- Transition Metal clusters are molecules containing three or more metal atoms which are connected by direct metal-metal bond linking with organic or inorganic ligands as inner ligands (terminal position) and apical ligands (face-capping position). They exhibit interesting photochemical and redox properties that are allocable in variety of fields such as in energy, photo catalyst or biotechnology. The possibility of the application can be further extended by supporting the metal clusters on substrate materials, improving the stability and handling of the metal clusters. In the case of supported metal clusters, the functional properties may be changed due to the electronic interactions via the chemical bonding with the ligands and support materials. The objective of this research is fabrication and characterization of new nanocomposite materials built up from transition metal cluster and inorganic matrix for industrial applications.

The content of this project will be to put together i) a very high international level of competencies in chemistry of the University of Rennes 1 and CNRS , ii) a unique competency in physics and characterization of materials of NIMS and iii) the industrial knowledge from construction and building material leader, Saint-Gobain. My research will focus to expand the further application by fabricating the pure Mo6 and Ta6 cluster films on ITO glass by EPD process and incorporating the metal clusters with zeolite accompanying with the exploration of the new potential characteristics from the obtained materials.