2012-Now

Since 2012, I am the head of the crystal growth facility of IPHYS. The research carried with my team (3 technicians, 1 scientific consultant as well as PhD students, postdoctoral fellows and bachelor/master students) aims at synthesizing novel crystalline materials with controlled size and morphology. They include mainly macroscopic crystals and nanostructures but powders, ceramics and thin films are produced and studied too. My scientific interest is in the understanding of the growth mechanism of the produced materials at the molecular level to fully control and optimize the structure and properties of these materials. My strategy for materials discovery, has already shown to be efficient. Many materials exhibiting novel crystal structure or unique morphology are regularly grown in the labs. In 2014, a commissioned characterization laboratory equipped with standard techniques (XRD, XRF, Raman, UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy) has been inaugurated. In four years, more than 150 users have been trained. They are EPFL students and scientists, researchers from other swiss universities as well as by the non academic sector.

2003-2012

In 2003, I was appointed as a postdoctoral researcher in the LPMC of Prof. László Forró at IPMC. Between 2006 and 2012, I was leading the project “Functional Nanostructures” of the laboratory with up to 3 postdocs, 4 PhD students and 4 Master students. My research focused on the synthesis and characterization of various nanomaterials as well as the exploration of their applications. These efforts were supported by several national and international projects. This research aims at creating novel artificial structures based on low dimensionality materials (including nanotubes, nanowires and graphene like materials), to develop novel or improve existing applications and to study their impact on cellular viability.

2002-2003

During my stay as postdoctoral researcher in the group of Pr T. Schober, in the Institute of Solid State Research (IFF) at FZ Juelich, I mainly worked for the European project “Investigation of high temperature solid proton conductors of relevance to fuel processing and energy conversion applications”. My research involved the development of new processes for the synthesis of high quality barium cerate and zirconate materials doped with yttrium. Simultaneously, I intensely collaborated with the group of Pr. R. Waser, director of the IFF. We studied the particle size effect of piezo active alkaline niobate materials.

1999-2002

During my PhD, I worked at the Institut des Materiaux Jean Rouxel de Nantes, which is one of the most important research centres in Materials Science in France. My objective was to find new electrolytes with high ionic conductivity and suitable for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. We discovered three new classes of materials and correlated the anionic conductivity with the dimensionality of the ionic diffusion pathways.