Soft Matter and Chemistry, UMR 7167 CNRS, ESPCI Paris / Center of Materials, UMR 7633 CNRS Mines ParisTech

This collaborative team results from a joint research operation between the Soft Matter and Chemistry laboratory at ESPCI-Paris and the Centre of Materials at Mines-ParisTech. Research activity focuses on the design and physical and mechanical characterization of soft matter systems bringing new or improved performances. Particular attention is given to systems of interest for medical applications and applications at the interface with biological media.

The approaches of this research rely on two main types of porous solids: soft macromolecular solids (polymer gels, foams,…) and colloids and their aggregates. The objectives are :

• To understand and characterize the physical and physico-chemical phenomena (transport, flow, adsorption…) occurring in these solids when they are submitted to exterior solicitations, environmental changes or when they are placed at an interface with other media like biological tissues and fluids.
• To exploit this knowledge to synthesize and process new systems having improved performances or novel functions of interest for applicative purposes.
• To apply these concepts and systems to medical problems by integrating them to « real » devices or protocols usable at the preclinical stage (artificial ligaments from hydrogel fibers, surgical adhesives, injectable matrices for tissue regeneration…)