[LA TRIBUNE] OliKrom makes non-toxic paint that lights up cities at night

Fascinated by the luminous fish of the abyss, passionate about materials capable of changing properties, Jean-François Létard has finally established himself as the international reference in the field of intelligent pigments. A powerful interest that has led this doctor of chemistry from the University of Bordeaux to the creation of colored paints capable of lighting up to mark out space or signal a disturbance in the environment. Jean-François Létard has thus proven that it is possible to create pigments that react in a predictable and selective way to changes in light, temperature, the presence of solvents, gases or pressure variations!

Pigments that can be programmed according to need and whose changes can be reversible or not. The result is a very extensive, not to say infinite, catalog of applications. But achieving this scientific Holy Grail was not enough for him. Because this CNRS research director attached to the ICMCB (Bordeaux Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry) felt that he had not reached the end of his adventure, that he still had a way to go.