Over $1.1 million for the in situ Raman nanospectroscopy project

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) will support a research project led by Guillaume Goubert, professor in the Department of Chemistry at UQAM and member of NanoQAM. The funding, awarded through the John R. Evans Leaders Fund, will enable the acquisition of a state-of-the-art in situ Raman nanospectroscopy system.

The project, entitled In situ Raman Nanospectroscopy for Advanced Materials Applied in Energy and Health, is being carried out in collaboration with Steve Bourgault and Mohammed Siaj, also professors in the Department of Chemistry at UQAM and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Montreal, and members of NanoQAM.

Major funding for the study of advanced materials

The project is receiving a total of $1,182,447 in funding, broken down as follows:

  • FCI: $472,978
  • Government of Quebec: $472,980
  • Other contributions: $236,489

This cutting-edge research infrastructure will enable the study, at the nanoscale, of promising materials for applications in energy (such as electrocatalysts for green hydrogen production and CO₂ reduction) and health (such as protein fibrils and organic semiconductors for biocompatible systems).

Benefits for sustainable energy and health

Thanks to this new experimental platform, the team will be able to analyze the behavior of materials under real conditions—ambient or aqueous—with a resolution of approximately 10 nanometers. The results will accelerate the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly materials, which are essential to the decarbonization of the economy and the development of innovative medical technologies.

The research will contribute directly to Quebec’s green hydrogen strategy, promoting carbon neutrality and reducing the use of petroleum products. At the same time, work on biocompatible materials based on amyloid fibrils could lead to new applications in vaccines, biosensors, and medical devices.

Cutting-edge training at NanoQAM

The project will also offer students the opportunity to acquire high-level expertise in the fields of nanoscience, advanced spectroscopy, and functional materials, thereby strengthening NanoQAM’s position as a major player in the field of nanomaterials applied to energy and health.