Research Overview

Our expertise? Understanding the Structure-Processing-Properties of Renewable Nanomaterials for Design and Engineering of Advanced Functional Materials.

Our research focuses principally on:

  • Sustainable Processing and Characterization of Renewable Nanomaterials  
    • We produce cellulose nanomaterials on-site and conduct full characterization to confirm their uniform production and assess their properties.
Photo of an iridescent film made of cellulose nanocrystals and a photo of an aqueous gel like suspension of cellulose nanofibrils.
  • Coatings, Films and Packaging
    • Replacing single-use plastics is one of our main objectives. Inspired by nature, we combine and use synergistically renewable resources, across the length scale, to develop barrier coatings/films for packaging applications.
Photo of translucent biofilms made from bacterial cellulose and alginate.
  •  Functional porous materials
    • Foams, aerogels are lightweight porous materials with enhanced performance. With controlled structure and porosity, they can be used as insulation or cushioning materials. The hierarchical oriented porous structure of trees is here our inspiration…
Photo of porous foams made of cellulose nanofibrils and lignin. One foam is laying on a flower showing its lightweight, the middle photo shows the microporous structure of the foam by scanning electron microscopy and the right photo shows the same foam under the compression of a 1 kg weight.