Research overview

My research aims to understand and control the flow of complex fluids used in various material transformation processes.

The complex fluids studied come from the fields of food processing (skimmed milk), cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, microelectronics, petroleum (clay-polymer dispersions), biotechnology (microorganisms), and composite materials (filled polyurethane foams, cellulosic nanocomposites with controlled structure and orientation).

These media are composed of an aqueous or polymer matrix and deformable solid particles (clay discs, platelets or fibers, silica spheres) or biological cells (yeasts, bacteria) ranging in size from nanometers to micrometers.

The industrial objective is to improve performance in terms of both processes and the materials manufactured or treated.

The processes that utilize these suspensions (membrane separation, coating, extrusion, film casting) involve shear and elongation flows, which can generate flow instabilities and complex structural arrangements that are still not fully understood.

The scientific objective of this research is to characterize the relationships between the mechanical properties of flow (velocity fields, strain fields, stress fields) and structural properties (aggregations, orientations, phase changes) in order to understand and control the mechanisms governing the flow of these fluids.

The methods employed include structural characterization techniques using X-ray, neutron, or small-angle light scattering; local birefringence coupled with rheometric measurements; particle image velocimetry; and optical tweezers.

This multidisciplinary research was conducted through numerous collaborations, notably with the following institutes, universities, and research laboratories:

 INRA UMR 1253 SLTO,  PHENIX,  LPS,  Lab Phys ENS Lyon,  ESPCI,  LIPhy

CERMAV,  LGP2,  DCM,  LEGI,  LGC,  LEMTA,  tbi(LISBP),  LTHE