Nature Inspires Creativity Engineers (N.I.C.E. Lab)
- Address :
- Bâtiment IMREDD, 9 rue Julien Lauprêtre
06200 Nice
General information
Affiliated institutions :Reference : URE CA01
Departments : DS 4 : Chimie
Our laboratory is internationally known in the synthesis and development of organic and organic-inorganic hybrid materials. Our knowledge allows going from the molecular conception toward the construction of surface with specific properties in different fields: NanoTech, SmartTech, BioTech. Nanotech: This field concerns surfaces presenting micro and/or nano scales of structuration. These materials exhibit special wettability such as (super)hydrophilicity/(super)hydrophobicity and (super)oleophilicity/(super)oleophobicity. The works, that we have performed since 2003-2004, has placed us at the second world rank and at the first place in Europe in superoleophobicity, and among the first superhydrophobicity. BioTech: In this field, our interest is focused on two main topics. The first one concerns the development of biobased alkyd resins non-oxidative and environmental-friendly drying mechanism as an alternative of Cobalt Salt. For his work, Matthieu Sonnati was awarded by the MIT Technology Review as 2012 innovators under 35 in France. This work was related to his innovative non-oxidative and environmental friendly drying mechanism of polymers used in the paints and coatings industry. The second topic concerns the development of biological materials as bioadhesive/anti-bioadhesive surfaces and topical skin protector. SmartTech: This field concerns the development of stimuli-responsive materials (thermochromic, pH sensible...). These materials are interactive, autonomous and able to modify their intrinsic properties from an external stimulus, such as liquid crystals, sensors or UV responsible materials. Recently, two patents have been registered on bioactive polymer-nanoparticles network. This Lab is also the scientific support of N.I.C.E. Learning (professional courses in Bachelor and Masters of Sciences) and N.I.C.E. Conference (International conference in Bioinspired & Biobased Chemistry and Materials)