Uploaded July 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Louise Hespel is visiting OIST from 2024-05-20 until 2024-08-15 through the "Theoretical Sciences Visiting Program" (TSVP). Find out more about the TSVP on the program website:
oist.jp/visiting-program.
Abstract: Polymeric membranes are essential in our daily life in various applications, such as water treatment, gas separation, filtration, food packaging, biomedical applications (plaster, drug delivery), micro- and nanofluids, and fuel cells, thanks to their low cost, their efficiency and their versatility. A polymeric membrane seems to be only a thin film of plastic, but it hides a more complex and interesting technology. Moreover, it is possible to add specific properties (improved barrier properties, dynamic structure, drug delivery) at this membrane. This kind of membranes is recently receiving growing attention. In this talk, we will define the main characteristics of polymeric membrane and explore different strategies to improve the membrane properties and to add the targeted functionalities.
Profile: Louise Hespel is an associate professor in the PBS laboratory (Polymers, Biopolymers, Surfaces Laboratory) at University of Rouen since 2017, more specifically teaching general chemistry, polymer chemistry and modification post-polymerization in the chemistry department. She is part of the team MPBM (Materials polymers Barrier and Membranes) which focuses on the elaboration of various polymeric membranes and the study of the diffusion mechanisms of molecules through membranes. She received her PhD in macromolecular chemistry from INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) of Rouen, under the supervision of Pr. Laurence Lecamp in 2013. During her PhD, she synthesized new amphiphilic stimuli-sensitive copolymers from linseed oil and studied the copolymers capacity to form micelles in aqueous media at different conditions of pH and temperature. This work has many applications specially in drug delivery. From 2014 to 2015, she was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Kataoka in University of Tokyo where she developed new micelles with pH-detachable PEG-corona. In 2016, she joined ENS (Paris, Ulm) to work with Dr. Emmanuelle Marie and Dr. Christophe Tribet to synthesize a polymer adlayer able to trigger the adhesion and the deadhesion of cells. In PBS laboratory, her research focuses on the modification of polymeric membranes in order to bring specific properties like stimuli-sensitive properties.
#OIST #OIST_TSVP #GasSeparation #filtration #Membrane #Polymeric #Biopolymers #research #oist #oist_tsvp #Theoretical #Science #VisitingProgram #Okinawa #TSVP
Louise Hespel is visiting OIST from 2024-05-20 until 2024-08-15 through the "Theoretical Sciences Visiting Program" (TSVP). Find out more about the TSVP on the program website:
oist.jp/visiting-program.
Abstract: Polymeric membranes are essential in our daily life in various applications, such as water treatment, gas separation, filtration, food packaging, biomedical applications (plaster, drug delivery), micro- and nanofluids, and fuel cells, thanks to their low cost, their efficiency and their versatility. A polymeric membrane seems to be only a thin film of plastic, but it hides a more complex and interesting technology. Moreover, it is possible to add specific properties (improved barrier properties, dynamic structure, drug delivery) at this membrane. This kind of membranes is recently receiving growing attention. In this talk, we will define the main characteristics of polymeric membrane and explore different strategies to improve the membrane properties and to add the targeted functionalities.
Profile: Louise Hespel is an associate professor in the PBS laboratory (Polymers, Biopolymers, Surfaces Laboratory) at University of Rouen since 2017, more specifically teaching general chemistry, polymer chemistry and modification post-polymerization in the chemistry department. She is part of the team MPBM (Materials polymers Barrier and Membranes) which focuses on the elaboration of various polymeric membranes and the study of the diffusion mechanisms of molecules through membranes. She received her PhD in macromolecular chemistry from INSA (National Institute of Applied Sciences) of Rouen, under the supervision of Pr. Laurence Lecamp in 2013. During her PhD, she synthesized new amphiphilic stimuli-sensitive copolymers from linseed oil and studied the copolymers capacity to form micelles in aqueous media at different conditions of pH and temperature. This work has many applications specially in drug delivery. From 2014 to 2015, she was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Prof. Kataoka in University of Tokyo where she developed new micelles with pH-detachable PEG-corona. In 2016, she joined ENS (Paris, Ulm) to work with Dr. Emmanuelle Marie and Dr. Christophe Tribet to synthesize a polymer adlayer able to trigger the adhesion and the deadhesion of cells. In PBS laboratory, her research focuses on the modification of polymeric membranes in order to bring specific properties like stimuli-sensitive properties.
#OIST #OIST_TSVP #GasSeparation #filtration #Membrane #Polymeric #Biopolymers #research #oist #oist_tsvp #Theoretical #Science #VisitingProgram #Okinawa #TSVP







![Feng Liu: Excitonic Bose Einstein Condensation in Flat Bands (TSVP Talk at OIST)
Find out more about the TSVP on the program website: https://www.oist.jp/visiting-program.
Abstract: An excitonic insulator (EI) phase can be stabilized in narrow-gap semiconductors/semimetals when spontaneously formed excitons, bound bosonic pairs of electrons and holes, condense at low temperatures. The search for excitonic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in intrinsic semiconductors has received tremendous attention in the past decade, but so far convincing evidence remains lacking. Several material candidates have been recently proposed computationally, but these studies are limited to single exciton calculations and the effects of interactions, if included, are approximated using mean-field approach. In this talk, I will discuss our recent work investigating the role of topological flat bands (FBs) in promoting excitonic BEC. First, I will show that flat valence and conduction bands (so-called yin-yang FBs) of quantum semiconductors [1], such as the one having a diatomic Kagome lattice as exemplified in a superatomic graphene, conspire to indicate a triplet EI state, based on DFT-GW and BSE calculations for a single exciton formation. Next, using exact diagonalization method to solve an extended Hubbard lattice model of yin-yang FBs, I will show directly spontaneous BEC of triplet excitons, based on analyses of multi-exciton formation energies and wave functions [2]. I will demonstrate the critical role of FBs in promoting quantum coherence, as evidenced by off-diagonal long-range order in many-exciton states. These works significantly enriches FB and excitonic physics while providing a unique platform for material realization of spinor BEC and spin superfluidity.
Profile: Feng Liu received his B.Sc. in Engineering physics from Tsinghua University in 1984 and earned his Ph.D. in 1990 at Virginia Commonwealth University in Chemical physics. He is currently a Distinguished and Ivan B. Cutler endowed chair Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Utah. His research interests lie in the theoretical modeling and computer simulation, from electronic to atomic and to mesoscopic scales, to study a wide spectrum of physical behavior of materials, with a special focus on surfaces/interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional materials. His best-known work includes theoretical modeling of strain-induced self-assembly of quantum dots and quantum wires in epitaxial growth of thin films, prediction of organic two-dimensional topological materials and surface-based topological states, and prediction of many-body quantum states of yin-yang flat bands. He is recipient of 2023 American Physical Society Davisson-Germer Prize in Surface Physics. He is a Fellow of American Physical Society. He served as Divisional Associated Editor of Physical Review Letters. He is a founding editor-in-chief for Coshare Science, a new international journal of video research articles.
#OIST #OIST_TSVP #Theoretical #Science #VisitingProgram #Okinawa #TSVP Feng Liu: Excitonic Bose Einstein Condensation in Flat Bands (TSVP Talk at OIST)](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XOZ9nIou5JE/mqdefault.jpg)


