The annual Liliane Bettencourt Chair in Technological Innovation, created in 2006, marks the joint determination of the Collège de France and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation to highlight the importance of work devoted to technological innovation.
A field of innovation for water and energy
This course describes the latest advances in the emerging field of nanofluidics, the science of molecular flows, which explores fluid flow and transport at nanometric scales. This world of infinitely small fluidics is the frontier where the continuum of fluid mechanics meets the atomic nature of matter, or even its quantum nature. This is the frontier where the continuum of fluid mechanics meets the atomic nature of matter, and even its quantum nature. We can observe virtually frictionless flows, emerging quantum effects, and memory effects that now make it possible to dream of ionic calculators. Nature takes full advantage of fluidic quirks at the nanoscale. By using a circuitry made up of multiple biological channels, it is capable of incredible technological feats : ion pumps, proton motors, ultra-selective pores, stimulable channels... simply breathtaking fluidic goldsmithery. Is it possible to match these performances with artificial channels ? What are the specific properties of fluids at nanoscale ? How can they be quantified experimentally ? Can they be exploited in terms of innovation ?
The course will address the fundamental questions posed by fluid transport at molecular or nanometric scales, and the emerging properties at these scales. In particular, we will introduce the new experimental and theoretical tools that have been developed to measure, understand and exploit new transport properties.
Nanofluidics is also a field where there is a short path between fundamental science and disruptive innovation, as new nanofluidic properties offer unexpected solutions for multiple applications, including desalination, water remediation, or blue energy - notably osmotic energy. We'll explore a few examples where this path has led to breakthrough innovations.
