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SUMMARY:IMX Seminar Series - Surface Interactions and Assembly of Cellulos
 e Nanomaterials
DTSTART:20230313T131500
DTEND:20230313T141500
DTSTAMP:20260412T130636Z
UID:d1cff8f2ea3a7b1a2832adbfc47a60dd5af966ac2ba079b966556755
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Wim Thielemans\, KU Leuven\, Belgium\nHumanity is under 
 sustained pressure to reduce energy consumption\, reduce waste disposal an
 d increase the use of renewable materials. Functional nanomaterials based 
 on renewable resources have the potential to deliver a holistic solution b
 y increasing activity\, reducing the use of depletable resources\, reducin
 g CO2 emissions\, and reducing waste at their end-of-life. In our group we
  are developing a renewable nanoparticle technology platform based on cell
 ulose nanowhiskers\, rigid-rodlike single-crystal nanoparticles derived fr
 om native cellulose. We investigate a range of surface functionalization p
 athways to introduce ionic groups\, small molecules and polymers as well a
 s metal nanoparticles. The thermodynamic interactions and kinetics assembl
 y of these nanoparticles is studied\, on their own or with polymers or oth
 er nanoparticles\, to make higher order structures such as organized films
 \, membranes\, hydrogels and aerogels. In this talk I will give an overvie
 w of the work we have carried out to understand interactions at nanocellul
 ose surfaces\, the kinetics of assembly of nanocellulose into higher order
  structures\, and how we combine this knowledge in materials applications.
 \nBio: Wim Thielemans received his chemical engineering degree in 1999 fro
 m KU Leuven (Belgium) and his PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2004 from the
  University of Delaware (Newark\, DE\, USA). He then spent 2 years as a Ma
 rie Curie research fellow at the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenobl
 e (France). In 2006 he moved to the University of Nottingham (Nottingham\,
  UK) to set up his own research group where he was jointly appointed by th
 e School of Chemistry and the Department of Chemical and Environmental Eng
 ineering. In 2013\, he moved back to KU Leuven under the Odysseus program 
 to continue his independent career and is now a Full Professor at the KU L
 euven Department of Chemical Engineering. Since 2016 he is Chair of Advanc
 ed Materials\, supported by the Provincial Development Agency of West-Flan
 ders. He is also Affiliate Associate Professor at Auburn University (Aubur
 n\, AL\, USA) and honorary professor at the University of Nottingham (UK).
  In his research Wim has been leading work on the surface modification\, s
 elf-assembly\, and advanced materials manufacturing of cellulose\, starch 
 and chitin nanoparticles. Wim is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistr
 y\, is the current Program Chair of the ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materi
 als division\, and is managing editor of the journal Industrial Crops and 
 Products (Elsevier). He has over 155 publications\, 2 patents\, and an h-i
 ndex of 47. In 2007\, he won the Silver Award for his research at the UK H
 ouse of Commons Set for Britain event\, and he was co-recipient of the US 
 EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2013. 
LOCATION:MXF 1 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==MXF%201
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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