Development of functional polymer-based materials for special technological applications

本研究的主要目标是开发和表征基于聚合物复合材料和纳米复合材料的新型高性能功能材料，特别是用于氢燃料电池、压电传感器和光伏电池器件。我们已经开发了用于质子交换膜燃料电池的双极板和电极原型，并将使用新的纳米材料、碳纳米管和石墨烯，以研究它们作为导电填料的协同效应，以减少双极板的厚度，提高其机械性能和导电性。我们将利用我们在荧光技术方面的专业知识来表征(首次)纳米复合材料在加工过程中的导电性演变。我们还将专注于通过从合成这些膜所用的相同单体合成新的相容剂来改善我们实验室开发的新膜和电极之间的兼容性。我们的研究还将集中在开发基于半导体聚合物和特定纳米材料的低成本/高性能新型光活性材料。我们最近开发了一种简单的方法来合成各种可控结构的半导体硫化铅纳米颗粒。这些纳米粒子将被用来开发新的纳米复合光伏柔性薄膜，具有高光子捕获和向电池电极转移电荷的功能。我们将开发细胞原型，并对其转换效率进行表征。目前，我们正处于一个新项目的早期阶段，该项目旨在利用原始加工技术开发柔性压电细胞薄膜。我们将优化这些工艺，以发展和稳定薄膜的胞状结构。此外，我们还将优化电荷存储，使显影后的薄膜具有压电性。最后，我们将评估薄膜热处理对所开发的蜂窝薄膜的压电性和力学性能的影响。

The main objective of this research proposal is to develop and characterize new high performance functional materials based on polymer composites and nanocomposites particularly used for hydrogen fuel cells, piezoelectric sensors and photovoltaic cell devices. We already developed bipolar plate and electrode prototypes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells and we will use new nanomaterials, carbon nanotubes and graphene, in order to investigate their synergetic effect as conductive fillers to decrease bipolar plate thickness and improve its mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. Our expertise in fluorescence technique will be explored to characterize (for the first time) the evolution of the electrical conductivity the nanocomposites during their processing. We will also focus on improving the compatibility between new membranes and electrodes developed in our Lab by synthesizing new compatibilizers from the same monomers used in the synthesis of these membranes. Our research will also focus on the development of new low cost/high-performance photoactive materials based on semiconductive polymers and specific nanomaterials. We recently developed simple routes to synthesize various kinds of semiconductive lead sulfide nanoparticles of controlled structures. These nanoparticles will be used to develop new nanocomposite photovoltaic flexible films of high photon capture and charge transfer toward cell electrodes. Cell prototypes will be developed and characterized for their conversion efficiency.We are presently in an early stage of a new project on the development of flexible piezoelectric cellular films using original processing techniques. We will optimize these processes to develop and stabilize the cellular structure of the films. Also, we will optimize charge storage, which allows giving the piezoelectric character de the developed films. Finally, we will evaluate the impact of film heat treatment on the piezoelectric and mechanical properties of the developed cellular films.