Cyril AymonierSupercritical fluids at the service of sustainable development

The CNRS Senior Researcher1  Cyril Aymonier works on synthesis, more specifically the creation and recycling of new materials using non-conventional and sustainable approaches. It is within “supercritical” environments—with specific temperature and pressure conditions in which solvents adopt behaviour between a gas and a liquid—that he and his team create new materials and recycled raw materials. This research has served as the basis for nearly fifty patents, leading to collaborations with enterprises such as Safran, Arkema, Imerys, Saint-Gobain, Umicore, Renault, Airbus, Essilor, Merck, and Schneider Electric. The applications range from artificial mineral synthesis to recycling photovoltaic cells, food packaging, and end-of-life thermoplastics. Aymonier is also behind the IDELAM start-up created in 2019, which uses a unique delamination technology to recycle complex multicomponent materials.

• 1Also Director of the Bordeaux Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry (ICMCB, CNRS/Université de Bordeaux/Bordeaux INP).