David Edouard

Fellowship 2012

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David Edouard graduated from the University of Lyon 1 where he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering in 2003. From 2003 to 2005, he worked as a post-doc with prof. Faïçal Larachi at the University of Laval, Quebec (Canada).  David Edouard was appointed Maître de Conférences at the University of Strasbourg in 2005 and he obtained his “Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches” in 2010. His research interests are in transport properties in porous media. He is the co-author of 34 publications and 2 patents.

New catalysts based on commercially available open cell polyurethane foams for a green and selective chemistry

USIAS fellows: David Edouard, Loïc Jierry and Vincent Ritleng
Post-docs : Thanh Chau Dalencon and Elodie Pardieu

In the current ecological and economical context, the search for an ever cleaner, more selective and energetically cheaper chemistry has become crucial. In industry, a catalyst is used for the majority of chemical reactions, and catalysts are of critical importance for an efficient reaction and the resulting chemical production. This project aims to develop new catalysts using cellular polyurethane foams. These elastomeric foams, which are commercially available in high tonnage and at low cost, are particularly resistant to mechanical and chemical stresses and possess properties that allow for an intimate reagent mixture and, consequently,  milder reaction conditions. The scientific challenge consists of modifying this support in order to robustly anchor catalysts, at minimum cost, without losing the intrinsic properties of the foam that are conducive to a “green” evolution of the chemical reactions. The resulting new catalytic object will be tested in model reactions in order to establish a proof of concept.

The project brings together three junior researchers from the University of Strasbourg who work in very different areas of research (organometallic catalysis, surface sciences / material chemistry, and chemical engineering). Thre are many potential areas of use in research and the chemical industry. Moreover, this project could lead to the emergence of a new area of research dedicated to catalytic open cell foams based on elastomeric materials.