For the past twenty years, industry sectors across the board have been producing a wide range of nanomaterials. They have developed rapidly and with little in the way of regulation. This has led to a regulatory vacuum when it comes to the end-of-life management of these nanomaterials. Little is known about the environmental and health impacts linked to the future …

In the future, materials will not only need to be more efficient; it will also be essential that they are environmentally friendly. With this in mind, researchers from IMT Mines Alès who specialize in bio-sourced materials are working on this project.  Over the past few decades, they have been trying to develop environmentally-friendly alternatives to the most polluting materials. One …

To help reduce or stabilize soil and water pollution, plants provide a rather effective yet inexpensive solution. They must be implemented on a case-by-case basis and could be used in a wide variety of sites.   According to the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe), 300,000 to 400,000 industrial or mining sites in France are potentially polluted, which represents …

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 …

A recent winner of a CNRS Bronze medal, Romain Quey is a materials science researcher at the Georges Friedel[1] laboratory at Mines Saint-Étienne. He focuses especially on the deformation of metallic polycrystalline materials. In the following interview for I’MTech, he presents his research, between synchrotron radiation and digital simulation.     Could you define what a polycrystalline material is? Romain …

Carbon fibre composite materials are increasingly widespread, and their use continues to rise every year. Recycling these materials remains difficult, but is nevertheless necessary at the European level for environmental, economic and legislative reasons. At IMT Mines Albi, researchers are working on a new method: vapo-thermolysis. While this process offers promising results, there are many steps to be taken before a …

The decade-long ACCUM project carried out by SNCF, Stratiforme Industries, the Valenciennes Railway Testing Center and IMT Lille Douai has led to the development of a new catenary cantilever system for railways. This advance represents a major change in this field, where equipment has seen little change over the past 50 years.   When asked to draw a train on …

Article written in partnership with The Conversation. By Stéphanie Tillement and Nicolas Thiolliere, IMT Atlantique. Nuclear energy plays a very important role in France – where 75 % of the country’s electricity is produced using this energy – and raises crucial questions concerning both its role in the future electricity mix and methods for managing the associated radioactive materials and …

IMT Nord Europe | Civil Engineering, Environment, Geosciences, Geomaterials

Out of the 4 billion tons of cement produced every year, the overwhelming majority is Portland cement.  Invented over 200 years ago in France by Louis Vicat — then patented by Englishman Joseph Aspdin —Portland is a star in the world of building materials. Its almost unparalleled durability has allowed it to outperform its competitors, so much so that the …