Category: Faculties
Status: Assistant professor
Employer: Bordeaux University
Team: Biopolymers and bio-sourced polymers
Location: N1-38
33 (0)5 56 84 6189
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Expertise
Dr. Étienne Grau was trained in chemistry and physical chemistry at the ENS Cachan (France) and then he undertook a PhD in polymer chemistry at CPE Lyon (France), where he studied the radical and coordination-insertion catalytic polymerization of ethylene in the C2P2 laboratory under the supervision of Dr Vincent Monteil, Dr Christophe Boisson and Dr Roger Spitz (2007-2010). He defended his PhD in November. During a first post-doctoral stay, he studied Ziegler-Natta catalysis merging theoretical (with Pr Phillipe Sautet at the ENS Lyon), surface (with Pr Christophe Copéret at ETH Zurich) and polymer chemistry (with Dr Vincent Monteil at C2P2). Then in 2012, he moved to the group of Pr Stefan Mecking in Konstanz (Germany) to work on palladium catalysis to synthesize polymers from lipids and terpenes 
He was recruited by the LCPO in 2013 as Assistant Professor in the group of Pr Henri Cramail.
Dr. Étienne Grau expertise is in polymer chemistry and catalysis. In the last 7 years, he developed green chemistry approaches to bio-based polymers, including their end-of-life (recycling, biodegradation, ecotoxicity)
He focus his research topics on the valorization of biomass and more specifically on the synthesis of fatty-acid based thermoplastic polymers. To do so, fatty acids are modified using green chemistry methodologies (catalysis, green solvent, atom efficient reaction…) to obtain polymerizable synthons. More recently, this approach was broadened to other bio-resources such as terpenes or lignin derivates.
He manages a platform of equipments for chemistry under high pressure (ethylene, propylene, CO2, H2 …). The related research topics concern the polymer foaming by supercritical CO2, the polymerization in CO2, coordination-insertion polymerization of ethylene and chemical valorization of CO2.
More recently he start to investigate the synthesis of high permittivity bio-based polymers
He is in charge of the “Licence Professionnelle: Formulation des Polymères” since 2017. He is also part of the "Université de Bordeaux" chemistry bachelor board.
Moreover since 2020 he is part of the "Double Master in Polymer Science" board with Daniel Taton and Guillaume Fleury.
My main lecture topics are on "Green Polymers", "Polymer recycling", "Polymers for packaging" and "Polymers for adhesives and paints".
He is also actively engaged in disseminating knowledge about polymers to a broader audience through conferences such as "Plastic is fantastic ‽ Is there a future for this miraculous material turned into an existential threat?" These events are designed to provide a comprehensive perspective on the history, usage, end-of-life considerations, and associated challenges of plastic, offering a systemic understanding of the subject.
He manages a YouTube channel where he uploads videos to educate viewers about polymers and plastics.
He is also one the two expert who participate to Eco Lanta a documentary about Plastic usage and consequences
He was interiewed by several media (TF1, France 2, France 5, Le Parisien, Draw Me un materiau …).
In 2010, he was awarded by the GFP (French polymer group) for the best PhD.
In April 2020, during the Covid-19 lockdown, he set up an online webinar series on polymer science with about 4 talks a week. The talks were available on Youtube live and in replay for 1 month.
He obtained the joint SCF/GFP award in 2020.
Between 2017-2020 he is an editor-in-chief of Green Material. In this framework he chairs once a year the Frontier in Green Material Symposium.
Since his arrival at the LCPO he published 82 research articles and 9 patents.
His paper on PHU for capacitors was highlighted by several media including CNRS.
From a personal and associative standpoint, I believe that popularization can have a significant impact, especially regarding polymers (plastics).
That's why, for the past three years, I have been actively involved in this endeavor. In particular, I am deeply engaged in the association responsible for creating the Plastic Collage, which aims to provide information on the subject of plastic to a wide audience.
This collage now exists in three versions—adult, child, and developing countries—and is available in four languages.
Colanges S, Ballu K, Lamouroux A, Pecastaings Gilles, Ly Isabelle, Le Coz Cédric, Tassaing Thierry, Brunet T, Grau Etienne, Cramail Henri, Mondain-Monval Olivier, Vidil Thomas
Journal title: European Polymer Journal, Volume(s): 223, Page(s): 113655 https://hal.science/hal-04884454/document 10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2024.113655 (2024)
Grau Etienne, Reutenauer Philippe
Journal title: Annales des mines - Série Responsabilité et environnement, Volume(s): 116, Page(s): 7-13 https://hal.science/hal-04720181/document (2024)
Monie Florent, Vidil Thomas, Grau Etienne, Grignard Bruno, Detrembleur Christophe, Cramail Henri
Journal title: Macromolecules https://hal.science/hal-04698676/document 10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01672 (2024)
