Plastics and composites aren’t recycled as often as we might wish, as a result of a lack of facilities, the right technologies not yet existing or not being profitable, or hazardous waste deposits. IMT Nord Europe have been working in partnership with manufacturers to develop and improve the available technologies. Plastics and composites get a lot of bad press, but it …

Recovering untreated plastic materials and putting them back into the recycling loop through a decontamination line is the challenge of thesis research by Layla Gripon, a PhD student at IMT Lille Douai. These extraction methods contribute to a comprehensive approach to recovering plastic materials, in particular brominated plastics. High consumption of electronic devices implies a significant amount of waste to …

There has been a significant revolution in the world of materials as 3D printing has proved its potential for innovation. Now it must be put into practice. While 3D printers are increasingly present in prototyping workshops, they have been slow to replace the processes traditionally used in the plastics industry. This is because these technologies are too restrictive, in terms …

As required by environmental transition, materials of the future must be “greener”. Bioplastics in particular have become a main focus of attention, and are often presented as the solution to the pollution caused by the plastics we use every day, which can take hundreds of years to decompose. Patricia Krawczak, a researcher at Mines Douai, studies these new polymers. Yet …

Skin contact products, whether for medical, sanitary or cosmetic purposes, have two major drawbacks: they are neither recyclable nor biodegradable. The Polybioskin H2020 project aims to correct these aspects which are out of step with consumers’ growing environmental awareness and concerns. Launched two years ago, the Polybioskin project brings together 12 European partners, including IMT Mines Alès, and will come …

Piezoelectric polymers may be key in the manufacturing of future generations of connected devices. Thanks to their capacity to generate electricity under mechanical stress, they could greatly reduce the energy consumption of intelligent sensors and make them autonomous. But in order to achieve this, researchers must be able to make these polymers compatible with classic production techniques in the plastics …

As a major component of the Industry of the Future project, additive manufacturing — or 3D printing — is leading to ever-increasing research on materials. Researchers at Mines Douai seized on the opportunity to explore this line of research a little over two years ago. Today, the many requests the school has received for research partnerships show the importance of …

Hydrogen is presented as an energy vector of the future. In a power-to-gas system, it serves as an intermediary for the transformation of electricity into synthetic methane. The success of this energy solution depends heavily on its production cost, so IMT researchers are working on optimizing the different processes for a more competitive power-to-gas solution.   Increasing production of renewable energy and reducing …

After the “Digital” fund, Institut Mines-Télécom (IMT) and the Fondation Mines-Télécom launched a second fund last October called “Industry & Energy 4.0” and dedicated to the sciences of energy, materials and processes. The Capsit and Plas’tri start-ups incubated at IMT Atlantique and Mines Saint-Étienne respectively are the first to benefit from the honor loans of this new fund.   

Measuring and quantifying have informed Véronique Bellon-Maurel’s entire scientific career. A pioneer in near infrared spectroscopy, the researcher’s work has ranged from analyzing fruit to digital agriculture. Over the course of her fundamental research, Véronique Bellon-Maurel has contributed to the optimization of many industrial processes. She is now the Director of #DigitAg, a multi-partner Convergence Lab, and is the winner …