The main highlights are :

The synthesis of the first oligo- and poly-[2]-catenanes that are macromolecules in which monomers are topologically connected.

Macromol. Chem. Phys. 1995, 196, 3425. Chem. Commun. 1996, 1243. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 1997, 18, 233. Macromolecules 1999, 32, 1737. Chem. Eur. J. 1999, 5, 1841 (with Prof. J.-P. Sauvage, Nobel Laureate 2016).

The design and the synthesis of discotic liquid-crystals that form columnar mesophases with unusual fluorescence properties, charge transport, structural features, ground-state electronic delocalization, self-alignment mechanism, dewetting, ferromagnetism, and substrate-induced plastic phases.

Adv. Mater. 1998, 10, 36. J. Mater. Chem. 1998, 8, 61. Chem. Commun. 2001, 2074. Adv. Mater. 2003, 15, 1614. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 3271. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2004, 14, 649. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 11889. Tetrahedron 2004, 60, 3283. Chem. Eur. J. 2005, 11, 3349. Chem. Mater. 2005, 17, 4273. J. Phys. Chem. B 2005, 109, 20315. J. Phys. Chem. B 2006, 110, 7653. Langmuir 2006, 22, 7798. Adv. Mater. 2006, 18, 3313. Org. Elect. 2006, 7, 495. J. Mater. Chem. 2007, 17, 1777. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2007, 36, 1902. J. Mater. Chem. 2007, 17, 3002. Nano Letters 2007, 7, 2627. Soft Matter 2008, 4, 303. Small 2008, 4, 728. Tetrahedron 2008, 64, 4155. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 11953. J. Phys. Chem. C 2008, 112, 15784. J. Phys. Chem. B 2009, 113, 5448. Chem. Mater. 2009, 21, 2789. J. Phys. Chem. C 2009, 113, 14398. J. Phys. Chem. B 2009, 113, 14102. Chem. Mater. 2009, 21, 5867. Adv. Mater. 2010, 22, 4405. J. Mater. Chem. 2011, 21, 206. Org. Elect. 2011, 12, 851. J. Phys. Chem. C 2011, 115, 12150. Adv. Mater. 2012, 24, 658. Liq. Cryst. 2014, 41, 302.

The design, the synthesis and the characterization of molecular and macromolecular π-systems, in general for their optoelectronic properties, and in particular molecular semiconductors for charge transport at multiple length- and time-scales. Our contribution comes from the materials aspects. Physical properties are measured by physicists and spectroscopists.

Macromolec. Chem. Phys. 1996, 197, 4029. Chem. Mater. 1997, 9, 495. Physical Review B 1997, 56, 4479. Applied Phys. Lett. 1997, 71, 2883. Adv. Mater. 1998, 10, 36. J. Mater. Chem. 1998, 8, 2357. J. Mater. Chem. 1998, 8, 61. Macromol. Rapid Commun. 1998, 19, 275. Macromol. Rapid. Commun. 1998, 19 385. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 3513. Adv. Mater. 2000, 12, 1042. J. Polym. Sci. A, Polym. Chem. 2001, 39, 2463. J. Polym. Sci. A, Polym. Chem. 2005, 43, 6166. Chem. Lett. 2006, 35, 166. J. Photochem. Photobio. 2006, 178, 251. Tetrahedron 2007, 63, 941. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2007, 1256. Macromolecules 2008, 41, 4245. Macromolecules 2009, 42, 5104. Tetrahedron 2010, 66, 1837-1845. J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 1561. Tetrahedron 2010, 66, 9560. Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 548. Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2011, 3131. Tetrahedron 2011, 67, 7156. Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 5208. Chem. Mater. 2011, 23, 768. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 3272. Macromolecules 2011, 44, 3705. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 15073. Nanoscale 2012, 4, 2705. Tetrahedron 2012, 68, 349. J. Mater. Chem. 2012, 22, 9509. Tetrahedron 2012, 68, 5599. J. Chem. Phys. 2012, 137, 034706. Polym. Chem. 2013, 4, 4303. Materials 2013, 6, 3022. Org. Lett. 2013, 15, 302. Dyes Pig. 2013, 97, 198. Adv. Mater. 2013, 25, 1948. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 7751. J. Org. Chem. 2013, 78, 7741. J. Phys. Chem. C 2013, 117, 21743. Nat. Mater. 2014, 13, 190. J. Phys. Chem. B 2014, 118, 1443. ChemPlusChem 2014, 79, 371. Isr. J. Chem. 2014, 54, 595. J. Mater. Chem. C 2015, 3, 674. Nat. Commun. 2015, 6, 6330. Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 3066. Nat. Commun. 2016, 7, 10736. J. Mater. Chem. C 2016, 4, 4863. Adv. Mater. 2016, 28, 7106. J. Mater. Chem. C 2016, 4, 6742. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2017, 1700159. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2017, 8, 5444. ACS Omega 2018, 3, 5052. Mater. Chem. Phys. 2019, 221, 295.

The study of polymorphism in bulk and in substrate-induced phases that exist only in contact with solid-substrates because of the geometrical constrain that the rigid-wall imposes. This research activity is conducted mainly in collaboration with Prof. Roland Resel at the Graz University of Technology, with whom group members access to synchrotron facilities. The study of single crystal to single crystal transitions is conducted in close collaboration with the group of Prof. Ying Diao at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

RSC Advances 2012, 2, 4404. Langmuir 2012, 28, 8530. Adv. Mater. 2012, 24, 658. ChemPhysChem 2013, 14, 2554. J. Cryst. Growth 2014, 386, 128. J. Phys. Chem. C 2014, 118, 657. Liq. Cryst. 2014, 41, 302. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2014, 6, 13413. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2015, 7, 1868. Chem. Phys. Lett. 2015, 630, 12. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2016, 26, 2229. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2016, 26, 2233. ChemPhysChem 2016, 17, 1174. RSC Adv. 2016, 6, 44921. Soft Matter 2017, 13, 2322. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2017, 1700218. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2017, 8, 3690. ChemPhysChem 2018, 19, 993. Cryst. Growth Des. 2018, 18, 4123. Nat. Commun. 2018, 9, 278. Cryst. Growth Des. 2018, 18, 4245.

Acta Cryst. 2019, B75, 71. J. Mater. Chem. C 2019, 7, 8477. Adv. Mater. 2019, 1902407.

The directional crystallization of organic molecules using a temperature gradient setup that allows the selection of some specific polymorphs, the control of the orientation of the unit cell versus a substrate and its alignment versus the gradient direction. This is achieved thanks to defined non-equilibrium conditions.

Our experimental research activities benefit enormously from the contribution of theoretical group of Prof. Roberto Lazaroni, Prof. David Beljonne, Prof. Jérôme Cornil, Prof. Yoann Olivier, Dr. Vincent Lemaur, Dr. Patric Brocorens, Dr. Mathieu Surin, Dr. Philippe Leclère, and Dr. Pascal Viville, at the University of Mons. Most of our projects and publications result from the symbiotic research activities with the group of Mons. Work before 1999 has been conducted with Prof. Klaus Müllen, at the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research.

Cryst. Growth Des. 2011, 11, 3663. Macromolecules 2017, 50, 5877. Cryst. Growth Des. 2018, 18, 1272. IUCrJ 2018, 5, 314. Cryst. Growth Des. 2018, 18, 2681.