Description du sujet de thèse

In a context where environmental, industrial, and societal challenges are intensifying, it is becoming essential to rethink the very function of materials. The growing demand across all sectors for systems capable of detecting, monitoring, and adapting to their environment requires more integrated, sustainable approaches that are less dependent on traditional technologies. However, current solutions based on embedded electronics show their limitations: they are often bulky, energy-consuming, costly to produce and maintain, and reliant on complex digital and energy infrastructures. This hinders their large-scale adoption, particularly in constrained environments or in contexts where maintenance is difficult or even impossible. It is in this context that smart materials, particularly those with color change properties, provide an innovative and relevant solution. They are able to react in a direct and visible way to environmental stimuli such as temperature, humidity, pH, or pressure, without requiring electronics, batteries, or an external energy source. This passive characteristic gives these materials great autonomy and ease of integration into various contexts, including the most demanding ones. The thesis focuses on the fabrication of hybrid materials combining bio-based polymers and metallic nanoparticles to develop color-changing sensors. These materials react to different environmental stimuli — such as heat, humidity, pH, or pressure — by altering their visual appearance, thus enabling simple, quick detection without embedded electronics. The manufacturing process relies on chemical or photochemical synthesis methods, designed to be more environmentally friendly and more stable over time. Their applications range from the sports sector with smart clothing, health, particularly in the medical field (compression stockings, dentistry, surgery, etc.), in the preservation of sensitive products such as food to detect moisture, agriculture, mechanics for issues of local overpressure, in printing inks and paints, robotics, security, and the military and defense sectors such as camouflage, etc.

Contexte de travail

This PhD thesis is part of a European PRIMA project that fosters collaboration between 11 partners. The research will take place primarily at the Institut de Science des Matériaux de Mulhouse (IS2M-CNRS) in Mulhouse, which will contribute its expertise and experience in the field of smart materials.

IS2M is a French research institute located in Mulhouse, affiliated with the CNRS and the University of Haute-Alsace. It specializes in materials science, particularly porous materials, polymers, and functional coatings. The institute brings together expertise in physics, chemistry, nanoscience, and materials engineering. Its research has applications in the fields of environment, health, energy, and sustainable technologies.

IS2M is renowned for its state-of-the-art equipment for materials characterization and development. It collaborates with industrial, academic, and institutional partners at both national and international levels. The institute also hosts PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and interns in a multidisciplinary environment. It is structured around several scientific axes, each addressing specific issues related to materials. IS2M regularly publishes in high-impact scientific journals and plays a key role in technological innovation in response to current societal challenges.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.

Contraintes et risques

Nothing to declare

Informations complémentaires

Nothing to declare