{{Short description|French chemist (born 1968)}} {{Infobox person | name = Sylvaine Neveu | image = | caption = | othername = | birth_name = | birth_date = 6 January 1968 | birth_place = Rennes, France | death_date = | death_place = | burial_place = | alma_mater = ParisTech School of Chemistry<br>École Nationale Supérieure des mines | occupation = Silica chemist | years_active = | known_for = Irène Joliot-Curie Prize | spouse = }}
'''Sylvaine Neveu''', born on 6 January 1968, is a French chemist and scientific director of the Solvay group. She received an Irène-Joliot-Curie Prize in 2016.
== Life and work == Born in Rennes, France, Neveu attended Châteaubriand high school before enrolling at the ParisTech School of Chemistry. She went on to earn her doctorate in process engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure des mines in Paris<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Sergeant |first=Denis |date=2016-09-14 |title=Sylvaine Neveu primée pour ses travaux sur la silice |url=http://www.la-croix.com/Sciences/Sylvaine-Neveu-primee-pour-travaux-silice-2016-09-14-1200788906 |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=La Croix |language=fr}}</ref> and joined the Belgian company Solvay group in 1994.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Sylvaine Neveu - Who's Who |url=https://www.whoswho.fr/bio/sylvaine-neveu_79908 |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=www.whoswho.fr |language=fr}}</ref> There, she is works at the Research and Innovation organization in charge of the development of products and processes for the Group’s Global Business Unit Silica.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Solvay is proud to announce that Sylvaine Neveu |url=https://www.solvay.com/sites/g/files/srpend221/files/tridion/documents/20160914-Prix-Joliot-Curie-EN.pdf |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=Solvay.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in research: What connects Solvay with Irene Joliot-Curie? |url=https://www.solvay.com/en/innovation/news-and-events/women-research-what-connects-solvay-irene-joliot-curie |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=Solvay |language=en}}</ref>
All of Neveu's work is based on understanding the "nanoscopic structure and functions of an important molecule in a number of everyday objects, silica or quartz, which is none other than silicon dioxide (SiO2)."<ref name=":2" />
She received the Irène-Joliot-Curie prize in 2016 for her innovations in the field of silica and energy-saving tires. During an interview with Sergeant, she described her tire project.<ref name=":2" /><blockquote>Thus, the new "green tire" requires less energy to manufacture than its rubber ancestors. The material that makes up the tire, a synthetic polymer containing 50% silica, brings 10 to 20% technical improvements: it wears out less quickly and adheres better to the road, thus contributing to better safety.<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>Her research projects target the reduction of the consumption of energy and water during the production of silicas, and she has "authored 17 patent families and leads the department in charge of the development and industrialization of new silica products and processes."<ref name=":0" />
== Awards and distinctions ==
* Irène-Joliot-Curie prize in the category "Research and Business Woman" in 2016.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Lauréates 2016 du prix Irène Joliot-Curie : Françoise Briquel-Chatonnet, Nathalie Carrasco et Sylvaine Neveu {{!}} Lauréats {{!}} Prix et médailles {{!}} Encourager la vie scientifique |url=https://www.academie-sciences.fr/fr/Laureats/laureates-2016-du-prix-irene-joliot-curie.html |access-date=2022-06-14 |website=www.academie-sciences.fr}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Neveu, Sylvaine}} Category:Living people Category:Scientists from Rennes Category:21st-century French scientists Category:21st-century French women scientists Category:French women chemists Category:1968 births