PolyHIPE as «swiss knife»

Development of functional and highly porous materials towards energy and sensing driven applications

Porous Polymers Synthetized within High Internal Phase Emulsions (abbreviated as polyHIPE) are type of highly porous polymer structure that could be potentially applied in several applications (photocatalysis, separation membranes, energy storage, sensors, …). Energy storage, actuation/ tactile sensing and bio-sensing applications will be explored. For both fields, the scientific challenges involved the fundamental chemistry as well as the properties of the electrode materials alongside with solid/electrolyte interfacial phenomena. Then, it is important to develop new functional materials and new chemical combinations to either enhance the performance and/or reduce the cost of the devices. The aim of this project is to combine the knowhow of both team in synthesis of PolyHIPE related materials and handling of supercapacitors (LPPI – CY – Cergy Paris Université) and sensing technology (SensorLab – University of the Western Cape). Within this project, we will develop advanced functional materials possessing interesting characteristics to concomitantly deal with energy storage and sensing driven applications. Thus, the influence of important parameters, from the choice of precursors, synthesis methods to the elaboration of electrode, on the performance of the final devices will be intensively studied.

The project is splitted in 4 Work Packages (WPs):

• WP1: regular polyHIPE and pyrolyzed polyHIPE
• WP2:  ECP@polyHIPE and RP@polyHIPE
• WP3:  Functional particle-loaded polyHIPE: NP@polyHIPE, MOF@polyHIPE and MOx@polyHIPE
• WP4: Application of X@polyHIPE materials

Implied staff in each laboratory:
(FR) Prof. Pierre-Henri Aubert, Dr. Thuan-Nguyen Pham-Truong, Dr. Phillipe Banet, Dr. Cédric Vancaeyzeele and Dr. Cédric Plesse.
(SA) Dr. Keagan Popkas, Prof. Priscilla Baker.
During the project, 2 Master students and 1 PhD Student will be recruited.