June 1, 2023
Recent developments towards resource-wise societies and use of renewable materials have created a strong incentive to utilize biomass-derived materials as an alternative to oil-based polymers. These materials combine large volumes, low cost, and a range of unique functional properties depending on the composition of the starting biomaterial. As examples of their implementation to emerging applications, I will discuss supercapacitors and self-cleaning light-management layers for third generation photovoltaics. At the other end of application range, at established high-volume applications, I will showcase how biowaste can be converted into carbon-negative sound absorption and insulation materials. In principle, all of these materials can be produced with circular economy approaches by using agricultural and industrial biowaste bringing attractive environmental and economic benefits.
Speaker: Jaana Vapaavuori
Assistant Professor Jaana Vapaavuori (Aalto University,
Finland). Having received her Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2013, Prof. Vapaavuori has rapidly advanced to a leader of Multifunctional Materials Design Group, established in 2019 at the Department of Chemistry and Materials Science at Aalto University. She has received multiple recognitions, including Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (Canada), the Young Researcher of the Year 2020 award of Finnish Foundation of Technology Promotion, and ERC Starting grant of European Research Council. Her research interests involve developing new designed materials for light-controllable nanostructures, multifunctional porous materials, as well as sustainable material solutions for energy applications and smart textiles. The strong international visibility of her research is demonstrated by high number of 1552 citations (h-index: 19) for an early-career researcher. During the past three years, she has accumulated a funding of over 4 MEUR to support a research group of 15 persons.