Profile

R&D activities at IMST are devoted to the development of functional coatings based on polymeric, inorganic and nanocomposite materials. Coatings and coating procedures were developed for various substrates, including metals, ceramics, glass and polymers. We also work on NiTi shape memory alloys for medical applications, and on piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials for sensors and actuators.

Our activities on functional coatings span a wide range of applications, including solar-selective and thermochromic coatings, nanostructured films for photo- and electrocatalysis, nanostructured substrates for molecular detection using localized surface plasmons, anti-reflection coatings and bactericidal films (with leaching elements like TiO2-Ag films, and non-Leaching films with coupled bactericidal molecules). Desirable functionalities originate from the proper choice of materials and from tailoring chemistry and topology (ordered porosity, control of structure dimensions..). The coatings are mainly processed using deposition from solution (electrochemical, sol-gel,..). The activities on NiTi-alloys are mainly concerned with surface treatments, particularly with coatings that can have locally tailored cell adhesion properties.