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Houcine Barhoumi

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Editorial Board - English

Michael Veith

Pierre Braunstein

C. R. Chimie 21 (2018) 907e908
lable at ScienceDirectContents lists avaiComptes Rendus Chimie
www.sciencedirect.comForeword/Avant-propos
The power of synthesis towards new materials*Foreword
The First Joint Symposium in Chemistry between the
French “Academie des sciences” and the German National
Academy of Sciences “Leopoldina” was organized in Halle
(Saale, Germany), on 23e24 November 2017, on the topic
The power of synthesis towards new materials.
Its aims were to promote closer interactions between
the two academies and their members by highlighting the
central and ubiquitous role of chemical synthesis in the
development of new materials relevant to key areas of
considerable scientific and societal relevance, ranging from
health, electronic materials and catalysis to energy. It also
intended to illustrate the importance of fundamental sci-
ence in the more applied sector. By bringing together 15
highly renowned scientists from France and Germany, most
of them were also members of the Academies involved, it
was possible to capture most recent and innovative de-
velopments occurring in diverse areas of scientific
endeavour and promote stimulating discussions.
In his lecture, entitled The synthesis of future: Inorganic
materials meet interface science, Matthias Driess (Techni-
sche Universit€at Berlin) emphasized the steadily growing
demand for innovative newmaterials for energy saving and
optimisation in electronic devices. Transparent conducting
oxides are key components in organic light-emitting diodes
for solar cells, photocatalysts, transparent electrodes in
displays and field-effect transistors. By applying the
concept of molecular metal-organic single-source pre-
cursors, it has been possible to access transparent con-
ducting oxide materials for biofuel cells and clean
hydrocarbon catalysis. The lecture also emphasized the key
role of low-temperature materials design and synthesis
using molecular building blocks for defragmenting
catalysis.
Jacques Lucas (University of Rennes) presented how to
see beyond the optical limit of 3 mm, associated with the
transmission of silica glasses, by introducing heavier* Joint Symposium between the French “Academie des sciences” and the
German National Academy of Sciences “Leopoldina”.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crci.2018.05.008
1631-0748/© 2018 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).elements. Glasses to see beyond visible were made by using
heavy metal fluorides such as ZrF4 or sulfur, selenium and
tellurium compounds. Because of their unique thermody-
namic properties, some of these new materials become
plastic solids above the glass transition temperature and
then can be moulded or fibred. Optical fibres transmitting
light from 2 to 15 mm are used to detect the IR signature of
molecules and biomolecules, whereas moulded lenses for
infrared cameras are produced for night vision. Impressive
industrial developments result from these works.
Stefanie Dehnen (Philipps-Universit€at Marburg) dis-
cussed, in her lecture Chemistry for materials: From funda-
mental research and curiosities to useful compounds, the
diversity and tremendous specificity of today's materials.
From high-performance catalysts for effective chemical
syntheses, new nanoscopic, polymeric and extra robust
compounds, innovative materials for energy conversion
and data storage, magnets and batteries, to bioactive ad-
ditives and drugs, the elaboration of newmaterials requires
the chemist's approach.
Thomas F. F€assler (Technical University of Munich)
discussed the Challenges in chemical synthesis for energy
storage and energy conversion materials e From bulk alloys
to thin films with inverse opal structure. The formation of
small charged atom clusters, which belong to the so-called
Zintl ion clusters, obtained by reacting the respective ele-
ments with alkali metals provides precursors to a plethora
of new compounds. Recent applications for the formation
of materials with potential in photovoltaics and as energy
storage materials were also illustrated.
Environmental and energy issues have become main
challenges for our societies. In his lecture entitled Building
of the future: Challenges in material science, Didier Roux
(Saint-Gobain company) showed that buildings have a
special position because of the quantitative impact on both
energy consumption and the environmental issue. Recent
progress has been achieved in the quality of insulation of
both wall and glazing. To estimate the efficiency of mate-
rials in buildings, it is important to perform quantitative
physical measurements on site and in a relatively short
lapse of time.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://
Foreword/Avant-propos / C. R. Chimie 21 (2018) 907e908908Sanjay Mathur (University of Cologne) presented a
lecture on Designing catalysts for water-splitting reactions:
Oxideeoxide bilayers as high efficiency photoelectrocatalysts
through electronically coupled phase boundaries.Metal oxide
nanostructures with hetero-contacts and phase boundaries
offer a unique platform for designing materials architec-
tures for energy harvesting applications. As a viable alter-
native to water electrolysis, photoelectrochemical water
splitting has emerged as a competitive technology being
capable of converting solar energy directly into chemical
energy using stable and efficient photocatalysts for solar
hydrogen production. Mathur presented how chemically
grown and designed thin films and bilayers of different
metal oxides unfold new material properties, which will
enter advanced material technologies.
The future of electron correlated oxideswas unravelled by
Bernard Raveau (CNRSeENSICAEN, Caen). Several new
classes of materials have emerged that appear most
promising for the generation of attractive physical/chemi-
cal properties and applications. Thus, ordered oxygen-
deficient perovskites LnBaCo2O5þd display many complex
magnetic transitions correlated with electric or dielectric
properties. Those exhibiting fast oxygen diffusion and high
oxygen storage capacity are promising solid oxide fuel cells
(SOFC) cathode materials. Tetrahedral oxygen arrange-
ments in cobaltates (Ln,Ca)BaCo4O7 and ferrates (Ln,Ca)
BaFe4O7 display an extremely rich magnetism at the origin
of attractive multiferroic properties. Other materials were
investigated for applications in quantum computing, spin-
tronics and memory devices.
Martin Jansen (Max-Planck-Institut für Festk€orperfor-
schung, Stuttgart) illustrated the Synergies and competition
between current approaches to materials discovery. The
approaches developed to access new compounds are
based on heuristic concepts like trial and error, including
high-throughput techniques, building block assemblies,
thermodynamic considerations or crystal chemical rules.
This traditional toolbox, has been enriched by various
computational techniques during the last decades. Still,
most of the breakthroughs continue to be achieved
experimentally. A synergetic interplay between experi-
ment and theory appears most promising towards mate-
rials discovery.
Bio-inspired nanostructured materials were presented
and discussed by Jacques Livage (Universite Pierre-et-
Marie-Curie, Paris). Nature shows that microorganisms
such as diatoms are able to build silica shells with highlysophisticated architectures at room temperature. The mild
conditions associated with this ‘chimie douce’ allow the
synthesis of hybrid nanocomposites, in which both organic
and inorganic phases are mixed at a molecular level. Bio-
molecules such as enzymes, drugs or antibodies can be
immobilized within inorganic silica matrices, opening new
possibilities in the field of biotechnology and nano-
medicine. Even microorganisms can be trapped within
silica glasses, and their retained bioactivity can be used for
many applications (biocatalysis, biosensors, bioreactors,
drug delivery, etc.).
Patrick Couvreur (Institut Galien, Universite Paris-
Saclay) discussed Nanotechnologies for the treatment of se-
vere diseases. The clinical use and efficacy of conventional
chemotherapeutics is hampered by drug resistance at the
tissue level and cellular level and by non-specific distri-
bution, biotransformation and rapid clearance of the drugs
from the body. The development of nanodevices able to
overcome these limitations has become a major challenge.
Biodegradable nanoparticles loaded with doxorubicin for
the treatment of the resistant hepatocarcinoma have been
designed, likewise nanoparticles made of metal oxide
frameworks (NanoMOFs). “Multidrug” nanoparticles are
able to combine chemotherapy and imaging.
The organizers of this Joint Symposium would like to
express their gratitude to the French “Academie des scien-
ces” and the German National Academy of Sciences
“Leopoldina” for their financial support, to the Leopoldina
for the hospitality and arrangements made in Halle. Of
course, it is the quality of the speakers thatmade this event a
scientific success, and we are particularly grateful to those
who prepared a manuscript for this special issue of Comptes
rendus Chimie, thus allowing a broader audience to benefit
from their scientific achievements.
Michael Veith*
Saarbrücken, Germany
Pierre Braunstein**
Strasbourg, France
 Corresponding author.
 Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: miveith@gmx.de (M. Veith);
braunstein@unistra.fr (P. Braunstein)
Available online 14 June 2018


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