Advanced functional materials – materials from chemical processes such as polymers, nanomaterials or magnetic and electronic materials – develop at dazzling speed. “In the 1990s, reference works in the treatment of water said that the refreshment of sea water by membrane processes would never happen because it was not profitable, illustrates the professor of the Department of Chemistry François Perreault. However, membrane processes today constitute the main technology for decay. In 30 years, we have gone from something impossible to something viable and efficiently by advances in the development of materials. ”
What materials of the future will achieve sustainable development objectives, whether they are linked to the decontamination of the environment, to the production of renewable energy, to the valuation of resources or to agriculture? This is the question that the functional materials for sustainable development (May 7) will try to answer the conference, organized by François Perreault and the professor of the School of Higher Technology Claudiane Ouel-Plamondon.
The conference will be an opportunity to present the latest achievements of members and employees of the Quebec Center on functional materials (an interuniversity group funded by the Quebec – Nature and Technologies Research Fund).
Among the projects presented, let us mention a lithium-ion battery developed with organic materials, thiophene-based structures to extract gold from electronic waste as well as a portable contaminants sensor made from a biopolymer. “The conference covers the whole spectrum of technological advances, from fundamental development to concrete applications”, underline François Perreault and Claudiane Ouel-Plamondon.
Several members of the Chemistry Department participate in the conference, including teachers David Dewez, Abdelkrim Azzouz, Ali Nazemi, Steen Brian Schougaard, Mohamed Siaj and Joshua Byers, and students and students Roumaissa Djidja, Marie-Claude Ricard, Loveline Domingue, Imane Ennaji, Zhiyuan Peng, Khojastehnezhad, Marwa Chaaben, Ngara Diouf and Théo Cha-Cossette.
