Due to the great diversity of carbon materials and their strong application potential in a wide variety of fields, the group Carbon-based Materials conducts researches on bulk materials and nanomaterials. The research activities are focused on:

• the synthesis and design of new materials and their multi-scale characterization,
• the modification of their properties by developed chemical treatments,
• the applications of these materials, mainly in the field of energy storage and conversion.

The group is more specifically interested in low dimensional crystalline materials: graphite and related structures, graphene and its derivatives, carbon nanotubes, etc. The work also includes more disordered carbon materials, such as hard carbons, carbon blacks and activated carbons. The chemistry that is carried out leads to:

• new intercalation compounds within 2D structures and their remarkable physical properties,
• graphenic materials in powder form or dispersed in a liquid medium,
• “tailor-made” functionalized carbon surfaces,
• ultra-pure carbon materials, etc.

The materials are characterized, with the support of the laboratory's technical platforms, by various techniques (X-ray diffraction, electron microscopies, spectroscopic methods, magnetic measurements, etc.), often coupled. The team also relies on thermal analysis equipment (TGA, TGA-MS, DSC) and has expertise in the textural study of carbon materials by adsorption of various probe molecules (N2, CO2, Kr). More specific characterizations such as, for example, ion beam analysis are carried out in collaboration with NIMBE.