Expertise and research topics

• Bio-inspired chemistry :

design and synthesis of environmentally friendly materials through the development of biomass and CO2; design of bio-inspired catalysts dedicated to macromolecular synthesis; development of polymer gels for biomedical applications and analysis of functional biomolecule-polymer hybrid systems.

• Polymer and nanocomposite materials :

synthesis of macromolecular architectures and complex composites by controlled polymerisation and selective coupling methods; advanced molecular characterisation of polymers; structure-property-interface-morphology relationships of nanocomposites.

• Ceramic materials :

Synthesis and characterisation of functional ceramics and glass-ceramics, such as materials with piezoelectric properties; synthesis and characterisation of innovative concrete.

• Thin-film deposits and surface treatments :

technologies using cold plasmas for the surface functionalisation of substrates, the deposition of organic or inorganic thin films, and the synthesis of small molecules recoverable from greenhouse gases, such as CO2 and CH4.

• Organic and hybrid functional thin films :

synthesis of organic or hybrid semiconductor materials, modelling of their optical and electronic properties, and their incorporation into devices for the collection, conversion and storage of energy.

• Corrosion and surface treatment:

study of the corrosion mechanisms of new metal substrates, alloys and assemblies using electrochemical analysis techniques; protection systems are synthesised and evaluated.

• Sensors :

development of chemical sensors using semiconductor or fibre optic materials with sensitive layers reactive to the environment; detection of analytes, atmospheric pollutant gases, gas leaks, etc.

• Mechanics of soft matter :

mechanical response of elastic or viscoelastic objects under external constraints studied with a methodology combining experiments, models and theoretical approaches.

• Resources and technological developments of geomaterials,

through geology techniques, mineralogy, petrography, petrophysics, rock mechanics and tectonics.