Congratulations to Dr Edwin Clatworthy who has received an RSC Poster Prize at the 8th conference of The Federation of European Zeolite Associations for his work on room-temperature, OSDA-free synthesis of BPH nanosheets.

Dr Edwin B. Clatworthy has been awarded 1^st prize for the best oral communication at the 36^th annual reunion of the Groupe Français des Zéolithes

Dr. Florent Dubray received the very prestigious Denise Barthomeuf Award from the French Zeolite Association (GFZ)

Open Position for Post Doc: Nanozeolites as an oxygen carrier (nanozeoxy) for hypoxic tumors

Missions: 

The main objective of the project is to develop nanozeolites and to be used as an oxygen carrier toward treatment of hypoxic tumors. The emphasis will be on the synthesis of nanozeolites using buffers and various solvents toward preparation of biocompatible nanozeolites, followed by comprehensive characterizations.

Activities: 

The Post Doc will be in charge of the new synthesis of nanozeolites from colloidal precursor suspensions, followed by purification, ion-exchange and stabilization of water-clear suspensions. The properties of the nanozeolites in liquid and solid state will be characterized including chemical composition, porous architecture, size and morphology. A particular attention will be paid on the stability of the nanocrystals in different solvents and their translation to bio-objects. The pore structure, diffusion, adsorption and desorption phenomena within the zeolite nanocrystals will be studied. The optimization of the zeolite synthesis will be carried out in order to obtain materials with excellent O2 capacity and controlled diffusion.

More information on the Job offer published on CNRS website

PhD Defense : Congratulations Dr. Florent DUBRAY

« Incorporation of metals in zeolite frameworks for catalytic applications »

Science China Press

« Rationally designing hierarchical zeolites for better diffusion and catalyst efficiency »

Dr. Peng Peng received the highly recognizable prize ”Excellent Postgraduate Thesis” from the University of Petroleum China (UPC) on 4/09/2020 as appreciation for his great work on the “mechanism and diffusion study of ZSM-5-based mesostructures” under the supervision of Prof. Zi-Feng Yan (UPC) and Dr. Svetlana Mintova (LCS).

CURRICULUM VITAE

Family name, First name: Mintova Svetlana
Date of birth: 10/12/1962
Nationality: French/Bulgarian
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0738-5244; Researcher ID: N-7933-2018
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/svetlana-mintova-55394b12/
URL for web site: https://clear.cnrs.fr/mintova/
Top 1 % of the most-cited scientists in the world according to Stanford University standardized citation metrics for all scientific disciplines (https://lnkd.in/gHaDgiF)

EDUCATION

2007 HDR (Habilitation to conduct researches and supervise students), University
of Upper Alsace, Mulhouse, France
1993 Ph.D. in Chemistry, Department of Physical Chemistry, Technological
University of Sofia, Bulgaria
1985 M.Sc. in Chemistry, Department of Inorganic Chemistry and Metallurgy,
Technological University of Sofia, Bulgaria

CURRENT POSITION(S)

2021 – Head of the Center for Zeolites and Nanoporous Materials (CLEARRN), Caen,
France
2025 – Research Director – Exceptional Class (DRCE) CNRS
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
2014 – 2025 Director of Research 1st Class (DR1) CNRS, Laboratory of Catalysis and
Spectrochemistry (LCS), ENSICAEN, Normandy University, Caen, France
2009 – 2014 Director of Research 2nd Class (DR2), CNRS, Laboratory of Catalysis and
Spectrochemistry (LCS), ENSICAEN, Normandy University, Caen, France
2006 – 2009 Research Scientist 1st Class (CR1), CNRS, Laboratory of Materials with
Controlled Porosity (LMPC), University of Upper Alsace (UHA), Mulhouse, France
1999 – 2005 Docent (C2), Department of Physical Chemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians
University (LMU), Munich, Germany
1997 – 1999 Visiting Scholar, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA
1996 – 1997 Postdoctoral Researcher, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea, Sweden
1985 – 1998 Research Scientist, Institute of Applied Mineralogy and Crystallography,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), Sofia, Bulgaria

FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS

2025 Knight of the National Order of Merit (Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite)
2025 Honorary Citizen of Shandong Province, The People’s Republic of China
2024 Les Étoiles de l’Europe, Stars of Europe, Normandy
2024 The Flanigen Award in Materials Science at Honeywell UOP
2024 Selected to carry the Olympic flame for Paris 2024
2023 Honorary Award from the French Zeolite Association (GFZ)
2022 Laureate of the ERC Advanced Grant
2022 EASTMAN Foundation Distinguished Lecture Award in Catalysis
2019 Shandong International Science and Technology Cooperation Award
2019 Qingdao Award in Recognition for Social and Research Contributions (Qingdao,
China)
2017 Outstanding Paper Award of the European Microscopy Society (Science 355 (2017)
166
2016 The Donald W. Breck Award of the International Zeolite Association (IZA)
2016 Research Price “Le Prix La Recherche Chimie” by the editor of the magazine “La
Recherche”
2014 The Baron Axel Cronstedt Award of the Federation of the European Zeolite
Associations (FEZA)
2011 TOP 10 BREAKTHROUGH of 2011 according to the Editors of Science

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

2022 – 2025 President of the International Zeolite Association (IZA)
2021 – 2024 President of the Federation of the European Zeolite Associations (FEZA)
2021 – 2025 Member of the National Commission (NC)-CNRS, Section 14 & Council
Member
2022 – 2027 Research Director of the Sino-French IRN, CNRS – China Academy of
Science
2018– 2020 Member of the ANR Evaluation Committee CE8

ORGANISATION OF SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS

2025 Co-Chair: International Workshop Nanoporous Materials for Catalysis (Qingdao, China)
2022 Co-Chair: 8th International Workshop on Zeolites in the Energy Transition (Cabourg, France)
2021 Co-Chair: 21st China Zeolite Conference (CZC), 1st International Edition (Qingdao, China)
2018 Chair: 34th French Zeolite Association Meeting, 1st International Edition (Cabourg, France)
2018 Co-Chair: International Workshop: Nanomaterials in Biotechnology (Qingdao, China)
2012 – 2019 Co-Chair: 1st-6th International Workshop Zeolites: Prospects and Challenges (Caen,
Asnelles, Cabourg, Deauville, France)
2017 Co-Chair: 6th Federation of European Zeolite Associations Conference (FEZA), (Sofia, Bulgaria)
2015 Chair: 6th International Symposium on Advanced Micro- and Mesoporous Materials (AMMM),
(Bulgaria)
2005 – 2013 Co-Chair: 1st -5th International Symposium on Advanced Micro- and Mesoporous
Materials (AMMM) 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 (Bulgaria)

REVIEWING ACTIVITIES

2025 – Editor of Chemical Engineering Journal: Green and Sustainable, Elsevier
2022 – Editor of Microporous Mesoporous Materials, Elsevier
2020 – Associate Editor, Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, RSC
2021 – Advisory Board, Chem Catalysis, Cell Press
2024 – Editorial Board Member, Industrial Chemistry & Materials, RSC
2021 – Member of the Editorial Board of Catalysis Communications, Elsevier
2021 – Member of the Editorial Board of the Journal Catalysis Research
2024 – Member of the Editorial Board of Energy Materials

CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH CENTERS

2023 – 2028 International Scientific Advisory Board Member of TECHSCALE:
Nanotechnologies and New Generation of Single Atom Engineered Materials (Czech
Advanced Technology and Research Institute of Palacký University Olomouc)
2022 – 2027 External Expert Advisory Board for DESIRED HORIZON EP (National Inter-
university Consortium on Chemical Reactivity and Catalysis- Italy)
2022 – 2026 Scientific Advisory Board Member, Research Centre for Industrial and
Engineering Optics (Technical University of Dublin, Ireland)
2016 – 2026 Scientific Advisory Board Member, J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical
Chemistry of the CAS (Prague, Czech Republic)

EVALUATION OF RESEARCH CENTERS

2025 Scientific Evaluator, Technical University of Denmark (Kongens Lyngby, Denmark)
2022 Scientific Evaluator, Graz University of Technology, Research Center: Porous
Materials at work (Graz, Austria)
2021 Panelist, Capability Assessment Advisory Panel: Active Materials,
Exxon Mobil
2018 Scientific Evaluator, CSIC: Chemical Science and Technologies (Spain)
2017 Scientific Evaluator, Physics and Chemistry of Utrecht University
(Utrecht, Holland)
2016 Scientific Evaluator, Department of Materials and Environmental
Chemistry (Stockholm, Sweden)
2014 Member of Editorial Board, Advanced Porous Materials, ACS (USA)
2006 – Evaluator of research projects: NSF-USA, ANR (France),
IWT (Belgium), Croatian Science Foundation, (HRZZ, Croatia),
Bulgarian National Science Fund (BNSF, Bulgaria), Slovenian Science
Foundation (SZF, Slovenia), F.R.S.-FNRS-EOS, FWO (Belgium),
Czech Science Foundation (GACR, Czech republic), NSF (Ireland),
ERC-Starting, Consolidator, Advanced grants.

PUBLICATIONS

421 Papers, 20 Reviews, 23 Patents, 10 Book chapters
Presentations: 81 Plenary & Keynote, 72 Invited presentations in University and Companies,
127 Oral presentations; Posters presentations >250.
h-index: 73 (Google Scholar); Citations: >21,600

Post Doctoral Researcher(s)

PhD(s)

Master Student(s)

Engineer(s)

In our research we focus on synthesis of molecular sieves including zeolites and related porous materials for applications in catalysis, gas separation, environment and sustainable development. The latest studies are on zeolite crystallization in colloidal (clear) suspensions by addition of organic and inorganic structural directing agents resulting in the formation of nanosized zeolites.

In our present research projects we focus on:

1. Development of comprehensive synthesis tools for preparation of nanosized zeolites.
   The complex mechanism by which they assemble under hydrothermal synthesis conditions is the main point of attention. The transformation from amorphous into crystalline materials is under comprehensive study.Zeolite synthesis: (a) selection of raw materials, (b) preparation of dense gel and colloidal suspensions determined by the type of raw materials and conditions of preparation, and (c) crystallization of zeolites from gels and suspensions with the corresponding properties.
2. Assembly of nanosized zeolites on two- and three-dimensional surfaces for design of nanoscale devices including optical layers, selective chemical sensors and membranes.
3. Nanosized zeolites for heterogeneous catalysis and separation.
4. Advanced applications of nanosized zeolites.

Key Publications

Grand, S. N. Talapaneni, A. Vicente, C. Fernandez, E. Dib, H. A. Aleksandrov, G. N. Vayssilov, R. Retoux, Ph. Boullay, J.-P. Gilson, V. Valtchev, S. Mintova “One-pot synthesis of silanol-free nanosized MFI zeolite” Nature Materials 16 (2017) 1010 – 1015.

Palatinus, P. Brázda, P. Boullay, O. Perez, M. Klementová, S. Petit, V. Eigner, M. Zaarour, S. Mintova “Hydrogen positions in single nanocrystals revealed by electron diffraction” Science 355 (2017) 166 – 169.

Awala, J.-P. Gilson, R. Retoux, P. Boullay, J.-M. Goupil, V. Valtchev, S. Mintova “Engineering of template-free nanosized FAU-type zeolites” Nature Materials 14 (2015) 447 – 451.

Mintova, M. Jaber, V. Valtchev “Nanosized microporous crystals: emerging applications” Chemical Society Reviews, RSC 44 (2015) 7207 – 7233.

E.-P. Ng, D. Chateigner, T. Bein, V. Valtchev, S. Mintova “Capturing ultrasmall EMT zeolite from template-free systems” Science 335 (2012) 70 – 73. «TOP 10 BREAKTHROUGH» 2011

Majano, L. Delmotte, V. Valtchev, S. Mintova “Al-rich zeolite Beta by seeding in the absence of organic template” Chemistry of Materials 21 (2009) 4184 – 4191.

E.-P. Ng, L. Delmotte, S. Mintova “Selective capture of water using microporous adsorbents to increase the lifetime of lubricants” ChemSusChem 2 (2009) 255 – 260.

Mintova, N.H.Olson, J. Senker, T. Bein ”Mechanism of the transformation of silica precursor solutions into Si-MFI zeolite” Angewandte Chemie 41 (2002) 2558-2561.

Mintova, T. Bein “Microporous films prepared by spin-coating stable colloidal suspensions of zeolites “ Advanced Materials 13 (2001) 1880-1883.

Mintova, N.H. Olson, V. Valtchev, T. Bein, Mechanism of Zeolite A Nanocrystal Growth from Colloids at Room Temperature, Science (1999) 283, 958-960.

More publications…

1. Shandong international science and technology cooperation award (Shandong, China) , 2019

2. Qingdao award in recognition for social and research contributions (Qingdao, China) , 2019

3. Receiver of the most prestigious Donald Breck Award of the International Zeolite Association (IZA), 2016. This award is given every three years for outstanding contribution to zeolite science and practice and financially supported by UOP-Honeywell. The prize was given to me for “understanding the nucleation and growth in organic-free hydrogel systems leading to rational design of industrially relevant nanosized zeolites”

4. Receiver of the Baron Cronstedt Award of the Federation of the European Zeolite Associations (FEZA), 2014. This award is given every three years for outstanding contribution to zeolite science at European level and financially supported by TOTAL. The prize was given for contributions to science and technology related with zeolites and other porous materials, fundamental studies on zeolite synthesis, that brought the current state of the art to the level of rational design of high quality nanosized zeolites.

5. Receiver of the Award “Outstanding Paper 2017, section Instrumentation and Technique Development from the European Microscopy Society (EMS)” for identification of the position of single hydrogen atom in a new zeolite by electron diffraction (Science 355 (2017) 166 – 169).

6. Research Price 2016 “Chemistry” by the editor of the magazine “La Recherche” for the work on the synthesis of FAU type nanosized zeolite (Nature Materials 14 (2015) 447 – 451).

7. Breakthrough of 2011 according to the Editors of Science (9 place) for the work on the synthesis of ultra-small EMT type zeolite (Science 335 (2012) 70 – 73).

Awards given to the members of the group

Peng Peng : Excellent Postgraduate Thesis from the University of Petroleum China (UPC) on 4/09/2020

Florent DUBRAY : Best poster award – Summer School “Zeolites for Catalysis” 20-31 August 2018, Qingdao, China

Kamilla GOLDYN : 4th International Conference on Advanced Complex Inorganic Nanomaterials – ACIN 2018, 16-20/07/2018, Namur, Belgium.

Dr. Biao Dong : Gilles KAHN Award 2016 from the French-China Foundation (FFCSA) was given for the work performed in LCS-Caen. The prize was sponsored by Servier of France.

Dr. Eng Poh NG : 1^st prize for the best poster Presentation in Group de Francais de Zeolithes (GFZ) Conference, Port Bail, France, 1-3^th April 2009.

Dr. Eng Poh NG : Finalist for the application of PhD: Program in Max Planck Institute for Advanced Materials, Stuttgart, Germany, Apr. 2006.

Dr. Ka Lun Wong : 2010, GFZ Poster award  » Semiconductor clusters confined in nanosized zeolites »

International

Prof. Izabela Naydenova
Centre for Industrial and Engineering Optics
College of Sciences and Health, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin
Ireland

Prof. Tsvetanka Babeva
Institute of Optical Materials and Technologies “Acad. J. Malinowski”
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia
Bulgaria

Prof. Eng-Poh Ng
School of Chemical Sciences
Universiti Sains Malaysia Pulau Pinang
Malaysia

Dr. Lubomira Tosheva
Division of Chemistry & Environmental Science
Manchester Metropolitan University
UK

Prof. Rossella Arletti
Università degli Studi di Torino
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Torino
Italy

Dr. Lukáš Palatinus
Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Structure Analysis,
The Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague
Czech Republic

France

Dr. Vincent de Waele
Laboratoire de Spectrochimie Infrarouge et Raman
Université de Lille1, Sciences et Technologies, Villeneuve
France

Dr. Philippe Boullay and Dr. Nicolas Barrier
CRISMAT, CNRS, Normandy University, Caen
France

Dr. Matthieu Denoual
GREYC-ENSICAEN, Caen
France

Dr. Samuel Valable
CNRS, CEA, Université de Caen-Normandie, Caen
France

Dr. Charlotte Martineau-Corcos
Institut Lavoisier de Versailles (ILV)
Université de Versailles St Quentin (UVSQ)
Versailles, France

Organisation of international conferences

1^st International and 34^th French Zeolite Association Meeting (Cabourg, France, 2018)

6^th Federation of European Zeolite Associations (FEZA) Conference (Sofia, Bulgaria, 2017 )

International Workshop “Zeolites: Prospects and Challenges” (France, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)

6^th International Symposium on Advanced Micro- and Mesoporous Materials (Bourgas, Bulgaria,2015)

3^rd -5^th International Symposium on Advanced Micro- and Mesoporous Materials (AMMM) (Varna, Burgas, Pomorie, Bulgaria, 2013, 2011, 2009)

N/a

Four shared platforms support the day-to-day work of the LCS teams. Notably, the IR platform (VISIO), based on the laboratory’s historical know-how, has reached a very high degree of maturity, recognized internationally. Since the beginning of 2017, solid state NMR development is becoming a part of a shared platform with the LCMT Laboratory, the Joint Center for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Caen (CCRC). The two other platforms concern synthesis and physical characterization (platform created in 2009), as well as catalysis and chemisorption.

Svetlana MINTOVA

Email: svetlana.mintova[at]ensicaen.fr
Phone: + 33 (0)2 31 45 27 37
Location: Bâtiment C – 232

Alumni PhD

• Hussein Awala
• Hacan Ali Ahmad
• Farah Kawtharani
• Anastasia Khartchenko
• Veselina Georgieva
• Eng-Poh Ng
• Ka Lun Wong
• Xioquin Zou
• Ivan Yordanov
• Gerardo Majano
• Maxime Debost

Alumni Post Doctoral students

• Siddulu Naidu
• Biao Dong
• Hailing Guo
• Dusan Stosic
• Hussein Awala
• Sarah Komaty-Zaarour
• Moussa Zaarour
• Julien Grand

Alumni Master students

• Grace Baaklini
• Batoul Srour
• Marcel Yiao
• Kolio Raltchev

Sino- French international associated laboratory (LIA) « ZEOLITES »

http://www.lia.dicp.ac.cn/

About LIA

An international associated laboratory (LIA) is a “laboratory without wall”, and is not a legal entity. It consists of the association of the Laboratory of Catalysis and Spectrochemistry (LCS), CNRS-affiliated laboratory and Chines Institutions’ Laboratory(ies) wishing to pool together human and material resources in order to implement a jointly-defined research program.