Projects
Shedding Light on Polymer Dynamics: A Multi-Scale Approach KU Leuven
Polymers are ubiquitous in our society and play a critical role in numerous applications, from everyday items to advanced technologies. Their broad range of properties and functions makes them incredibly valuable. However, the rational design of polymers with specific properties that can fulfil desired functions remains a challenge in polymer chemistry. Despite advances in computational models, it remains difficult to link the molecular ...
Engineering of Soft Matter with (Bio)Polymers: Development of multiphasic polymeric materials with diverse electrical functionalities using flow-induced microstructure engineering. KU Leuven
Due to rising consumer demands, enhanced functionality and miniaturization of many devices, material requirements become increasingly stringent and multiple characteristics are required within one material. Polymers have substantial advantages as compared to other materials, e.g. they are lightweight, flexible, easy to process and corrosion-resistant. However, most polymers are electrical insulators and have no electrical or magnetic ...
Barrier layers based on potato peels for packaging materials suitable for protein-rich foods KU Leuven
Food packaging plays an important role in maintaining quality and safety of protein-rich foods and is contributing to an extended shelf-life and reduced food loss and waste. Depending on the food specific sensitivity towards the uptake or loss of gases, low, medium or high gas barrier properties of the packaging concept is required. To meet product-specific packaging properties such as a high oxygen barrier, different polymers including ...
Toughness assessment and micro-to-macro correlation of fracture processes in composite materials using a versatile embedded multiscale-model Ghent University
In many applications metals are substituted by fibre-reinforced polymer composite laminates that are composed by layers. Type and sequence of fracture modes between and inside layers are neither well understood nor correlated to fracture toughness due to experimental difficulties associated with testing in multidirectional laminates. A combined computational-experimental framework linking directly microscale fracture to toughness measurements ...
Advanced thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tools for advanced study of materials and sustainable processes KU Leuven
Microporous oxides and renewable materials synthesis. KU Leuven
The proposed research plan focuses on high-performance material synthesis, in the context of catalysis. The largest, core part of this material research program is dedicated to the synthesis of microporous tetrahedral oxides, mostly zeolites and zeotypes, for use as catalysts in sustainable chemistry. This part is entitled ZEOSYNTHECA - zeolite synthesis for enhanced catalytic action. Specifically we focus on catalytic processes and materials ...
BIOAPP: Application development of innovative biorefinery products towards biobased materials KU Leuven
Valorization of humins as a bio-based feedstock in the synthesis of functional polymers KU Leuven
Humins are by-products of many emerging biorefinery processes, where a lignocellulosic biomass is converted into platform chemicals. Leading to a large carbon loss throughout the process, their formation is however ubiquitous, which makes them an important factor in the overall strategy and process feasibility. A successful valorization of humins would open up new possibilities and increase profits of biorefinery operations. Therefore, that ...