AMADEus Seminar - Dr. Thomas Vidil - Friday 6 january 2017 - 11:00 am ICMCB (Amphi)

Abstract: The recent advances in controlled polymerization technics and post-functionnalization methods give now access to polymers of almost infinite properties and architectures. However, their use in relevant applications is subordinate to a fine temporal and spatial control of their synthesis as well as their post-polymerization reactions. In particular, in thermoset technologies, a well controlled schedule of the crosslinking reactions is essential to provide on-demand access to the properties and performances of the resulting materials. Among the numerous functional groups that can be used as crosslinkers and post-functional reagents, epoxies hold a prominent position thanks to their extremely versatile reactivity. For this reason, they are involved in a wide range of applications that permanently require to revisit and renew this more than one century old chemistry.  In this talk, I will develop a series of original examples dedicated to the external regulation of the crosslinking reactions of epoxy resins and polymers. The first part will be dedicated to the control of the cationic polymerization of epoxy resins using a strategy based on supramolecular chemistry. In a second part, I will detail an example where the fine control of the crosslinking reaction of block copolymers containing epoxy functional groups is used to develop materials with tailored architectures.

Bio:Thomas Vidil received his Master's degree of Engineering in 2010 from the Ecole Supérieure de Physique et de Chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI, Paris, France). The same year, he joined the Soft Matter and Chemistry Laboratory directed by Pr. Ludwik Leibler to start a Ph.D program under the supervision of Dr. François Tournilhac and in collaboration with the Schlumberger-Doll Research center located in Cambridge (Massachusetts , United-States). His main research activities were focused on the supramolecular control of the cationic ring opening polymerization of epoxy resins. In 2015, he graduated from Pierre & Marie Curie University (Paris, France) and joined Pr. Marc Hillmyer’s research group at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN, U.S.) where he is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow. His work there encompasses the use of reactive diblock copolymers in the vicinity of their order-disorder transition to develop new materials with bicontinuous structures.

Present address: University of Minnesota, 207 Pleasant St. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455-0431, Tel : +1 612-624-9766.