Self-cleaning and anti-bacterial surfaces

The MIRAGE project is part of the mechanical engineering competitiveness hub (MecaTech cluster) which has been set up in the context of the Marshall Plan that aims to revitalize the Walloon economy. It aims to develop smart surface coatings for better environmental management. In the frame of this project, the Solid-state Physics Laboratory is involved in two research topics: ECTC and OLED. In the former, issues related to the management of both thermal and optical fluxes through a building envelope are studied. Technological solutions under investigation take mainly the form of thin layers of electrochromic materials (tungsten oxide) and thermochromic materials (vanadium oxide) which are deposited on a steel substrate. In the later, issues related to the optimization of light extraction from organic light emitting diodes are studied. Technological solutions under investigation take mainly the form of corrugations of the interface between the light emitting material and the surrounding environment. The industrial partner of the MIRAGE project is ARCELOR-MITTAL.