Awards, prizes, publications

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a versatile class of materials whose structural, electronic and functional properties can be tailored by selecting the geometry and chemical composition of their linker and spacer moieties. We have synthesized single-layer B3N3-linked 2D COFs with biphenyl and quaterphenyl spacers on Ag(111) and Au(111) under ultra-high vacuum conditions. The comprehensive experimental characterization combined scanning tunneling microscopy, bond-resolved atomic force microscopy and photoemission spectroscopy. Density functional calculations revealed differences between the two BN-substituted COFs and their carbon-based analogues. The conduction bands of the COFs are primarily derived from electronic states of the spacer units. Introducing B3N3 linkers into the COFs increases the band gap and reduces frontier band dispersion, effects that can be further modulated by the length of the spacers. Additionally, the site-selective dehydrogenation of B3N3 nodes is shown to locally modify the COF's electronic properties. We thus demonstrate the effect of atomically precise B3N3 substitution on the electronic structure of two distinct kagome systems, through a comparative analysis of isostructural BN and CC substituted COFs. These results establish a new strategy for developing stable, metal-free COFs with structural diversity and programmable band structures, offering insights into the controlled BN-doping of low-dimensional carbon nanostructures.

Mixed ionic-electronic conductors (MIECs) are highly sought after for electrochemical systems because they support concurrent charge and mass transport. Yet, structurally well-defined single-phase MIECs remain scarce, as most systems rely on physical mixtures of ionic and electronic conductors. Here, we introduce a cation-rich design strategy to realize solid-state mixed Li+-electronic conduction in a two-dimensional copper–catecholate metal–organic framework, Cu3(HOTAT)2, built from the 3-fold symmetric new ligand 2,3,7,8,12,13-hexahydroxytriazatruxene (HHTAT). Owing to the combined redox activity of Cu2+/Cu+ and the HOTAT ligand, controlled fractional reduction generates a family of LixCu3(HOTAT)2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 7.50) phases with tunable transport properties, in good agreement with electronic-structure calculations. The Li-rich phase Li7.50Cu3(HOTAT)2 exhibits intrinsic mixed conduction at room temperature, with an electronic conductivity of 2.8 × 10–3 S cm–1, and solid-state Li+ conductivity of 1.1 × 10–3 S cm–1. As a proof of concept, Li7.50Cu3(HOTAT)2 operates as a homogeneous cathode in all-solid-state Li batteries, delivering 100 mAh g–1 after 100 cycles with ∼99.8% Coulombic efficiency, indicative of highly reversible electrochemical behavior. These results establish cation-rich reduction of redox-active 2D MOFs as an efficient route to engineer solid-state mixed Li+-electronic conductors, opening a pathway toward dual-conducting porous materials for solid-state electrochemical technologies.

Congratulations to Victor CHAMBON who won the Second Prize for Best Poster at the Annual European Rheology Conference AERC 2026 for his poster entitled "Aqueous silicate : Study of Very High Shear Modulus Viscoelastic Liquid" by V. Chambon, A. M. Jonas, E. van Ruymbeke

Diabetic wounds are a significant clinical challenge due to chronic inflammation, persistent oxidative stress, hyperglycaemic and hypoxic conditions, bacterial infections, and impaired tissue regeneration, all of which delay healing and increase complications. Addressing these multifaceted issues requires innovative therapeutic strategies capable of modulating the diabetic wound microenvironment. Herein, we developed a polyphenol-assisted gold‑platinum (AuPt) core-shell nanozyme with multi-enzyme mimetic activities, including glucose oxidase (GOD), catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and oxidase (OXD)-like functions. Computational insights based on density functional theory (DFT) further supported the Au–Pt synergistic design. By synergistically combining the catalytic properties of Au and Pt, the nanozyme modulate oxidative stress, and reduces inflammation while promoting fibroblast viability and context-dependent antibacterial activity under acidic, ROS-rich conditions relevant to inflamed wound sites. In vivo experiments using a diabetic mouse model revealed that the developed AuPt nanozymes promoted wound healing by improving epidermal regeneration and collagen synthesis while suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-α and IL-1β. These results highlight the potential of polyphenol-assisted AuPt nanozymes as a robust and multifunctional therapy to address key pathological barriers in diabetic wound healing, providing a foundation for future clinical applications.

Glycals are unsaturated sugar derivatives constituting a large family of polyhydroxylated synthons which are widely exploited as synthetic intermediates in the synthesis of natural products and as final molecules for biochemical applications. We report the first investigation in the understudied area of structure–reactivity relationship and quantitative mapping of reactivity in endo- and exo-glycals compounds. For quantifying the nucleophilicity of the C═C double bond of a series of endo- and exo-glycals, we performed kinetic investigations of their C─C bond formation with reference electrophiles of known electrophilicity parameters. Fast spectroscopic techniques experiments (stopped-flow and laser-flash photolysis) enabled us to determine the rate constant of hundreds of reactions, which allows the first comprehensive mapping and structure–reactivity analysis of the nucleophilic reactivity of this wide family of cyclic enol ethers. Quantum–chemical calculations corroborate with kinetic investigations and highlight the crucial role of ring strain variations to explain the relative nucleophilicity of endo- and exo-glycals. We examined also the influence of substitution and showed that alkoxy substituents decrease nucleophilicity through inductive effects and hyperconjugation.

Understanding charge transport in networks of 2D crystals is essential for developing reliable applications such as chemiresistors or electromagnetic shields. For this purpose, intra- and inter-flake contributions to the network resistance must be disentangled. MXenes such as Ti3C2Tx, are prime examples of 2D crystals often employed as thin networks of interconnected flakes for functional devices. While a significant number of studies focused on transport in individual MXene flakes, inter-flake transport remains scarcely explored. Here, we demonstrate that charge transport in multi-flake conductive paths of Ti3C2Tx is dominated by interflake junctions and provide quantitative estimates of junction resistances. Scanning probe measurements reveal that in a MXene multi-flake conductive path, individual flakes behave as isopotential domains, since the voltage drop is localized precisely at inter-flake junctions. The chemiresistive response to humidity is further investigated at the single flake, multi-flake and flake network scale, evidencing the crucial impact of junctions on sensing kinetics. These findings underline the dominant role of inter-flake junctions in MXene charge transport and sensing capabilities.

Self-assembly of aromatic oligoamides into multihelical structures is a powerful strategy for developing complex and functional molecular architectures. As the hybridization process is directed by the folded state of the oligomers, inducing changes in the folding can be used to control the self-assembly. As one approach for this, Diels–Alder reactions on diazaanthracene monomers allow site-specific modification of aromatic oligoamides. The reaction leads to a bend in the monomer that, in turn, distorts the structure of the oligomer. Herein, we show that this strategy can be used to control the self-assembly of the oligomers. Using reversible Diels–Alder reactions allows switching between distinct folded states with different self-assembly preferences. This strategy can be applied during oligomer synthesis to prevent self-assembly or postsynthetically to disassemble multihelical structures. In complex systems containing multiple oligomers, we show that the modification can further be used to direct social versus narcissistic self-sorting, allowing for the switch between homomeric and heteromeric double helical assemblies.

Optically addressable molecular spins aim to tackle control and detection of weak magnetic moment when magnetic devices are scaled down to the single-molecule level. To achieve accurate readout of molecular spin states by adjacent luminescent probes, the molecular design must meet the stringent requirements of both high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and high sensitivity. Here, we incorporated a naphthalimide-based ratiometric fluorescent (RF) probe with a donor–acceptor (D–A) structure into a spin crossover (SCO) molecule. The probe features dual emission channels arising from a locally excited (LE) state and an intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) state. The thermochromism associated with SCO spectrally overlaps with the probe’s RF bands, producing a reverse synergistic effect, achieving ratiometric fluorescent thermometers (RFTs) with 1.35% K–1 sensitivity and 66% fluorescence contrast. More importantly, the bright fluorescence thermochromism (∼50% quantum yield) is maintained throughout the entire SCO process, enabling direct visualization of spin-state equilibria with high SNR (>400) and detection resolution (0.0017) even at low concentrations of 10–4 M. This tuning of the single-fluorophore RF against SCO thermochromism provides a new design platform for the accurate readout of spin states of molecules.