BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Memento EPFL// BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Function-driven design and processing of degradable polyesters DTSTART:20200930T090000 DTEND:20200930T100000 DTSTAMP:20260407T111809Z UID:358bea0d2eb37476a334698e540809b7cfbd86ffd1e2d9b66676f76a CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars DESCRIPTION:Dr. Tiziana Fuoco\, KTH Royal Institute of Technology\, Stockh olm\nAdhering to green chemistry’s principles and the sustainability dev elopment goals\, polyesters are a promising class of polymers in the prosp ect of overcoming the challenges of conventional plastics. Monomers employ ed for their synthesis can be derived from renewable feedstock and aliphat ic polyesters are able to degrade generating harmless products. Biobased a nd/or degradable polyesters represent indeed one segment of the bioplastic market. If properly designed\, they can find widespread applications such as packaging holding a key role in EU’s strategy for plastics in a circ ular economy.1\nDesign issues need to be addressed to broaden the limited range of thermal and mechanical properties\, introduce functionalities and program the degradation profile to fit the application scope. In this eff ort\, polyesters with different microstructures have been developed throug h ring-opening copolymerization to afford structural diversity and tune th e material’s properties and degradation rate.2\,3 The design of the stru cture at the macromolecular level\, through careful monomer selection and sequence regulation\, enabled control over the final properties of the mat erial and the degradation kinetics. To tackle the inability of further che mical manipulation of aliphatic polyesters\, thiol functional monomers and biobased\, unsaturated macrolactones have also been employed as monomers. 5\,6 Besides the design of the primary structure\, the control of how the structure develops during melt processing is crucial to tune the desired f unctions\, mechanical properties’ profile and degradation rate. This is of outmost importance in view of a large-scale production and real applica tion of polyesters. By regulating the composition of the copolymer and pro cessing parameters at industrial scale\, the service lifetime of polyester fibres could be prolonged while ensuring a fast erosion rate. The underst anding of the effect of the processing parameters on polyesters’ propert ies gave also directions on how to overcome the lack of thermal stability and therefore\, balance degradability and processability for this class of materials. Building on this knowledge\, thermoplastic copolymers\, now co mmercially available\, have been designed and proved to exhibit a faster d egradation rate than poly(e-caprolactone) and a comparable thermal stabili ty during melt processing.4 To truly advance towards sustainable alternati ves\, the a priori design\, the processing and the overall performance of polyesters should\, however\, be considered in a broader scope and a circu lar way. A balance has to be reached between less carbon footprint raw mat erials\, recyclability\, degradability and performance.\n\n(1) European Co mmission\, A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy 2018\; ( 2) A. Meduri\, T. Fuoco\, M. Lamberti\, C. Pellecchia\, D. Pappalardo\, Ma cromolecules 2014\, 47\, 534\; (3) T. Fuoco\, T. Mathisen\, A. Finne-Wistr and\, Biomacromolecules 2019\, 20\, 1346\; (4) T. Fuoco\, A. Finne-Wistran d\, Biomacromolecules 2019\, 20\, 3171\; (5) (a) Aliphatic poly(esters) wi th thiol pendant groups US: Id 15/768347\; (b) T. Fuoco\, A. Finne-Wistran d\, D. Pappalardo\, Biomacromolecules 2019\, 17\, 1383\; (c) T. Fuoco\, D. Pappalardo\, A. Finne-Wistrand\, Macromolecules 2017\, 50\, 7052\; (6) T. Fuoco\, A. Meduri\, M. Lamberti\, V. Venditto\, C. Pellecchia\, D. Pappal ardo\, Polym. Chem. 2015\, 6\, 1727\; (7) T. Fuoco\, T. Mathisen\, A. Finn e-Wistrand\, Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 2019\, 163\, 43-51.\n\nBio: Tiziana Fu oco is currently a researcher in Polymer Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology\, Sweden.\nShe was born in Salerno\, Italy\, in 1986. She g raduated with honours in Chemistry at University of Salerno in 2012 and re ceived a PhD’s degree in Polymer Chemistry from the same University in 2 016. Right after\, she held a two-year postdoctoral research position in P olymer Technology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and in 2018 was app ointed as researcher. Her research field is Polymer Science\; her activity is focused on the rational design of the degradable polymers\, mainly ali phatic polyesters\, to endow functionalitiesand performance addressing new application needs.Tiziana Fuoco is co-author of 22 peer-reviewed scientifi c articles and she has been active in technology transfer: she is co-inven tor of one granted patent and two patent applications\; she is co-owner an d co-founder of a start-up that produces and sells degradable\, thermoplas tic materials for 3D printing.\n  LOCATION:Zoom https://epfl.zoom.us/j/94325557233 STATUS:CONFIRMED END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR