BiCMat News
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Contribution of Dr Blaise Tardey, a member of BiCMat research group to the cover of Materials Horizons Issue 3, 2018.
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Courses and Seminars of Interest:
How to write a research paper by Michael Tam (Aug 8, 2018): LINK
Rheology course of Michael Tam (Aug 1, 2018): LINK
Go further below to Media and News
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PhD defense ''From wood to industrial polymeric biomaterials'' by associate BiCMat member Sanna Virtanen, Espoo, 10.8.2018
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Professor Michael Tam farewell with BiCMat members, 7.8.2018
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i-Link project meeting on hybrid materials from nanocellulose
Project meeting in the IQAC-XCSIC (Barcelona, spain), with Carlos Rodriguez, Jordi Esquena, Toyoko Imae, Carmen Herves, Conxita Solans and others. June 25-25, 2018
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Visit to University of Helsinki as opponent for doctoral dissertation, Patrick Laurent
Topic: Biomedical applications of nanofibrillar cellulose
Helsinki, 29.06.2018
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First Place as best poster in 2018 TAPPI nanotechnology
Congrats to Anu, First Place as best poster in 2018 TAPPI nanotechnology of renewable materials (Madison) . His research deals with cellulose nanofibrils and acetylated cellulose for tailorable aerogels and filaments using solubility parameter predictions.
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Visit to KTH university as opponent for doctoral dissertation, Emilie Norström
Topic: Adhesion phenomena in hetero-polysaccharide system.
Stockholm, 11.6.2018
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Visit to Stockholm University as opponent for doctoral dissertation, Yingxin Liu
Topic: Nanocellulose-based materials: from colloidal assembly to functional films.
Stockholm, 7.6.2018
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INNPAPER project meeting, 5.6.2018, Helsinki
Innovative and Smart Printed Electronics based on Multifunctionalized Paper: from Smart
Labelling to Point of Care Bioplatforms (INNPAPER), EU H2020
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Visit to Chalmers University as the opponent for doctoral dissertation, Kajsa Markstedt
Topic: 3D Printing Wood Tissue
Gothenburgh, 1.6.2018
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Hosting visitors from Canada and China , 28.5.2018, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, Aalto University, Finland
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BiCMat annual celebration 26.5.2018, Tallinn-Helsinki
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HYBER Symposium 24-25.5.2018, Dipoli
BiCMat is a part of Academy of Finland's Centre of Excellence in Molecular Engineering of Biosynthetic Hybrid Materials (HYBER, 2014-2019)
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The visit of VTT foam team to BiCMat research group and Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems on 2.5.2018
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Congratulations to Konrad Klockars who successfully defended (April 26, 2018) his MS thesis under the topic: Evaporation-induced self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals from aqueous suspensions into chiral nematic solid structures.
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Flagship funding of The Academy of Finland for Aalto University and VTT for development of new biomaterials: The Academy of Finland’s new research funding programme has allocated CERES, bioeconomy competence cluster, several million euros for the next few years. The funding decision is based on thorough reviews by several international panels that evaluated the scientific quality and the impact of the cluster. See http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/news/2018-04-18-002/
Orlando Rojas was announced as the 2018 recipient of the Anselme Payen Award, one of the highest recognitions in the area of cellulose and renewable materials. The award will be given next year in the ACS meeting (Orlando, FL). A symposium will be organized in his honor. This will be a great time for BiCMat to celebrate our work: http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/news/2018-03-26-002/
Orlando Rojas is awarded an ERC Advanced Grant
Our Materials Horizon work is in the news:
http://www.bpod.mrc.ac.uk/archive/2018/4/14
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Blaise Tardy delivered (March 2018) seminar in the group of Dr. Junling Guo, Wyss Fellow at Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University
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Two summer courses that may interest you (BiCMat's O. Rojas participates in instruction):
Nanocellulose: relationship between fundamentals and applications (20-24 August 2018, Helsinki, 8 ECTS)
Biomaterials and Interculturality (9 to 13 July 2018, Grenoble, France). Flyer here
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Jiaqi Guo awarded the prestigious Humboldt fellowship in Germany: Jiaqi , a former member of our group (graduated in September 2017) was awarded the prestigious Humboldt fellowship in Germany.
Jiaqi defence and karonka in September 2017 with BiCMat members and colleagues.
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The 2018 Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Award goes to Alexey: Alexey Khakalo (graduated October 2017) won the Heinzel-Mondi-Sappi Award 2018 from his work in the group, in the area of super-stretchable fiber networks. The Heinzel Mondi Sappi Awards 2018 will be presented on Wednesday, May 16th 2018 during the opening of the Paper&Biorefinery Conference in Graz, Austria.
Alexey defence in September 2017 with professor Orlando Rojas and professor Wolfgang Bauer.
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Stora Enso: professor Orlando Rojas gives a quick lesson in transport renewability.
A car is one of those items that seems impossible to make from a tree but the truth is that we’re almost there and there’s a lot more that could be done. Watch the latest episode of 'Renew This' where reporter Christine Demsteader investigates vehicles from trees.
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Professor Orlando Rojas to receive the prestigious Anselme Payen Award: 2018 Anselme Payen Award
The award is one of the most important and internationally recognized awards in the field of cellulose and renewable materials.
Professor Rojas (second row, far left) with his research group. Photo: Valeriya Azovskaya
On March 20, at the American Chemical Society (ACS) meeting in New Orleans, Professor Orlando Rojas from Aalto School of Chemical Engineering, was announced as the 2018 recipient of the Anselme Payen Award. The award, established in 1962, is given annually by the ACS's Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division for outstanding contributions to the science and technology of cellulose and related materials. Professor Rojas will be presented with the award at the 2019 ACS Spring meeting to be held in Orlando, Florida. In such occasion, a symposium and banquet will be organized in his honor. This is the second time in 57 years that an individual affiliated with Finnish research institutions receives the award, in an area that is of highest importance to the country.
Rojas has led research in the field of surfaces and colloids for more than 20 years, after receiving his PhD from Auburn University and following his affiliations with Universidad de Los Andes (Venezuela), KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and North Carolina State University (USA), before joining Aalto University.
“I am fascinated with plant-based polymers, their structuring and functions as well as the many prospects for their utilization in the future bioeconomy.”
Professor Rojas is interested in supporting global sustainable development through research on the fundamental and applied aspects of renewable resources. The core activities of his group involve biobased materials of different size scales, mainly those displaying large interfacial area such as fibers (micro/nano fibers), fiber networks, particles and colloidal systems.
“Our group uses surface science, engineering, and nanotechnologies in multidisciplinary approaches to understand the fundamental principles involved in design, manufacture and performance of next generation materials. I am fortunate to be surrounded by outstanding colleagues and students. The contributions of my group members are main reasons for this award. I am grateful to all of them, past and present.”
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A simple method developed for 3-D bio-fabrication based on bacterial cellulose: Our Materials Horizon paper is in the Finnish and international news: Link1, Link 2, Link3
Bacterial cellulose bio-fabricated in the shape of an ear via superhydrophobized molding. Photo: Luiz G. Greca
Bacterial cellulose (BC) nanofibers are promising building blocks for the development of sustainable materials with the potential to outperform conventional synthetic materials. BC, one of the purest forms of nanocellulose, is produced at the interface between the culture medium and air, where the aerobic bacteria have access to oxygen. Biocompatibility, biodegradability, high thermal stability and mechanical strength are some of the unique properties that facilitate BC adoption in food, cosmetics and biomedical applications including tissue regeneration, implants, wound dressing, burn treatment and artificial blood vessels.
In the study published in Materials Horizons researchers at Aalto University have developed a simple and customizable process that uses superhydrophobic interfaces to finely engineer the bacteria access to oxygen in three dimensions and in multiple length scales, resulting in hollow, seamless, nanocellulose-based pre-determined objects.
“The developed process is an easy and accessible platform for 3D biofabrication that we demonstrated for the synthesis of geometries with excellent fidelity. Fabrication of hollow and complex objects was made possible. Interesting functions were enabled via multi-compartmentalization and encapsulation. For example, we tested in situ loading of functional particles or enzymes with metal organic frameworks, metal nanoparticles with plasmon adsorption, and capsule-in-capsule systems with thermal and chemical resistance”, explains Professor Orlando Rojas.
This facilitated biofabrication can be explored in new ways by the biomedical field through scaffolding of artificial organs. Advances in bioengineering, for instance by genome editing or co-culture of microorganisms, might also allow further progress towards the simplified formation of composite materials of highly controlled composition, properties and functions.
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Additive manufacturing, 2D,3D designing and laser cutting
3D printing, as a hot research topic, has opened up a variety of possibilties when it comes to design and additive manufacturing. Our students can combine mutiple structures and complex shapes using modeling software and print them with different 3D printing techniques.
Photo: Rubina Ajdary
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Joice Kaschuk farewell lunch
Joice, Ph.D. Student in University of São Paulo, joined us as a visitor for a period of 6 month to investigate sollar cells.
Dear Joice, BiCMat research group wishes you a safe trip back home and we hope you have enjoyed your time in Finland.
Use of biogenic silica in porous alginate matrices for sustainable fertilization with tailored nutrient delivery, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6, 2716–2723 (2018). DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b04331
Solid-state synthesis of metal nanoparticles supported on cellulose nanocrystals and their catalytic activity, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b04333 (2018).
Lignin Nano- and Microparticles as Template for Nanostructured Materials: Formation of Hollow Metal-Phenolic Capsules, Green Chemistry, DOI: 10.1039/C8GC00064F
We introduce colloidal lignin as sustainable and easily degradable particles for templating nanocoatings for the preparation of hollow polymeric capsules. The capsules themselves were prepared from tannins, which in the presence of metal ions chelated into metal-phenolic networks (MPN) that self-assembled around the lignin core
Structural colour from wood: Science meets Art and Design: http://bio2.aalto.fi/en/current/news/2017-03-27-005/
Listen to podcast with O. Rojas and Stora enso on nanocellulose
Cellulose: an untapped bioresource beyond paper - 360 (VR) video:
Continuous production of nanocellulose filaments, Aalto University 2016:
Wet spinning of 100% nanocellulose suspensions, Aalto University 2014: