IMX Talks - Redesigning Biomass: Selective Chemical Pathways to Circular Nanostructured Materials

This lecture summarizes recent work from our group and show how underutilized biomass streams can be converted into functional, high-performance materials. A central part of our research focuses on the targeted chemical modification of cellulose, including selective reactions that allow us to design tailored cellulosic nanoparticles and other nanostructured materials. Alongside this, we explore the processing and characterization of alternative feedstocks such as aquatic plants, agricultural residues, tannin-rich materials, and insect-derived chitin. Collectively, these examples show how integrated processing, chemical modification, and advanced analytics can unlock new pathways toward circular and sustainable material solution.

Bio: Marco Beaumont is a group leader at the Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources at BOKU University (Austria). He received his PhD from BOKU in 2017 in the field of Chemistry of Renewables and later underwent postdoctoral training at Aalto University, Queensland University of Technology and University of Würzburg. He currently heads the Future Feedstocks and Functional Materials group, which works toward developing sustainable and selective chemical processes for modifying biopolymers, valorizing biomass waste streams, and producing advanced bio-based materials.