UMONS Research Institute for Materials Science and Engineering
The MATERIALS Institute is involved in many transversal activities in several of the UMONS Faculties, bringing together chemists, physicists and engineers, who collaborate to develop intelligent multifunctional materials and coatings. From the design stage through determining the materials’ use and recycling, the institute’s work is geared towards meeting the high standards of basic research, the needs of industrialists and the challenges of our society.
The MATERIALS Institute’s research activities cover a wide range of materials (metals and metal alloys, polymers, inorganic materials, organic-inorganic hybrids, biomaterials), synthesis and implementation methods (hydrothermal synthesis, sol-gel, plasma deposition, electrochemical deposition, reactive extrusion, etc.), characterisation (physicochemical, mechanical, morphological) and applications (packaging, transport, biomedical devices, electronic devices, energy collection and storage, aerospace, etc.).
The Institute’s research areas focus on two main areas, integrating the design, modelling, synthesis, characterisation and implementation of:
Hybrid and (bio-)polymer materials: precursors synthesised from biosourced raw materials are used to produce materials with specific functionalities, such as electroluminescence, shape memory and self-healing.
Coating and surface treatments: materials and processes developed to increase the durability of metallic coatings (adhesion, resistance to corrosion and wear) and give them multiple functionalities (antibacterial, anti-trace, self-healing, superhydrophobic, etc.)
These activities are clearly anchored in regional development with strong industrial partnerships at the highest international level, which is reflected in the international university rankings.
Coordinated by UMONS, the European SAM3 project (Soft Active Matter Microrobots for Medicine) will bring together several European universities and research centres around an ambitious objective: to develop a new generation of microrobots capable of moving through narrow and sensitive areas of the human body. Supported under the MSCA Doctoral Networks programme (Horizon Europe), the project will also train twelve doctoral candidates at the interface between materials science, microrobotics and medicine. Continue reading
