Axis II

Development of finely controlled surfaces to obtain adaptable and reversible properties

Surfaces and interfaces play an important role for fundamental materials science and for the development of innovative applications, as many material properties hinge on surface or interface phenomena (catalysis, adsorption, sensing…).
The goal of this research Axis is to control the assembly of building blocks, mainly obtained from Axis I, with high spatio-temporal precision of the interactions involved between the blocks or with a surface (2D patterns). Of particular importance is the possibility to follow in situ, at different time and length scales, physical phenomena governing the fabrication of dynamic surfaces.

Subtheme 1 : Control of the surface morphology

Surface morphology, in particular dimensions, geometry and curvature of surface features is an important characteristic of solid materials. In this subtheme we :

Increase surface area by lithography techniques (soft, photo-, electron-), molecular assembly, or a combination of both to assume excellent accessibility to active sites, enhanced mass transport and diffusion.
Spatially control the molecular organization to optimize surface composition.

Subtheme 2 : Control of the functional properties of materials

Another important theme in Axis II deals with controlling the functional properties of materials. This is for example done by:

adsorption of specific molecules(surfactants, polymers, metal precursor…),
grafting by covalent or ionocovalent coupling (e.g. silanisation)
plasmapolymerization or grafting

Sub-theme 3 : Generation of new smart materials with more or less reversible properties

Smart materials with more or less reversible properties are expected to play an increasingly important role in the development of advanced technologies for applications such as catalysis and sensor.

HiFunMat explores new strategies to obtain dynamic, possibly far from equilibrium, properties by exploiting environmental factors, such as pH, light stimulus, mechanical stress or temperature.