král P., Bals S., Klajn R.
Science, 358, 6362, 514–518 (2017)

 

Composite Supraparticles with Tunable Light Emission
Montanarella F., Altantzis T., Zanaga D., Rabouw F.T., Bals S., Baesjou P., Vanmaekelbergh D., Van Blaaderen A.
ACS Nano, 11, 9, 9136-9142 (2017)

 

Shape control in ZIF-8 nanocrystals and metal nanoparticles@ZIF-8 heterostructures
Zheng G., Chen Z., Sentosun K., Pérez-Juste I., Bals S., Liz-Marzán L.M., Pastoriza-Santos I., Pérez-Juste J., Hong M.
Nanoscale, 9, 43, 16645-16651 (2017)

 

Nanorattles with tailored electric field enhancement
Schnepf M.J., Mayer M., Kuttner C., Tebbe M., Wolf D., Dulle M., Altantzis T., Formanek P., Förster S., Bals S., König T.A.F., Fery A.
Nanoscale, 9, 27, 9376-9385 (2017)

 

High-Yield Seeded Growth of Monodisperse Pentatwinned Gold Nanoparticles through Thermally Induced Seed Twinning
Sánchez-Iglesias A., Winckelmans N., Altantzis T., Bals S., Grzelczak M., Liz-Marzán L.M.
JACS, 139, 1, 107-110 (2017)

 

Atomic Structure of Wurtzite CdSe (Core)/CdS (Giant Shell) Nanobullets Related to Epitaxy and Growth
Bladt E., van Dijk-Moes R.J.A., Peters J., Montanarella F., de Mello Donega C., Vanmaekelbergh D., Bals S.
JACS, 138, 43, 14288-14293 (2016)

 

Quantitative 3D analysis of huge nanoparticle assemblies
Zanaga D., Bleichrodt F., Altantzis T., Winckelmans N., Palenstijn W.J., Sijbers J., de Nijs B., van Huis M.A., Sanchez-Iglesias A., Liz-Marzan L.M., van Blaaderen A., Joost Batenburg K., Bals S., Van Tendeloo G.
Nanoscale, 8, 1, 292-299 (2016)

 

Supracrystalline Colloidal Eggs: Epitaxial Growth and Freestanding Three-Dimensional Supracrystals in Nanoscaled Colloidosomes
Yang Z., Altantzis T., Zanaga D., Bals S., Van Tendeloo G., Pileni M.-P.
JACS, 138, 10, 3493-3500 (2016)

 

Templated Growth of Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering-Active Branched Gold Nanoparticles within Radial Mesoporous Silica Shells
Marta N. Sanz-Ortiz, Kadir Sentosun, Sara Bals, Luis M. Liz-Marzán
ACS Nano, DOI:  10.1021/acsnano.5b04744

 

Measuring Lattice Strain in Three Dimensions through Electron Microscopy
Bart Goris, Jan De Beenhouwer, Annick De Backer, Daniele Zanaga, K. Joost Batenburg, Ana Sánchez-Iglesias, Luis M. Liz-Marán, Sandra Van Aert, Sara Bals, Jan Sijbers, and Gustaaf Van Tendeloo
Nano Lett., 2015, 15 (10), pp 6996–7001

 

Chabazite: a stable cation-exchanger in hyper alkaline concrete pore water
Van Tendeloo, L., Wangermez, W., Kurttepeli, M., de Blochouse, B., Bals, S., Van Tendeloo, G., Martens, J. A., Maes, A., Kirschhock, C. E. A., & Breynaert, E.
Environmental Science & Technology, 49, 4, 2358–2365 (2015)

 

Conformal and Atomic Characterization of Ultrathin CdSe Platelets with a Helical Shape
E.M. Hutter, E. Bladt, B. Goris, F. Pietra, J.C. van der Bok, M.P. Boneschanscher, C. de Mello Donegá, S. Bals, D. Vanmaekelbergh
Nanoletters 2014, 14 (11), pp 6257–6262

 

Synthesis of a 3D network of Pt nanowires by atomic layer deposition on carbonaceous template
Deng, S., Kurttepeli, M., Deheryan, S., Cott, D. J., Vereecken, P. M., Martens, J. A., Bals, S., van Tendeloo, G., Detavernier, C.
Nanoscale, 6, 12, 6939–6944 (2014)

 

Co–Fe Nanodumbbells: Synthesis, Structure, and Magnetic Properties
Liakakos, N., Gatel, C., Blon, T., Altantzis, T., Lentijo-Mozo, S., Garcia-Marcelot, C., Lacroix, L.-M., Respaud, M., Bals, S., Van Tendeloo, G. & Soulantica, K.
Nano Letters, 14, 5, 2747–2754 (2014)

 

Long-range orientation and atomic attachment of nanocrystals in 2D honeycomb superlattices
Boneschanscher, M. P., Evers, W. H., Geuchies, J. J., Altantzis, T., Goris, B., Rabouw, F. T., van Rossum, S. A. P. , van der Zant, H. S. J. , Siebbeles, L. D. A. , Van Tendeloo, G. , Swart, I. , Hilhorst, J., Petukhov, A. V. , Bals, S. , & Vanmaekelbergh, D.
Science, 344, 6190, 1377–1380 (2014)

 

Au@Ag nanoparticles: halides stabilize {100} facets
Gómez-Graña, S., Goris, B., Altantzis, T., Fernández-López, C., Carbó-Argibay, E., Guerrero-Martínez, A., Almora-Barrios, N., López, N., Pastoriza-Santos, I., Pérez-Juste, J., Bals, S., Van Tendeloo, G., & Liz-Marzán, L.M.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 4, 2209–2216 (2013)

 

Atomic-scale determination of surface facets in gold nanorods
Goris, B., Bals, S., Van den Broek, W., Carbó-Argibay, E., Gómez-Graña, S., Liz-Marzán, L.M., & Van Tendeloo, G.
Nature Materials, 11, 930–935 (2012)

 

Steric Hindrance induces crosslike self-assembly of gold nanodumbbells
Grzelczak, M., Sánchez-Iglesias, A., Heidari Mezerji, H., Bals, S., Pérez-Juste, J., & Liz-Marzán, L.M.
Nano Letters, 12, 4380–4384 (2012)

 

Three-Dimensional Atomic Imaging of Colloidal Core–Shell Nanocrystals
S. Bals, M. Casavola, M. van Huis, S. Van Aert, J. Batenburg, G. Van Tendeloo, D. Vanmaekelbergh 
Nano Letters 11 (2011) 3420