Since the 16th of January, Dr Valentin Valtchev, Dr Svetlana Mintova and eight other researchers from Mulhouse have joined the Catalysis and Spectrochemistry Laboratory (LCS – CNRS – ENSICAEN – UCBN Laboratory) in Caen. Thanks to this new research and development expertise in the field of porous nanomaterials, the LCS now boasts the finest skills in materials and catalysis.

A string was missing in the LCS’s bow. Specialised in catalyst specification via spectroscopy and catalytic tests, the LCS is now capable of producing its own raw material, since the arrival early this year of Valentin Valtchev and Svetlana Mintova, both CNRS researchers, along with eight other members of the Mulhouse-based Controlled Porosity Materials Laboratory, specialised in the preparation of nanoscopic porous materials.
“We were looking to approach a laboratory whose ability to combine quality fundamental and applied research was already established,” explains Valentin Valtchev.  “Very quickly, our choice was made; the internationally renowned LCS, whose speciality: catalysis, is sure to play a major economic role for many years to come.”
Jean-Pierre Gilson, director of the LCS, considers the partnership as a “win-win” arrangement. “Together, we now cover the entire catalysis chain,” he is delighted to note. “By analogy with medicine, we can now move beyond the diagnosis stage (which in catalysis is referred to as “specification”) and propose remedies, solutions, in particular in the field of the laboratory’s key research priority: the environment.”
Sharing both partners and funding is sure to offer the laboratory a better strike force. The reunited team has already submitted two projects to the French National Research Agency: the first, initiated by Valentin Valtchev and Svetlana Mintova, consists, in particular, in detecting explosive materials; the second, initiated by the LCS, aims at transforming natural gas or biomass into liquid fuels.
The laboratory now hosts sixty members, some of them in renovated premises thanks to extensive support from the Regional Council, and this concentration of skills is already arousing interest among industrial players. “For example, we will shortly be welcoming a major American oil magnate. And if he’s taking the trouble to come to France, we can conclude that there’s no equivalent in the United States…” decidedly a good omen for the Caen-based laboratory.

Jean-Pierre Gilson
Director of the Catalysis and Spectrochemistry Laboratory
Tél. : 02 31 45 28 15
Site : LCS de l’ENSICAEN

Valentin Valtchev
Research director

Svetlana Mintova
Researcher

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