David Gendron

Scientific Director

Research Theme

Expertise

  • Organic synthesis chemistry
  • Macromolecular chemistry (small molecules, dendrimers and polymers)
  • Organic optoelectronic (liquid crystals, field-effect transistor)
  • Production and storage of renewable energy: organic photovoltaic, supercapacitor and lithium battery
  • Soft robotic
  • Electrochemistry
  • Paint and coating formulation
  • Project management

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship in soft robotic (electroactive actuators)and in advanced materials  (carbon nanotubes and graphene) (2016) – Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Italy
  • Postdoctoral fellowship in organic optoelectronic (macromolecules synthesis for application in solar cells devices) and crystallographic studies of model compounds) (2014) – Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE), Australia
  • Ph.D in polymer chemistry (conjugated polymer for organic electronic) (2012) – Université Laval
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (2007) – Université Laval

Experience

Dr Gendron possesses more than 15 years in academic R&D. After a Ph.D in polymer chemistry under the supervision of Mario Leclerc, he completed two postdoctoral fellowship stages, one in organic optoelectronic (Australia) and one in robotics (Italy). Back in Canada, he worked in the private section for 2 years on the development of specialty coatings for digital projection (cinema) and on the development of advanced materials for energy storage (lithium metal polymer battery and supercapacitor). He joined Kemitek’s team in 2018 as a senior researcher. In 2024, he was promoted to Scientific Director.

Accomplishments

  • Development of novel polymerized ionic liquids for application electroactives actuators (patent appl.)
  • Development of opto- and electroactives materials for organic electronic (more than 20 publications, h-index of 12, more than 2200 citations)

Memberships

  • Adjunt Professor – Department of Chemistry (Université Laval)
  • Member, Ordre des Chimistes du Québec (OCQ)
  • Member, Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC)
  • Member, American Chemical Society (ACS)
  • Member, Material Research Society (MRS)

Publications

  • D. Gendron, F. Maasoumi, A. Armin, K. Pattison, P.L. Burn, P. Meredith, E. B. Namdas, B. J. Powell, A thiocarbonyl-containing small molecule for optoelectronics, RSC Adv. 2017, 7, 10316-10322.
  • D. Gendron*, G. Bubak, L. Ceseracciu, F. Ricciardella, A. Ansaldo, D. Ricci, Significant strain and force improvements of single-walled carbon nanotube actuator: a metal chalcogenides approach, Sens. Actuators B. 2016, 230, 673-683.
  • D. Gendron*, G. Bubak, L. Ceseracciu, A. Ansaldo, D. Ricci, The electrolyte layer composition: a key element to enhance performances of carbon nanotubes actuator, Sens. Actuators B. 2016, 222, 1073-1082.
  • D. Gendron*, A. Ansaldo, G. Bubak, L. Ceseracciu, G. Vamvounis, D. Ricci, Poly(ionic liquid)-Carbon Nanotubes Self-Supported, Highly Electroconductive Composites and their Application in Electroactive Devices, Comp. Sci. Technol. 2015, 117, 364-370.
  • D. Gendron, G. Vamvounis, Synthesis and Reactions of Halo-substituted Alkylthiophenes. A Review. Org. Prep. Proc. Int. 2015, 47, 385-414.
  • Bubak, D. Gendron, L. Ceseracciu, A. Ansaldo, D. Ricci, Parylene coated ionic liquid-carbon nanotube composite actuators, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2015, 7, 1554215550.
  • Bubak, A. Ansaldo, D. Gendron, L. Brayda, L. Ceseracciu, D. Ricci, Parylene coated carbon nanotube actuators for tactile stimulation, Proceeding of SPIE Conference on Electroactive Polymers and Devices, 2015, doi:10.1117/12.2084233.
  • D. Gendron*, G. Bubak, L. Ceseracciu, A. Ansaldo, D. Ricci, Cross-linked carbon nanotubes buckygel actuators: an in-depth study, Proceeding of SPIE Conference on Electroactive Polymers and Devices, 2015, doi:10.1117/12.2084227.
  • D. Gendron, E. Gann, K. Pattison, F. Maasoumi, C. R. McNeil, S. E. Watkins, P. L. Burn, B. R. Powell, P. E. Shaw, Synthesis and properties of pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole-1,4-diones (isoDPP) derivatives, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 4276-4288.
  • Lévesque, D. Gendron, N. Bérubé, F. Grenier, M. Leclerc, M. Côté, Thiocarbonyl Substitution in 1,4-Dithioketopyrrolopyrrole and Thienopyrroledithione Derivatives: an Experimental and Theoretical Study, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2014, 118, 3953-3959.
  • Vamvounis, D.Gendron, Selective Direct Arylation of 3-bromo-2-methylthiophene: A Building-Block for Electro- and Photo-active Organic Materials, Tetrahedron Lett. 2013, 54, 3785-3787.
  • Ottone, P. Berrouard, G. Louarn, S. Beaupré, D. Gendron, M. Zagorska, P. Rannou, A. Najari, S. Sadki, M. Leclerc, A. Pron, Donor-acceptor alternating copolymers containing thienopyrroledione electron accepting units: Preparation, redox behaviour, and application to photovoltaic cells, Polym. Chem. 2012, 3, 2355.
  • Najari, P. Berrouard, C. Ottone, M. Boivin, Y. Zou, Gendron, W.-O. Caron, P. Legros, C. Allen, S. Sadki, M. Leclerc, High Open-Circuit Voltage Solar Cells Based on New Thieno[3, 4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione and 2,7-Carbazole Copolymers, Macromolecules, 2012, 45, 1833-1838.
  • Berrouard, A. Najari, A. Pron, D. Gendron, P.-O. Morin, J.-R. Pouliot, J. Veilleux, M. Leclerc, Synthesis of 5-Alkyl[3,4-c]thienopyrrole-4,6-dione-Based Polymers by Direct Heteroarylation, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed, 2012, 51, 2068-2071.
  • D. Gendron, P.-O. Morin, P. Berrouard, N. Allard, B. R. Aïch, C. N. Garon, Y. Tao, M. Leclerc, Synthesis and Photovoltaic Properties of Poly(dithieno[3,2-b:2’,3’-d]-germole) Derivatives, Macromolecules, 2011, 44, 7188-7193.
  • D. Gendron, M. Leclerc, New Conjugated Polymers for Plastic Solar Cells, Energy Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 1225-1237.
  • Jo, D. Gendron, A. Najari, J. S. Soon, S. Cho, M. Leclerc, A. J. Heeger, Bulk heterojunction solar cells based on a low-bandgap carbazole-diketopyrrolopyrrole copolymer, Appl. Phys. Lett. 2010, 97, 203303.
  • Peng, A. Najari, B. Liu, P. Berrouard, D. Gendron, Y. He, K. Zhou, M. Leclerc, Y. Zou, A new dithienylbenzotriazole-based poly(2,7-carbazole) for efficient photovoltaics, Macromol. Chem. Phys. 2010, 211, 2026-2033.
  • D. Gendron, P.-O. Morin, A. Najari, M. Leclerc, Synthesis of new pyridazine-based monomers and related polymers for photovoltaic applications, Macromolecular Rapid Comm. 2010, 31, 1090-1094.
  • Allard, B.-R. Aïch, D. Gendron, P.-L. T. Boudreault, C. Tessier, S. Alem, S.-C. Tse, Y. Tao, M. Leclerc, Germafluorenes: New Heterocycles for Plastic Electronics, Macromolecules, 2010, 43, 2328-2333.
  • Zou, D. Gendron, R. N. Plesu, M. Leclerc, Synthesis and Characterization of New Low-Bandgap Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Copolymers, Macromolecules, 2009, 42, 63616365.
  • Zou, D. Gendron, B.-R. Aïch, A. Najari, Y. Tao, M. Leclerc, A High-Mobility LowBandgap Poly(2,7-carbazole) Derivative for Photovoltaic Applications, Macromolecules, 2009, 42, 2891-2894.
  • Blouin, A. Michaud, D. Gendron, S. Wakim, E. Blair, R. Neagu-Plesu, M. Belletête, G. Durocher, Y. Tao, M. Leclerc, Toward a Rational Design of Poly(2,7-Carbazole) Derivatives for Solar Cells J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 732-742.

Book chapters:

  • D. Gendron, Ionic Polymer Metal Composites for Sensors and Actuators, Springer, 2019.
  • Bubak, D. Gendron, Hybrid Polymer Composites Materials : Properties and Characterisation, Woodhead Publishing, Elsevier, 2017.

Conferences

  • D. Gendron, Electroactive polymer actuator: Enhancing the strain and force output by tuning the material composition, CEA Seminar, October 2016, Grenoble, France.
  • D. Gendron, Hybrid polymer-graphene materials for application in electroactives devices, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, November 2015, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
  • D. Gendron, G. Bubak, L. Ceseracciu, A. Ansaldo, D. Ricci, Cross-linked carbon nanotubes buckygel actuators: an in-depth study, SPIE Conference, March 2015, San Diego, USA.
  • D. Gendron, A. Ansaldo, L. Ceseracciu, G. Bubak, D. Ricci, Carbon nanotubespoly(ionic liquid)s composites for soft actuating devices, MRS Fall Meeting, December 2014, Boston, USA.
  • D. Gendron, A. Ansaldo, L. Ceseracciu, G. Bubak, D. Ricci, Carbon nanotubespoly(ionic liquid)s composites for soft actuating devices, IIT-RBCS Seminar, November 2014, Genoa, Italy.
  • D. Gendron, A. Fiore, B. Donat-Pépin, M. Leclerc, S. Sadki, F. Chandezon, Study of the CdSe/PCDTBT system for hybrid solar cells, CERMA Conference, July 2011, Université Laval, Canada.
  • D. Gendron, Synthesis and characterization of new 1,4-diketopyrrolopyrrole based material, November 2010, Université Laval, Canada.
  • D. Gendron, K. Ouellet, A. Champagne, A.-C. Breton, P. Berrouard, P.-L. Boudreault, M. Leclerc. Polymer materials: To DNA detection to organics transistors and their use in solar cells application, CERMA Conference, July 2009, Université Laval, Canada.
  • D. Gendron, Synthesis and optimisation by laterals alkyls chains of poly[N, heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole(4,7-dithienyl-benzothiadiazole)]. March 2008, Université Laval, Canada.