Microfluidic Driven Materials

Processes for polymeric particular and fiber materials

Project 1

Microfluidic elaboration, characterization, and properties of calcium-based nanoparticle/polymer composite microfibers

Set a continuous flow process for propriety-controlled calcium-based nanoparticles

Set a continuous flow process for the production of polymeric microfibers decorated with inorganic nanoparticles

Axis coordinator: Christophe Serra

Permanent researcher: Maxime Florent

PhD students: Leyla Aliyeva

Master students: (to come)

Project 2

Synthesis and morphology control of Coordination Polymers through microfluidics systems

Coordination polymers, resulting from self-assembled building blocks in the presence of metal salts, exhibit promising properties in catalysis, gas absorption, separation, and luminescence. Traditional synthesis methods face challenges in reproducibility and scalability. Microfluidic systems, leveraging small reagent volumes and rapid reactions, offer an innovative approach. Our project aims to create coordination polymers using microdroplets as microreactors, exploring the influence of droplet characteristics on polymer speed and structure. Further, new building blocks with specific properties like chirality or luminescence will be introduced to study their transfer to the macromolecular architecture. While rooted in fundamental research, this project has the potential to yield molecular materials with defined functionality.

Preparation of crystalline materials using a continuous microfluidic system where the droplet plays the role of micro-reactors using 4,4-bipyridine and metallic salts.

Preparation of crystalline materials using a continuous microfluidic system performing Janus and core-shell droplets for the production of self-assembled sphere of coordination polymers.

Axis coordinator & Permanent researcher: Maxime Florent

PhD students: (to come)