Awards, prizes, publications

This study demonstrates a novel integration of 2D semiconductors with ferromagnets using pulsed laser deposition, revealing hybridization-driven spin manipulation. Vertical spin valves with MoS2 and Ni(111) show exotic bimodal spin signals and strong deviations from Jullière’s model. These results highlight the « 2D spinterfaces » key role in unlocking 2D materials’ potential for advanced spintronic applications and novel spin functionalities.

High-energy excited states with slow rates for internal conversion to the lowest-energy excited state are prone to be intercepted before they dissipate energy to the medium.

For this demonstration, a 50 nm-thick film of the ferroelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene (PVDF-TrFE) was used to engrave the 600th anniversary logo at the microscale. Jean Spièce, a researcher in the BSMA division, programmed a scanning probe microscopy tool to locally “draw” arbitrary shapes by precisely modifying the material’s polarization.

Oriane Froment (BSMA) won the best poster award at the annual meeting of the SoftComp EU Network of Excellence (May 19-22 in Venice, Italy). The topic of her poster was "Introducing vitrimers in electrolytes for lithium-metal batteries" by Oriane Froment, Carla Barakat, Charles-André Fustin and Jean-François Gohy

Zinc-iodine batteries (ZIBs) are promising candidates for safe and sustainable energy storage but are hindered by polyiodide shuttling, leading to rapid capacity decay and limited cyclability. Together with researchers from KULeuven and MPIP in Germany, researcher from BSMA Jean-François Gohy has participated to a work led by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in which a “polyiodide reservoirs” concept has been proposed, utilizing iodophilic covalent organic cages to chemically confine polyiodide through host-guest interactions. By precisely engineering the nitrogen-active site densities around three-dimensional superphane-based cavities, these cages evolve from open to near-enclosed structure, achieving molecular-level polyiodide entrapment. This work has recently been published in Angewandte Chemie as Very Important Paper and establishes covalent organic superphanes as a platform for long-life ZIBs.

A block copolymer electrolyte (BCPE) with a liquid crystal and a lithium-ion conductive phase is investigated to assess the influence of an external applied electric field on the bulk morphology and the resulting electrochemical performance. For this purpose, the controlled synthesis of poly(10-[(4-cyano-4′-biphenyl)oxy] decatyl methacrylate)-block-(methoxy-poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) [P(MALC)-b-P(PEGMA-co-GM)] block copolymer is performed by reversible addition–fragmentation transfer polymerization.

Pierre-Paul DE BREUCK has received the 2024 IMCN Best Thesis Award on 23 May 2025. His work was entitled "Small datasets, big predictions: learning methods for uncertainty-aware modelling of multi-fidelity material properties". This Prize, which is granted yearly by the IMCN Institute, rewards the most outstanding PhD work among those who graduated during the previous civil year (2024 in the present case). This initiative aims at promoting excellence in scientific research within the Institute.

A diamond-based quantum sensor developed at UHasselt in collaboration with UCLouvain and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy will accompany Belgian astronaut Raphaël Liégeois on the International Space Station (ISS). The aim? To carry out fundamental research into the behaviour of molecules in microgravity. The aim? To gain a better understanding of the effects of weightlessness on biological systems such as the human body and plants. At the end of 2026, Belgian astronaut Raphaël Liégeois of the European Space Agency (ESA) will embark on his first space mission, carrying a diamond-based quantum sensor for astrochemical research to the International Space Station (ISS). Developed by the OSCAR team at Hasselt University in collaboration with UCLouvain and the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), this quantum sensor will spend 6 months researching the behaviour of light-sensitive molecules in microgravity.

The ability to tune the energy gap in bilayer graphene makes it the perfect playground for the study of the effects of internal electric fields, such as the crystalline field, which are developed when other layered materials are deposited on top of it. Here, we introduce a novel device architecture allowing simultaneous control over the applied displacement field and the crystalline alignment between two materials. Our experimental and numerical results confirm that the crystal field and electrostatic doping due to the interface reflect the 120° symmetry of the bilayer graphene/BN heterostructure and are highly affected by the commensurate state. These results provide unique insight into the role of twist angle in the development of internal crystal fields and intrinsic electrostatic doping in heterostructures. Our results highlight the importance of layer alignment, beyond the existence of a moiré superlattice, to understand the intrinsic properties of a heterostructure.