The Clustomesogen project
The CLUSTOMESOGEN project is a project financed by the Agence National de la Recherche (ANR, ANR-13-BS07-0003-01). It aims to synthesise and study functional liquid crystals containing metallic clusters as Red-NIR luminescent inorganic dyes.
Liquid crystals (LC) are extensively used in low power,
flat-panel displays and are also found in diverse applications like temperature sensing, telecom, or in the fields of spectroscopy, holography, biomedical...
In addition to their self-assembly abilities, properties such as luminescence, redox states and/or magnetism can be incorporated inside LC materials.
Controlling the molecular aggregation in the LC phases allows then the fine tuning of optical and electronic properties in the emergent organization. Synthesis
of such multifunctional materials is a challenging area of research since new properties and applications can emerged from their comprehensive studies.
Octahedral metal atom clusters containing [M6X14]n- units (M = Mo, Re; X = halogen, chalcogen, 2 n 7) are aggregates of six metal atoms held together by *
metal-metal bonds and can be highly emissive in the red-NIR area.
Their incorporation into LCs leads to multifunctional nanomaterials with very interesting optical and electronic properties due to synergetic effects:
self-assembly of luminescent clusters into stimuli responsive anisotropic soft matrix.
Molecular engineering of LC is an important issue to control self-assembling and self-organization processes of single entities into periodically ordered
meso- and nanostructures.
The project aims to combine the world of LC dendrimers with the one of solid state chemistry by designing and studying LC supermolecules
containing luminescent transition metal cluster as their core. It will use a dual experimental/modelling approach to understand
the self-assembling processes and target specific supramolecular architectures. In order to explore the potential of such material in optical
and optoelectronic applications, clustomesogen containing devices will be designed and their optical properties studied.
Five partners are participating to this 42 Months project:
The Institute of Chemical Sciences of Rennes (CSM, MaCSE and CTI groups)
The Institute of Physics of Rennes (Nanosciences Materials Department)
The Institute of Electronic and Telecomunication of Rennes (Mass spectrometry group)
The Optics Department of Telecom Bretagne (link)
The FOTON Laboratory (Characterization group)
News
02/09/2016:
By following this link, you'll be able to download the first review article on clustomesogens (first 50 downloads are free)
14/04/2016:
The CNRS Institute of Chemistry highlights our results on supramolecular clustomesogens
25/01/2016:
A first manuscript rewarding a new collaboration between the CSM team and Prof. S. Laschat group from the University of Stuttgart, has been published in Chem. Commun. as an advanced article today !
01/09/2015:
Congratulations to Nada Marquise who joined the CSM group and to Maria Amela-Cortes who is now embracing a Maitre de Conferences career at the University of Rennes 1 in the CSM group. Nada will continue the work iniciated by Maria while she was working on the project.
01/09/2015:
An article entitled "Design and integration in electro-optic devices of highly efficient and robust red NIR phosphorescent nematic hybrid liquid crystals containing [Mo6I8(OCOCnF2n+1)6]2- (n = 1, 2, 3) nanoclusters", M. Prevôt, M. Amela-Cortes, S. K. Manna, R. Lefort, S. Cordier, H. Folliot, L. Dupont, Y. Molard, Adv. Func. Mater., 2015, 25, 4966-4975, is now published in Advanced Functional Materials and is promoted with a cover.
22/07/2015:
An article entitled "From mesomorphic phosphine oxide to clustomesogens containing molybdenum and tungsten octahedral cluster cores", is now published online in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 37, 10921-10925
15/07/2015:
Discussions during ILCC 2014 led to a new collaboration, that is now acknowledged with a communication in Advanced Optical Materials, between the CSM team and Pr. S. Morris group from the Soft Matter Photonics group of the University of Oxford (Engineering Department).
27/05/2015:
An article entitled "Electroswitchable Red-NIR luminescence of ionic clustomesogen containing nematic liquid crystalline device", M. Prevôt et al., J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 5152-5161 is now published in J. Mat. Chem C and is promoted with a front cover.
09/02/2015:
An article in RSC Chemistry world has been published by Hugh Cowley about our recent results described in Chem. Commun. here is the link
08/07/2014:
The chemists team has attended to the International Liquid Crystal Conference in Trinity College, University of Dublin (ILCC 2014, Ireland) from June the 29th to July the 4th.They (M. Prevôt, S. Nayak, F. Camerel and Y. Molard) presented their results during oral presentations in front of an international panel made of LC experts.
11/06/2014:
Congratulations to Marianne Prevôt who brilliantly finished in the 4th position in the national competition "Ma thèse en 180 secondes". Now, even Mme Genevieve Fioraso, the French state secretary responsible of research and universities, learned about what are clustomesogens.
26/05/2014:
The Temperature dependent Quantum Yield Measurement system is now available in the C.S.M. team.
07/04/2014:
Press release in Ouest France of one article written by the pupils of College Jean Macé in Saint Brieuc. hereOther articles were published on the website of the "Academie de Rennes" here, here, and here.
congratulations!
15/03/2014:
Four chemists from ISCR will participate to the ILCC 2014, they all have been selected to give an oral presentation. Congratulations!
28/02/2014:
Around 20 pupils from the "classe presse 4f" of College Jean Macé in Saint Brieuc (equivalent to lower secondary school) came today with MMe Morgane Bannier, their professor of physical sciences, to learn about clustomesogens. After a presentation in the Amphitheater D. Grandjean at ISCR, they visited our laboratory. Their aim is to participate to a press communication competition. We wish them all the best in writting their articles.
03/02/2014:
Flash Chromatography facilities are now available in the C.S.M. team. This apparatus will contribute to ease the purification of organic intermediates in the synthesis of clustomesogens.
10/12/2013:
Congratulations to Marianne Prevôt who received the first price in the regional competition "Ma thèse en 180 secondes". She will defend the Region Bretagne in the national competition that will be held in Lyon in June 2014.
01/10/2013:
The project is launched. All partners participated to the first meeting held in Rennes at ISCR.Publications
Clustomesogens: Liquid Crystalline Hybrid Nanomaterials Containing Functional Metal Nanoclusters
Y. Molard
Acc. Chem. Res., 2016, 49 (8), 1514-1523
Phosphorescent columnar hybrid material containing polyionic inorganic nanoclusters
S. K. Nayak, M. Amela-Cortes, M. M. Neidhardt, S. Beardsworth, J. Kirres, M. Mansueto, S. Cordier, S. Laschat, Y. Molard
Chem. Commun., 2016, 52, 3127-3130
Polarized phosphorescence of isotropic and metal-based clustomesogens dispersed into chiral nematic liquid crystalline films.
S. M. Wood, M. Prevôt, M. Amela-Cortes, S. Cordier, S. J. Elston, Y.Molard, S. M. Morris
Adv. Optical Mater., 2015, 3, 10, 1368-1372
From mesomorphic phosphine oxide to clustomesogens containing molybdenum and tungsten octahedral cluster cores.
V. Circu, Y. Molard, M. Amela-Cortes, A. Bentaleb, P. Barois, S. Cordier
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2015, 54, 37, 10921-10925
Design and integration in electro-optic devices of highly efficient and robust red NIR phosphorescent nematic hybrid liquid crystals containing [Mo6I8(OCOCnF2n+1)6]2- (n = 1, 2, 3) nanoclusters.
M. Prevôt, M. Amela-Cortes, S. K. Manna, R. Lefort, S. Cordier, H. Folliot, L. Dupont, Y. Molard
Adv. Func. Mater., 2015, 25, 4966-4975
Electroswitchable Red-NIR luminescence of ionic clustomesogen containing nematic liquid crystalline device,
M. Prevôt, M. Amela-Cortes, S. K. Manna, S. Cordier, T. Roisnel, H. Folliot, L. Dupont, Y. Molard,
J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 5152-5161
From metallic cluster-based ceramics to nematic hybrid liquid crystals: a double supramolecular approach
Susanta K. Nayak, Maria Amela-Cortes, Claire Roiland, Stephane Cordier, Yann Molard
Chem. Commun., 2015, 58, 3774-3777
Hexacyano octahedral metallic clusters as versatile building blocks in the design of extended polymeric framework and clustomesogens
Maria Amela-Cortes, Stephane Cordier, Nikolay G. Naumov, Cristelle Meriadec,Franck Artzner, Yann Molard, J. Mat. Chem. C., 2014, 2, 9813
Thermotropic Luminescent Clustomesogen Showing a Nematic Phase: A Combination of Experimental and Molecular Simulation Studies
Amela-Cortes, M.; Dorson, F.; Prevot, M.; Ghoufi, A.; Fontaine, B.; Goujon, F.; Gautier, R.; Circu, V.; Meriadec, C.; Artzner, F.; Folliot, H.; Cordier, S.; Molard, Y. Chem. Eur. J. 2014, 20, 8561