Hybrid materials: dispersion and organisation of nanoparticles in polymer matrices

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This research proposal involves the study of new functional materials through the incorporation of nanoparticles in polymer matrices. A variety of systems will be investigated, including nanoparticles composed of inorganic salts, metals, and polymers. These different particles have been selected because of the variety of interesting properties that they exhibit. For example, luminescence and magnetic nanoparticles will be prepared. In order to obtain processable materials from these nanoparticles, they will be embedded in polymer films. The development of methods to facilitate the dispersion of inorganic and metallic particles in organic media therefore constitutes one of the principal challenges of the work. To achieve this, several strategies for the introduction of organic coatings onto the surfaces of the different particles are proposed. A second important goal of the research is the development of methods permitting the spatial distribution of the particles to be controlled. This is important because the proprieties of nanoparticle systems often depend not only on the nature of the constituent particles, but also on the manner in which they are organised. Several methods of nanoparticle organisation will be considered, including electrostatic assembly on surfaces, magnetic assembly and optical manipulation through the use of photopolymers.