From biomimetics to environmental CO2 capture via nanotechnology

The study of how to mimic the wonderful structure and mechanism of the biological world is called biomimetics. The development of artificial polymer molecules that can mediate enzyme-like chemical conversions was once a high-priority biomimetic topic. Unfortunately, such efforts resulted mostly in failures, because enzyme-like 3-D molecular structure could not be reproduced. On the other hand, synthetic bilayer membranes provide basic properties essentially common to those of the biological cell membrane. The extremely thin feature of membranes would give rise to tantalizing industrial potentials, il combined with macroscopic membrane size and sufficient robustness. Our "giant nanomembrane" is an important step for this purpose. We discuss its implication for global warming.

Cette conférence a été donnée dans la cadre de la cérémonie de remise des insignes de Docteur Honoris Causa de l'Université de Bordeaux au professeur Kunitake par Manuel Tunon de Lara, Président de l'Université de Bordeaux.

L'éloge de Toyoki Kunitake a été prononcé par Reiko Oda, Directeur de recherche CNRS, Institut de chimie et biologie des membranes et des nano-objets - CNRS/Université de Bordeaux/Bordeaux INP, directrice du Laboratoire international associé franco-japonais CNPA