ICube MSII Seminar - "Hierarchical hetero-nanostructures for synthetic multidimensional functional hybrid matter"

Title: Hierarchical hetero-nanostructures for synthetic multidimensional functional hybrid matter

Scientific and research positioning: Developing a science of controlled nanomaterials synthesis to precisely create targeted hierarchical structures for functional matter has been identified as one of the “transformative opportunities for discovery science” in the last decade’s prospective reports (i.e. U.S.      Departement of Energy/Office of science: https://science.energy.gov/bes/community-resources/reports/). Targeted functionality synthetic materials will spark transformative opportunities for the whole lifeblood of human societies and economic growth: creating new materials/systems, manufacturing processes, and technologies, harvesting, storing and use of energy, transforming / reducing CO2, splitting water or fixing nitrogen.

Looking from a fundamental point of view, all materials and systems establish their foundation at nanoscale. Controlling matter from the atomic/molecular level and up, may enable the possibility to tailor the materials/systems properties, interactions, and processes precisely at a scale where the fundamental properties are initiated. This paradigm has always been a major promise of NSTs (Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies), prone to impact the production of virtually every human-made object from electronics to advanced medicine, food and energy production or storage.
Nanomaterials synthesis continue to be one of the most active fields in nanotechnology. After the carbon nanotubes and graphene “hype”, NSTs community witnessed in the recent years a sudden surge of new dimensionally-reduced materials and nanostructures (graphene-like, di- or tri- chalcogenides, MXenes etc).  Considered individually, these new nanomaterials possess astonishing properties ranging from insulators or semiconductor to superconductors, hosts of topological states, spin-valley transitions etc. This opens up exciting new technological potentialities and drive continuously increasing focus from the scientific community.

Complementary to these trends, only very recently, a new paradigm started to gain momentum and in prospective publications is sometimes called “matter 2.0 revisited”. The idea here is to explore the possibility of constructing new synthetic, functionally assembled, heterostructured materials for which the classical atoms/molecules basic bricks in monolithic matter are replaced by various nanomaterials (0D, 1D, 2D) that keep all their intrinsic properties while in the same time are by-design assembled into functional macroscopic structures.

Topic overview:
Two classes of such heterostructures will be in focus: i) “2.0 revisited crystals” based on Van der Waals epitaxial heterostacking of various 2D-crystals like graphene, h-BN, dichalcogenides, MXenes and ii) the hierarchically assembled heteronanostructured (and nanoporous) materials for which various 0D nanomaterials (nanoclusters, nanoflakes of 2D materials…) are functionally assembled with 1D materials (typically carbon nanotubes) that insure their macroscopic electrical, thermal and mechanical cohesion while preserving the inherent nanomaterials properties (increased chemical reactiveness, extremely large specific surface…).
The lecture will briefly address several
Scientific challenges:

Technological challenges:

The presented results are part of the:
Eco-aware and Efficient Nano -MAterials, nano-DEvices and Engineering -- NanoMADE-3E Initiative: an open research initiative on the synthetic, functionally assembled, heterostructured materials for which the classical atoms/molecules basic bricks in monolithic matter are replaced by various nanomaterials by-design assembled into functional macroscopic structures for advanced electronics and novel devices (nano/opto-electronics, gas sensors, electro/photo catalysis, improved energy storage systems...).