Georges Formon

Junior Professor
CHEM
Membership: Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1
Location: UCBL

Adaptive Materials / Dynamic Chemistry / Self-Assembly / Mechanophores

Research themes / centers of interest

My research focuses on three thematic axes centered on adaptive materials:

1. Employing supramolecular self-assembly to form nanostructures and hydrogels.
2. Leveraging dynamic (non)covalent chemistry for the synthesis of stimuli-responsive polymers that are self-healing, reprocessable, and recyclable.
3. Toughening and strengthening polymer networks through the incorporation of bioinspired weak covalent bonds (mechanophores).

My goal is to build upon these three axes to develop new fundamental concepts for the design, synthesis, and formulation of adaptive and smart materials. The aim is to meet tomorrow’s technological needs, focusing on polymer sustainability and reducing plastic pollution.

Major publications

  • Mak‐iad, C.; Berrocal, J. A.; Formon, G. J. M.; Weder, C. Dynamic Bonds Enable Repair and Reprocessing of Glycol‐Modified PET. Adv Funct Materials 2026, e31442. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202531442.

  • Oggioni, M.; Bertossi, L.; Kiebala, D. J.; Kirshner, A.; Dodero, A.; Formon, G. J. M.; Weder, C. Photoacid‐Induced Supramolecular Network Disassembly: A Systems Approach to Stimuli‐Responsive Polymers. Angew Chem Int Ed 2025, 64 (30). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202506981.

  • Formon, G. J. M.; Jayaratnam, J.; Guibert, C.; Van Zee, N. J.; Nicolaÿ, R. Cross-Linking Vitrimers after Melt Processing Using Supramolecularly Masked Dynamic Cross-Linkers. Macromolecules 2024, 57 (17), 8277–8286. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.macromol.4c01363.

  • Formon, G. J. M.; Storch, S.; Delplanque, A. Y. ‐G.; Bresson, B.; Van Zee, N. J.; Nicolaÿ, R. Overcoming the Tradeoff Between Processability and Mechanical Performance of Elastomeric Vitrimers. Adv Funct Materials 2023, 33 (52), 2306065. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202306065.

  • Singh, N.; Formon, G. J. M.; De Piccoli, S.; Hermans, T. M. Devising Synthetic Reaction Cycles for Dissipative Nonequilibrium Self‐Assembly. Advanced Materials 2020, 32 (20), 1906834. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201906834.

Brief CV

2017 Master’s in Polymer Engineering, University of Strasbourg
2020 PhD, supramolecular self-assembly, ISIS (Strasbourg)
2020 Postdoctoral Researcher, vitrimers, C3M-ESPCI (Paris)
2023 Group Leader, dynamic polymers, Adolphe Merkle Institute (Fribourg, Switzerland)
2026 Junior Professor at the IMP, UCBL