The French Group of Zeolites is an association governed by the law of the 1st July 1901.
The aim of this association is to promote fundamental and applied research related to the science of zeolites and microporous materials.
Even if the status of the association were deposited in 1991, the creation of a "French Group of Zeolites" was decided at a meeting held in Chantilly in 1985 under the patronage of the Catalysis Division and Physical Chemistry of the SFC (see extract of l’Actualité Chimique of September 1985). Since this date, the French zeolite community has met annually throughout France.
The association is governed by a council of nine members, called the GFZ committee, elected during a General Assembly, which takes place every year at the annual scientific meeting. This council chooses among its members, a board composed of:
- A president
- A secretary
- A Treasurer
The council is renewed by thirds annually.
The GFZ council is currently composed of:
Jean Daou: president and GFZ delegate to FFM
Jean Daou is a Professor in the National Graduate School of Chemistry in Mulhouse (ENSCMu) at the University of Haute Alsace (UHA).
After a PhD at the IPCMS on the synthesis and functionalization of magnetic nanoparticles carried out under the supervision of Prof. S. Begin (2007), He joined in 2007, the LETI-CEA Grenoble for a post doctorate in the field of optical tracers for preclinical testing. In 2008, he was hired as assistant professor at ENSCMu-UHA (IS2M UMR 7361), to develop projects related to the creation of porous materials for applications in catalysis, adsorption and protection of environment. In 2016, he was promoted Professor at the UHA-ENSCMu-IS2M.
Since 2016, he is the vice president in charge of the research coordination within ENSCMu and the scientific animator of the MPC axis with Dr. B. Lebeau.
His research activities are focused primarily on three areas. The first relates to the synthesis of porous materials with controlled size (nanoparticles, nanosheets, nanosponges, hierarchical materials) and the study of their textural and structural properties. The second axis deals with the shaping of these oxides (films, membranes, beads, pellets, ...). The third axis is oriented towards the use of these materials in various fields such as energy storage and molecular decontamination. This work has helped to develop a broad sphere of competence, going from the nanomaterials and associated preparation methods and characterization to their integration and study in different application fields. He holds more than 65 international publications, 9 patents and 1 Book chapter. He delivered 2 keynote lectures, 8 invited lectures, 20 Oral presentations (H-index = 17).
Christophe Bouchy: secretary
Christophe Bouchy is a research engineer in the Catalysis and Separation Division at IFPEn and a project leader for the IFPEn Process Business Unit. He received his M. Sc. in Materials with Particular Physical and Electronical Properties from the Université Louis Pasteur from Strasbourg (1994). He obtained his Ph. D. in Materials Sciences from the Université Louis Pasteur from Strasbourg (2002) and holded a postdoctoral position at the Leverhulme Centre For Innovative Catalysis, University of Liverpool (1999-2000). He joined IFPEn in 2001. His current area of research deals with the implementation of various zeolites in industrial heterogeneous catalysts employed in refining and petrochemistry processes and also in biomass upgrading. He holds more than 50 patents and has co-authored 43 international publications (H-index = 17).
Sandrine Bourrelly: treasurer
Sandrine Bourrelly is Lecturer (assistant professor) at the MADIREL Laboratory and at the Aix-Marseille University since september 2007. She belongs to the “Separation and Storage of Gases” (S2G) team, which the scientific aim is the advancement of the understanding of physicochemical phenomena that occur during the characterization or use of powders or porous solids.
She carried out her PhD on the “Thermodynamic properties of new nanoporous hybrid organic / inorganic hybrid materials for the adsorption of greenhouse gases”, under the supervision of Philip Llewellyn at the MADIREL and the Université de Provence, from 2003 to 2006. Then she was a temporary associate profesor at the MADIREL and the Université de Provence, before obtaining the lecturer position.
She received the 4th FEZA (Federation of European Zeolite Associations) Prize 2008 for Ph.D. work in zeolites or related materials.
The characterization of porous solids by adsorption is a strong point of her research activities. With the S2G group, she notably develops several original experimental methods for high-throughput screening and couples standard adsorption methods with other techniques, notably microcalorimetry. The applications currently concerned by this research include the capture and separation of gases and vapours, as well as materials for energy.
She takes part to the CNRS-Industry courses, dispensed yearly in the Madirel, on the use of characterization methods such as nitrogen porosimetry (BET method …), mercury porosimetry.
She has 38 peer reviewed publications in the open literature (H-index 24), 2 conference Proceedings, and 1 Book chapter. She has given 8 talks at in international conferences and she has been invited to give two plenary lectures.
Nicolas Brun: webmaster
Nicolas Brun obtained his PhD in 2010 at the University of Bordeaux (France) on the design and synthesis of hierarchical porous materials through integrative chemistry.
Then, he spent two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Potsdam, Germany), working on the hydrothermal synthesis of porous carbonaceous materials. In 2013, he worked as a post-doctoral researcher, awarded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, at Kyoto University (Japan). Since January 2014, Nicolas Brun has been working as a CNRS associate scientist at the Charles Gerhardt Institute (Montpellier, France). His research interests include porous carbon materials for environmental remediation, energy storage, electrocatalysis and biocatalysis.
He holds six patents and has co-authored 45 international publications, five book chapters and co-edited one book (H-index = 20)..
Svetlana Mintova: GFZ delegate to FEZA
Svetlana Mintova is Director of Research 1st class in CNRS, Laboratory of Catalysis and Spectroscopy, University of Caen, France.
She is the receiver of the Baron Cronstedt award from the Federation of European Zeolite Associations (FEZA, 2014), Donald Breck award from the International Zeolite Association (IZA, 2016), Research Price “La Recherche” (2016), and recognized as Breakthrough of 2011 according to Science (9 place).
She received her PhD in physical chemistry in the Technological University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She did Post Doctoral study in Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, then she spent 2 years as Visiting Scholar in Purdue University, USA. She was appointed as C2 (docent) at the Department of Chemistry, University of Munich, Germany. From 2006 she is working in CNRS, France.
Her scientific interests include preparation of nanosized zeolites, films, coatings, composites and related advanced applications.
She has more than 200 Papers, 8 Patents, 11 Reviews, 6 books, 8 Book chapters She delivered 32 Plenary & Keynote lectures, 50 Invited lectures, 56 Oral presentations (H-index = 46).
Ludovic Pinard: in charge of writing
Ludovic Pinard is an assistant professor in the National Graduate School of Chemistry in Poitiers (ENSIP) at the University of Poitiers.
After a PhD at the University of Poitiers in the team ruled by M. Guisnet, on the catalytic removal of volatile organic compounds (2002), he joined in 2003, the team of J. Barrault for a post of assistant professor. During 5 years, he worked in the field of removal of VOC by coupling a non-thermal-plasma with catalysis. In 2008, he changed of research thematic to develop projects related to synthesis of alternative fuels and also to the catalyst deactivation and regeneration. He is also involved in the catalytic evaluation of zeolites for refining and petrochemical applications. In 2014, he spent 1 years as Visiting professor in Sherbrooke University (Canada) in order to develop skills in the energetic valorization of biomass.
He has more than 50 international publications, 5 patents and 1 Book chapter (H-index = 16).
Benoît Louis: GFZ delegate to ICC 2024
Benoît Louis, 43, is Research Director at CNRS conducting his work at the Institute of Chemistry and Processes for Energy, Environment and Health (ICPEES), UMR 7515 CNRS and University of Strasbourg (UdS).
Benoît got his PhD in 2002 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne (supervision A. Renken, L. Kiwi-Minsker). As a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. J. Sommer in Strasbourg, he developed a method, based on H / D isotope exchange technique, for the determination of Brönsted acid sites in solid acids. He was then appointed temporary lecturer at ECPM-UdS. In 2004, he entered CNRS as a permanent researcher at ICPEES.
His activities are related with zeolites, from their synthesis, shaping and applications in acid-catalyzed processes. Benoît is co-author of nearly 120 publications (ICI-indexed), 3 Patents, 4 book chapters and numerous invited lectures. He was also invited professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2013-2017) and at the Beijing Forestry University (2016, 2018).
Julien Reboul: GFZ delegate to FCCat
Julien Reboul is a CNRS researcher in the “Laboratoire de réactivité de surface” (LRS) at Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris.
He received his M. Sc. in Material Chemistry from the University Montpellier II and obtained his PhD from the same University in 2009. This PhD was achieved in the Institut Charles Gerhardt de Montpellier (ICGM) under the supervision of Dr. Corine Gérardin and Dr. Patrick Lacroix-Desmazes. His research topic was the synthesis of polyionic copolymers and their study as templates for the preparation of porous silica materials. He then worked as a post-doctoral fellow within a JST ERATO project (Kitagawa Integrated Pores Project) and at the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (WPI-iCeMS, Kyoto, Japan) in the groups of Pr. Susumu Kitagawa and Pr. Shuhei Furukawa, where his researches focused on the structuration of Metal-Organic Frameworks.
His research interests are currently centered on the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts based on silica, Metal-Organic Frameworks and proteins.
Nikolai Nesterenko
Nikolay Nesterenko is a research engineer & project team leader in the Catalysis in Refining & Base Chemicals Department in Total Research & Technology Feluy (Belgium).
He received his M. Sc. degree in Physical Chemistry (Kinetics & Catalysis) from the Lomonosov Moscow State University and his PhD from the University of Montpellier II (2004). He joined R&D division of Total in 2005.
In pursuance of graduation from the international business school Hult (London campus) in 2014, he holds an MBA and has continued the research career in Total as project team leader. He is also a member of the Total Associate Professor Association (TPA) and gives classes on heterogeneous catalysis in refining & base chemicals in the university of Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL, Belgium).
He is an expert in catalytic technologies, (co-) inventor of more than 70 patents, (co-) author of more than 20 articles. In 2011 & 2013 he received Total awards for process developments. His research activity is mainly related with development of new catalysts and adsorbents based on molecular sieves for transformation of hydrocarbons & biomass.
Denise Barthomeuf, L’actualité Chimique, Septembre 1985, p. 10 (reproduced with the Courtesy of the publisher)
