The Institute for Condensed Matter Chemistry of Bordeaux (ICMCB – UMR 5026) is a Joint Research Unit of the CNRS, University of Bordeaux (UB) and Bordeaux INP.
Created in 1995 on the foundations of the former CNRS Solid Chemistry Laboratory, the ICMCB focused its research on Solid Chemistry, Materials Science, and Molecular Sciences. Today, the synthetic and shaping control of compounds and materials requires an increasingly fine mastery of chemistry and therefore of the associated processes, which has led us to propose a new disciplinary field entitled Chemistry & Processes. Beyond the three unifying disciplinary areas, Solid State Chemistry, Materials Science, and Chemistry & Processes, the ICMCB aims to enter the era of data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the discovery of new compounds and materials and the development of sustainable processes.
Foundational to the laboratory, the field of “Condensed Matter” must be explored today in the context of “Resource Management”, i.e., a limited and sustainable use of resources by minimizing the impact on the environment (limiting the use of toxic and critical elements, recycling and regeneration of materials, etc.) and the development of processes that conserve energy and resources. The eco-materials of tomorrow must be built with an anticipation of their end of life and disassemble, in order to be part of a circular economy, from research to education and innovation.
The ICMCB project is part of the development of new concepts in the materials value chain, to synthesize, shape and recycle in a sustainable way new compounds and materials, or even compounds and materials with new properties, in order to meet the challenges of our society. Among the families of materials studied at the ICMCB, namely inorganic materials, inorganic-organic hybrid materials and molecular materials, emerging materials will emerge, in the hope that they will become innovative, in particular for energy, for sustainable development and for electronics and photonics.
The ICMCB actively participates in the structuring of research in the field of materials on the Bordeaux campus, at national, European and international levels. The laboratory is also strongly involved in industrial partnerships. A significant part of these collaborations is done with the active support of the “Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine” for which the ICMCB is one of the important partners of the public research effort. Finally, the ICMCB contributes significantly to the creation of companies.
While research requires culture and experience, it also needs creativity and dynamism. A large pool of young researchers is, in this context, a guarantee of success. Training young people, by and for research, is one of our essential missions. These young people thus trained will be the future managers of academic research, but also of R&D in industry.
Cyril Aymonier (Director of the ICMCB)