Our core research principles
Simple design - Minimalistic design to reduce complexity of scaling up
Manufacturability - Consider scale up challenges early on to provide greater push towards commercialisation
Radical effects - Provide distinct performance other materials cannot achieve
The Future Materials Group is a young and dynamic research group consisting of 'multilingual' scientists and engineers proficient in the development of chemical engineering-driven environmental friendly material innovations for a sustainable future.
Our research is highly interdisciplinary, often crossing the fields of materials chemistry, chemical engineering, physics and materials engineering, to develop novel polymeric materials.
The core research focus of our Group include the design of nanocellulose-derived advanced composite materials, the manufacturing of cellulose and lignocellulose-derived sustainable materials, valorisation of waste into engineering materials and the development of lightweight porous materials.
Find out more about our nanocellulose, (ligno)cellulose and materials from waste research from the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering seminar and Imperial College inaugural lecture. More information about our work in waste-derived enginering materials can be found from our H2020/BBI-JU funded VAMOS demonstration project. A brief description of our lightweight porous polymeric materials research be found here.
You can also learn more about what we do from our publications.
Research focus
Nanocelluose-derived advanced composite materials
We engineer nanocellulose network to maximising material performance, with specific applications on lightweight transparent armour, hierarchically structured paper and fibreboards for advanced composite applications
(Ligno)cellulose-derived sustainable materials
We manufacture high performance (ligno)cellulosic biomass derived sustainable materials for engineering applications that cannot be achieved solely by conventional bio-based or natural fibre-reinforced polymers
Research focus 2
Waste-derived materials
We work on converting waste materials, including post-consumer plastics and agricultural biomass into higher value engineering products, transform the linear “take-make-dispose” model to a circular economy model
Porous polymeric materials
We focus on designing porous polymeric materials based on a simple and intrinsically scalable "liquid-into-solid" concept, allowing not only a waste-reduction but completely waste-free manufacturing of porous materials