The University of Mons (UMONS) was established in 2009 by the merging of the University of Mons-Hainaut (UMH) and the Faculty of Engineering of Mons (FPMs). It provides high-quality teaching to about 7000 students.
UMONS comprises 8 Faculties and 10 multidisciplinary Research Institutes, each embracing the expertise of 50 to 100 researchers. Our researchers work at a regional and international level and exert their efforts in developing recognised expertise to serve society.
The activities of the Center for Innovation and Research in MAterials and Polymers (CIRMAP)of the University of Mons deal with the design, the synthesis, the processing, and the characterization and modeling of the structural, mechanical, optical and electrical properties of technological materials as functional thin films, in particular polymer materials and (nano)composites. The research staff of CIRMAP is about 150. The research activities on polymers are carried out jointly in the Laboratory for Polymer and Composite Materials (Prof. Ph. Dubois, Philippe.dubois@umons.ac.be) and the Laboratory for Chemistry of Novel Materials (Prof. R. Lazzaroni, Roberto.lazzaroni@umons.ac.be).
In terms of materials synthesis and processing, the major expertise of CIRMAP is in: (i) the synthesis of polymers with tailored and well controlled molecular structures, by catalyzed ring-opening polymerization, controlled free-radical processes, polymerization by supported coordination catalysis, targeted thermosets by thermo- and photo-curing reactions, and (ii) the production of (nano)filled polymers and/or (nano)filled polymer blends by (reactive) melt processing, reactive bulk impregnation, (nano)particle functionalization, grafting and encapsulation.
The research activities of CIRMAP also aim at:
This is achieved through a joint theoretical-experimental approach comprising: (i) multiscale modeling of materials and opto-electronic processes, (ii) synthesis, modeling and characterization of bio-inspired supramolecular assemblies, (iii) thin film deposition and characterization, and (iv) device fabrication and testing.
