HYCOM - Design of Multifunctional Hybrid Composites

Many industrial branches favor the development of multifunctional materials for two different reasons: i) integration of multiple functionalities into one material may lower the cost of production through the use of less materials and/or processing steps, and ii) extending the functionality range of a material may lead to innovative new designs and applications, which should secure the competitiveness of the company. One very promising approach towards such multifunctional materials relies on the fabrication of hybrid materials. Those aim at bridging the properties gap between hard solids, like ceramics or metals, and those of soft solids, like polymers. The most common ways to synthesize hybrid materials involve the inclusion of inorganic particles into a polymer, blending of polymers with metal salts and diverse post-treatments, interconnecting metal ions or clusters with organic molecules (e.g. by sol-gel strategies), etc.

The general aim of this project is to fabricate and optimize superior functional materials by applying thin film growth of hybrid materials and infiltration of inorganics into polymers. The growth processes will be applied to technical products such as polymer fibers or particles which subsequently should prove their application potential in the fields of fiber-based (wearable) electronics, catalysis and energy storage. In order to fabricate such superior functional materials that can meet the requirements of stability and functionality, this project will exploit a vacuum based technology atomic layer deposition (ALD) in its special variants, the molecular layer deposition (MLD) and vapor phase infiltration. In this way controlled fabrication of materials and tuning of their physical properties that are of technological and societal interest will be achieved. The goals will include the functionalization of materials that are easily available and cheap in production. In three separate work packages, we will develop novel coating processes for catalytically active and/or electrically conductive hybrid materials, design a viscous flow reactor for functional coating of large amounts of particles with hybrid materials and develop new infiltration processes for obtaining high-tech polymer fibers that are flexible, tough and conductive. The final stage of the project will be dedicated to integration of the both functional hybrid materials, particles and fibers, into a variety of applications as a proof of concept for novel material strategies. The primary envisioned applications include anti-fouling surfaces, energy storage, catalysis and sensing. The scope during the whole project will be to design processes and coating strategies that are up scalable and compatible for integration into existing production lines. The project includes several international collaborations with complementary expertise and is expected to initiate further applied projects on the European level.

This project is funded by MAT2016-77393-R/MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033/ y por FEDER Una manera de hacer Europa