Materials research
Materials Research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
The availability of suitable materials is fundamental to the development of successful technological innovations.
During recent years, there has been an explosion in the development of new materials. Nanotechnology is taking materials science into a new dimension, leading to properties and performance never before imagined. Control over the nanostructure of materials allows the creation of a generation of products that best fulfill the extreme properties required by different technological innovations.
Materials Research programs are driven by important economic sectors, such as materials, production, transportation, civil engineering, the chemical industry, the energy and power industries, medical devices, microelectronics and the sport and leisure industry. Creating new materials requires several research domains, and these innovations occur at the boundary between these disciplines.
Therefore, various groups at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel are active in Materials Research, each of them having contacts with a wide spectrum of different industries and with many research institutes all over the world.
From this point of view, Materials Research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel can be split up into various themes:
Understanding of the properties of materials
Fundamental understanding of the mechanics and physics of structural and functional materials at different length scales is being researched with a view to the accurate prediction of properties in relation to the underlying multi-material microstructure. Structure, processing and property relationships are characterized for polymers, inorganic materials and composites.
Key trends are the increasing importance of miniaturization, better control of mechanical and functional properties, functional integration, predictability of failure, and reliability.
Processing technologies of functional materials
Research is performed to gain fundamental insight and understanding into the processing and assembling of functional materials at micro, meso and nano length scales. This leads to and guarantees a required level of performance reliability in the resulting products.
Two types of applications are considered: microelectronics and photonics.
One of the key factors of our success is having access to an entire technology chain comprising modelling, measurement, and rapid-prototyping of different types of 3-D micro-optical components in a variety of materials. And this even before considering assembling the specialty components into practical proof-of-concept demonstrators.
Surface engineering—durability and prediction
More and more materials are regarded as hybrid systems with specific design targeting bulk properties and advanced surface properties. Research focuses on the modification and quantitative characterization of materials’ surfaces. Durability is the keyword here. Energy and materials’conservation during all stages of the lifetime of constructions and devices is being aimed at.
Therefore the relationship between microstructure and surface properties to optimize the corrosion performance, the development of new and improved protective coatings, and the behavior of the interface between the substrate and the often multiple coating-layers is being studied.
Characterization of materials
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel has a unique infrastructure for the characterization of materials. This infrastructure allows characterization of structure and composition at the nanolevel. Various important properties can be monitored. Materials Research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is future-oriented and always on the cutting edge of new developments. The infrastructure and equipment of the university laboratories are continuously updated according to the newest technological evolutions.
Together with 10 major materials producing and materials processing companies (including AGC Flat Glass, Agfa Gevaert, Arcelor-Mittal, Bekaert, Recticel, Solvay, Umicore) and with the support of the Flemish Government, Agoria Vlaanderen and Sirris, the 5 Flemish universities founded the Strategic Initiative Materials ‘SIM’ in June 2009. VUB materials groups actively participate in this Strategic Research Centre.
In this overview, we invite you to discover the research groups that are involved in Materials Research at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. For questions concerning their research or collaboration opportunities, you can directly contact the teams concerned.