Directory

CNRS Research Director

CNRS Research Director

Current functions / Current:

CNRS researcher CRCN (Section13 – Chimie physique, théorique et analytique), chair of ” Fuel Cells and electrolysers ” team of the ST2E group

Previous / Before functions

• 2006- : CNRS researcher in the team ” FuelCells and electrolysers ” of the ST2E group of IMN
• 1994-2006: CNRS researcher in the team ” Lithium batteries ” of the ST2E group of IMN
• 1990-1994: CNRS researcher CRCN (Section13 – Physical, theoretical and analytical chemistry), in the ” Laboratoire d’Electrochimie Organique ” of Clermont-Ferrand

Qualifications (Research Themes):

• 2000: HDR fromUniversity of Nantes
• 1991: PhD thesis (“Doctorat d’Etat es-Sciences Physiques”) at the University of Paris VI
• 1988 : Engineer degree from the “Ecole Supérieure de Physique et Chimie de Paris” (ESPCI)

Research topics (Research Themes):

• High temperature Fuel Cells (SOFC) and electrolysers (SOEC),
• Electrochemistry: Electrodeposition and Electrochemical Impedance analysis
• Solid state and materials chemistry
• Fuel cell performance testing

Animation de la recherche (Research Community Activities / Teaching Responsibilities):

• Chair of Fuel-cellsub-group of the Electrochemical Storage and Conversion of Energy team of IMN
• Member of the executive board of FRH2 French Research network (FR2044) devoted to Hydrogen
• Responsibility of the relations between IMN and the general public, including schools
• Responsibility of the relations between IMN and the West Atlantic Marine Energy Community

Teaching :

• Course in Master 2 “Energies Nouvelles et Renouvelables” at University of Nantes (2017- )
• Course in specialized master “Eco-Innovation and New technologies for Energy” at the Institut Catholique des Arts et Métiers (ICAM), Nantes in (2019- )

Publications:

• 77 publications in international peerreviewed journals
• 1 book chapter
• 3 patents

Ressources en ligne / Online resources:

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com
ResearchGate : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Annie_Le_gal_la_salle
ORCID : http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8818-0071

CNRS Research Fellow

CNRS Research Fellow

Functions :

• CNRS Research Fellow (Section 15 – Chemistry of materials, nanomaterials and processes)
• 2023-2025: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow (MSCA-PF)
• 2020-2023: Postdoctoral researcher with Pf. J. P. Hofmann, Pf. W. Jaegermann and Dr. T. Mayer at the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany

Qualifications :

• 2019 : PhD thesis from the University of Lyon in Chemical Physics and Catalysis under the supervision of Dr. C. Geantet, Dr. E. Puzenat, Dr. L. Cardenas, Dr. P. Afanasiev
• 2016: Master’s degree from ENSMAC (formerly ENSCBP) and the University of Bordeaux, specializing in Chemical Physics, Materials Chemistry and Energy.

Expertises :

Photoelectron spectroscopy for solar energy conversion materials.

Main research themes:

• Thin films and nanopowders: oxides, oxynitrides, chalcogenides
• Photoelectron spectroscopy: (XPS, UPS, Synchrotron)
• Photocatalysis, Photoelectrocatalysis, Solar fuels

Current research projects :

• Coordinator of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow Project (MSCA-PF) “Valence band engineering of oxidation materials for cheap and sustainable solar fuel production” (OMATSOLFUEL) (2023-2025).
• Member of the ANR “Visible-light Photocatalysis with Ambipolar layered CHAlcogenides for Solar fuel generation” (PACHAS) (2025-2029).
• Member of ANR “Bi-Based nanOmaterials for Photocatalysis” (BiBOP) (2024-2028)
• Member of ANR “Development of a membrane-cell for in situ NAP-XPS characterization” (NACELL) (2022-2027)
• Member of the MITI project “Des matériaux Moins nobles pour une cause Noble: vers le verdissement de la dépollution des Eaux à grande échelle par électro-oxydation” (DauMiNEau) (2024-2025)

Activities in the research community :

• Member of GDR CarMANano (Groupement De Recherche Caractérisation et mesures à l’échelle nanométrique)
• Responsible for the Linkedin page of the Photoemission Spectroscopy Research Federation (FR SPE)

Biography:

Clément Maheu has been a CNRS research fellow at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel (IMN) since 2023. A specialist in materials for solar energy conversion, he designs and characterizes semiconductors (oxides, chalcogenides, oxynitrides, etc.) for the photo(electro)catalytic production of hydrogen and high value-added molecules. In particular, it has strong expertise in photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS, UPS, SXPS) to characterize the surface of these materials.

He obtained his PhD at IRCELYON, under the supervision of Drs. Afanasiev, Cardenas, Géantet and Puzenat, on TiO2-supported transition metal sulfide co-catalysts for the photoconversion of alcohols. He deepened his expertise in photoelectron spectroscopy at the Technical University of Darmstadt, with Dr. Mayer, Prof. Jaegermann and Prof. Hofmann, applying these techniques to energy materials (photovoltaics, batteries and fuel cells). Back in France, he joined IMN, first as a postdoc on a Marie Skłodowska-Curie European fellowship, then as a full professor. In 2024, he was awarded the Junior Researcher prize by the Transversal Energy Division of the Société Chimique de France. More recently, he has initiated collaborations with researchers in the humanities and social sciences to question the deployment of photo(electro)catalytic technologies and maximize their environmental and social impact.

Awards :

• Junior researcher award from the Société Chimique de France’s Transversal Energy Division
• Thesis prize from the Catalysis 2020 Division of the Société Chimique de France

Publications :

33 (as of 05/2025)

Major illustrative publications:

• C. Maheu, V. Vandalon, M. Mattinen, T. Mayer, A. A. Bol, J. P. Hofmann, p-Type Al-Doped MoS2 Nanosheet Films: Electronic and Chemical Interface Properties with Gold for Electronic Device Integration, ACS Applied Nano Materials, 2025, 8, 9669.
• V. Nikolaou, D. Romito, C. Maheu, J. Hamon, E. Gautron, F. Massuyeau, S. Jobic, F. Odobel, Dual solar-driven hydrogen evolution and alcohol oxidation with CdS quantum dot-sensitized photocatalysts prepared by the SILAR methodology, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2024, 12, 30885-30891.
• C. Maheu, T. Hellmann, C. Prabowo, W. Jaegermann, J. P. Hofmann, T. Mayer, Photoelectron Spectroscopy of Co-evaporated and Spin-Coated LiTFSI-Doped Spiro-OMeTAD Reveals the Interface Energetics Inside a MAPI-based Perovskite Solar Cell, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2023, 127, 43, 21351-21362.
• C. Maheu, E. Puzenat, P. Afanasiev, L. Cardenas, C. Geantet, Photocatalytic production of H2 is a multi-criteria optimization problem: case study of RuS2/TiO2, Catalysis Today, 2021, 377, 166-175.
• C. Maheu, L. Cardenas, E. Puzenat, P. Afanasiev, C. Geantet, UPS and UV Spectroscopies combined to position the energy levels of TiO2 anatase and rutile nanopowders, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 2018, 20, 40, 25629-25637.

Link to publi HAL : https://hal.science/search/index/q/*/authIdHal_s/clement-maheu

Link to orcid :https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5417-5672

Link to scholar.google.fr : https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=u3bDR5MAAAAJ&hl=fror

Other links :

https://clementmaheu.wordpress.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/clément-maheu-a922808a

https://bsky.app/profile/maheuclement.bsky.social

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Clement-Maheu-2

CNRS Research Fellow

CNRS Research Fellow

CNRS Research Director

Function:

• CNRS researcher (CR1 section 15)
• Researcher in the group “Innovative Materials for Optical, Photovoltaics and Storage” at the Institute of Materials Jean Rouxel of Nantes (IMN).

Before

• 2005-16 : CNRS researcher in the laboratory “Physique de la Matière Condensée (PMC)” at the Ecole Polytechnique – Palaiseau, in the group of T. Gacoin.
• 2005 : Postdoctoral position at the University of Barcelona (ICMAB) in the group of Prof. C. Rovira.
• 2003-05: Postdoctoral position at Cornell University (USA) in the group of Prof. F. DiSalvo.

Qualifications:

• 2015: ‘Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches’ from Versailles St-Quentin University, speciality Inorganic Chemistry.
• 2000-03: Ph.D. of Ecole Polytechnique at Nantes and Angers Universities, speciality Molecular Materials, in the group of P. Batail.
• 2000: Master degree “Advanced Solid State Chemistry” at Nantes University.

Research themes:

• Photoluminescent molecular materials
• Stimuli-responsive materials (mechanochromism, thermochromism, vapochromism…)
• Transition metal molecular clusters
• Copper(I) coordination chemistry

Publications:

As of 1/2017:

• 54 publications in international peer-reviewed journals.
• 1 Patent.
• 20 national/international conference presentations.

CNRS Research Fellow

Version française

Position:

• Since 2008, CNRS research scientist in Section 17 – Chemistry of materials, nanomaterials and processes
• Team “Electrochemical storage and conversion of energy” (ST2E) in the field of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)

Qualifications:

• 10/10/2002: PhD Thesis, LCPS (UCCS now), Villeneuve d’Ascq (France)
  “New high-valent transition metal oxides obtained by electrosynthesis: stacking layers, twinning and composite structures”.
• 10/07/2023: Habilitation to supervise research (HDR), Nantes University
  “Crystallochemistry applied to energy materials”.

Main research topics:

• Synthesis, characterizations and properties of new materials for SOFC.
• Structure determination by X-Ray diffraction (single crystals, powder).

Biography:

• 2003-2005: Post-doc under the supervision of Pr. Kanatzidis, East Lansing (USA).
  Thermoelectric properties of new chalcogenides with high figure of merit.
• 2005-2007: ATER (Temporary Teaching and Research Position), LRCS, Amiens (France).
  Teaching: Solid state chemistry and crystallography.
  Research: Na+/Ag+ conductivity in new iron phosphate materials.
• 2007-2008: Post-doc, IMN, Nantes (France).
  Proton conduction in new barium indate related compounds.

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7887-892X
Google Scholar link: https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=RWOpWy4AAAAJ&hl=en

French version

Functions :

• Since 2008, CNRS research fellow in Section 17 – Chemistry of materials, nanomaterials and processes.
• Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion (ST2E) team in the field of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).

Qualifications :

• 10/10/2002: Thesis, LCPS (now UCCS), Villeneuve d’Ascq (France).

“New high-valent transition metal oxides obtained by electrosynthesis: layer stacks, macles and composite structures”.

• 10/07/2023: Habilitation to direct research (HDR), Nantes University.

“Cristallochemistry applied to energy materials”.

Main research themes:

• Synthesis, characterization and properties of new materials for SOFCs.
• Structure determination by X-ray diffraction (single crystals, powder).

Biography:

• 2003-2005: Post-doc under the supervision of Prof. Kanatzidis, East Lansing (USA).
  Thermoelectric properties of new high merit chalcogenides.
• 2005-2007: ATER (Temporary teaching and research associate), LRCS, Amiens (France).
• Teaching: Solid state chemistry and crystallography.
  Research: Na+/Ag+ conductivity in new iron phosphate materials.
• 2007-2008: Post-doct, IMN, Nantes (France).
  Proton conduction in new compounds derived from barium indate.

ORCID link: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7887-892X
Google Scholar link : https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=RWOpWy4AAAAJ&hl=en

CNRS Research Director

Functions :

• Since 2019: Head of PCM group
• Since 2018: CNRS Research Director at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes Jean Rouxel, in the Plasma and Thin films group, PCM
• 2017-2018: CNRS Research Fellow at the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, in Nantes in the Plasma and Thin films group, PCM
• 2003-2017: CNRS Research Fellow at the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel, in Nantes in the CESES group
• 1995-2002: Chargé de recherché CNRS at the Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, in the Groupe des Matériaux Inorganiques
• 1994-1995: Post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratoire de Recherche sur les tissus calcifiés. “Characterization of bone substitute materials, before and after implantation in animals, by electron diffraction and transmission electron microscopy”.

Qualifications :

• 2011: Habilitation to direct research
• 1994: PhD university of Nantes, “Synthesis, characterization and acid-base exchange of layered perovskites: A2Ln2Ti3O10 (A=Na, K, Ln=Y, La, Nd).” Supervised by Dr Luc Brohan at the Institut des Matériaux de Nantes.

Expertises :

• Synthesis of thin films coupling chemistry in solution and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition
• Characterisations of nanostructured solids and thin films by XPS, vibrational spectroscopies, X-Rays diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy

Main research themes:

• Nanocomposite thin films by coupling chemistry in solution and Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition
• Transition metal oxides by soft chemistry and plasma for photo-induced applications, opto-electronic applications

Current research projects :

Involved in 2 to 3 projects per year as partner or responsible

Activities in the research community :

• Co- and supervision of 25 doctors since 1998
• Involvement in ANR (National Agency of Research) projects with industrial partnership
• Since 2020: Member of the scientific committee of the Research Federation FR 2050 Photoelectron spectroscopy
• Member of the scientific committee of the Group of Research, GDR HPero (2017-2022)
• Member of the Committee for Electron Spectroscopies representing the Nord-West part of France since 2016
• Since 2022, member of the steering committee of the French-Canadian International Research Network dedicated to Controlled Multifunctional Nanomaterials
• Member of the local committee in Nantes, at the Ecole Doctorale ED3PML, the ED3M and finally ED 3 MG, including pre-examination for the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches since 2015

Biography:

Mireille Richard-Plouet is a French researcher in the field of inorganic materials and nanomaterials. She obtained her PhD from the University of Nantes in 1994, with a thesis on the synthesis and characterization of layered perovskites, under the supervision of Dr Luc Brohan. After a post-doctoral position, at the Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Tissus Calcifiés (1994-1995), she joined the CNRS as a full-time researcher at the Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg (1995-2002), where she studied low-dimensional magnetic materials and developed sol-gel and hydrothermal syntheses. In 2003, she joined the Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN) in Nantes, where she was promoted to research director in 2018 and took over as head of the “Plasma and Thin Films” group in 2019. Her work focuses on nanocomposite thin films, transition metal oxides for optoelectronic applications, and advanced characterization of nanostructured solids using techniques such as XPS spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.

Winner of the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2000, she has supervised over 20 PhD students since 1998 and published 113 scientific papers.

Involved in the scientific community, she plays an active part in national and industrial research projects, and sits on several scientific committees, including that of the FR 2050 research federation on photoemission spectroscopy, and the steering committee of the Franco-Canadian research network dedicated to Controlled Multifunctional Nanomaterials.

CNRS Research Fellow

Position:

CNRS researcher

Qualifications:

• March 2017 Doctor of Engineering – Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tokyo, Japan
• “Molecular-Geometry Approaches to Develop Functional Fluorophores Based on Classic Aromatic Hydrocarbons” Supervisor: Gen-ichi Konishi

Previous positions:

• Apr. 2020 – Dec. 2021 Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Oxford

Inorganic Chemistry laboratory, Oxford, United Kingdom
The project funded by EPSRC (UK) on “Soft chemical control to achieve new layered architectures and strongly correlated states”
Supervisor: Simon J. Clarke

• May 2017 – Mar. 2020 JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, Nantes Université

Institut des Matériaux Jean Rouxel (IMN), Nantes, France
The project funded by JSPS (Japan) on “Rational design and study of layered transition metal chalcogenides with various local geometry obtained by a novel topotactic intercalation concept”
Supervisor: Laurent Cario

Main research topics:

Design & synthesis of chalcogenides, mixed-anion compounds, low-dimensional materials, quantum materials, π-conjugated systems, fluorescent dyes

Biography

Shunsuke Sasaki currently works at the Jean Rouxel Materials Institute in Nantes (IMN) as a permanent researcher affiliated to the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). He earned his bachelor’s degree in polymer chemistry from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2014. He continued his studies in organic and polymeric materials at the same institute and completed his Ph.D. research on the design of fluorescent molecules in 2017, under the supervision of Dr. Gen-ichi Konishi. Afterward, he decided to shift his focus to inorganic solid-state chemistry and worked as a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Nantes University under the guidance of Dr. Laurent Cario and his co-workers at IMN until 2020. He conducted another postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford with Dr. Simon J. Clarke before being recruited by CNRS in 2022. His current research focuses on developing novel low-temperature reactions that enable the tailored design of inorganic solid-state materials with exotic 2D structures.

Ongoing research projects:

French National Research Agency (ANR) project – COBEDIT
“Covalent-bond editing by topochemistry of chalcogenide materials” Role: Coordinator

Activities in the research community

International Core-to-core/ASPIRE network on mixed-anion compounds involving France (IMN, ICMCB, UCCS, ISCR), Japan (Kyoto University), UK (University of Oxford), Belgium (University of Antwerp) and Germany (RWTH Aachen).

Prizes:

2024 J. Mater Chem B Outstanding peer reviewers, Royal society of chemistry.
2023 Rising Stars in Organic and Inorganic Chemistry 2023, American Chemical Society

Main publications:

• Anionic Redox Topochemistry for Materials Design: Chalcogenides and Beyond.
  ACS Org. Inorg. Au 4, 26-40 (2024).
• Anion Redox as a Means to Derive Layered Manganese Oxychalcogenides with Exotic Intergrowth Structures.
  Nat. Commun. 14, 2917 (2023).
• Design of Metastable Oxychalcogenide Phases by Topochemical (de)intercalation of Sulfur in La2O2S2.
  Nat. Commun. 12, 3605 (2021).
• Principles of Aggregation-Induced Emission: Design of Deactivation Pathways for Advanced AIEgens and Applications.
  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 59, 9856-9867 (2020).

Orcid link: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8358-1629

Scholar.google.com link: https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=gPGubGsAAAAJ&hl=en

CNRS Research Fellow

Function:

CNRS researcher, HDR

Main research theme :

Radical chemistry

Current research projects :

• RADICO: µs measurement of the carbonate radical (CO3°-) at the solid/solution interface
• FRICKE POUR TOUS: Quantification of oxidative radicals produced by photolysis, sonolysis, radiolysis….

Publications:

Physico-Chemistry

Terfas, S.; Blain, G.; Craff, E.; Koumeir, C.; Haddad, F.; Poirier, F.; Delpon, G.; Vandenborre, J. Oxygen Dependence on Hydrated Electron Yields: Pulsed Radiolysis Studies Using Proton Beams. J. Phys. Chem. A 2025, 129 (22), 4861-4869.

Geosciences

Lefeuvre, N.; Truche, L.; Donzé, F.-V.; Vandenborre, J.; Gaucher, E. C.; Magnin, V. The Contribution of Mechanoradical Reactions to Crustal Hydrogen Generation. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2025, 660, 119363.

Health

Blain, G.; Vandenborre, J.; Villoing, D.; Fiegel, V.; Fois, G. R.; Haddad, F.; Koumeir, C.; Maigne, L.; Métivier, V.; Poirier, F.; Potiron, V.; Supiot, S.; Servagent, N.; Delpon, G.; Chiavassa, S. Proton Irradiations at Ultra-High Dose Rate vs. Conventional Dose Rate: Strong Impact on Hydrogen Peroxide Yield. Radiation Research 2022, 198 (3), 318-324.

Energy

Vandenborre, J.; Guillonneau, S.; Blain, G.; Haddad, F.; Truche, L. From Nuclear Waste to Hydrogen Production: From Past Consequences to Future Prospect. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy 2024, 64, 65-68.

Link to publi HAL: 102697930
Link to orcid: 0000-0002-7718-7120