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Francisco Vilaplana

Enzymatic engineering of hemicellulose hydrogels

In this project we will engineer hemicellulose hydrogels using a wide range of enzymes, from oxidative laccases that introduce crosslinking to specific hydrolases that cleave selectively side chains from the hemicelluloses. We expect that the enzymatic treatments will modulate the network interactions in the hydrogels and the rheological properties. We will investigate the morphology and

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Hybrid Glycoproteins from Wheat Bran as Platform Materials

Vetekli är det yttre skiktet som omger kornens frövita och utgör den huvudsakliga biprodukten från vetemalningsprocessen och står för cirka 300 000 ton per år i Sverige. Vetekli används för närvarande nästan uteslutande industriellt som djurfoder på grund av lågt organoleptiskt värde och näringsvärde för mänsklig konsumtion. Vetekli innehåller emellertid en stor andel värdefulla biomolekyler

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Molecular Basis of the Interactions and Recalcitrance of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Lignocellulosic biomass represents the main renewable resource from the biosphere for the production of biofuels, platform chemicals and bio-based materials. Lignocellulose consists of a complex polymeric network of cellulose microfibrils embedded in a matrix of hemicelluloses, pectins, and lignins with exquisite organization from the nano- to the microscale. However, the heterogeneity of the lignocellulose polymeric

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BioUPGRADE – Biocatalytic upgrading of natural biopolymers for reassembly as multipurpose materials

BioUPGRADE unites expertise in functional genomics and material science to deliver breakthrough biotechnologies that sustainably upgrade nature’s main structural biopolymers into high-value and multipurpose materials.Living organisms drive our planetary carbon cycle via biocatalysts that transform CO2 into an enormous array of diverse and functional molecules. A significant fraction of this carbon is transformed into structural

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Wood hemicelluloses: molecular structure and interactions in plant cell walls

Wood is a formidable composite material with unique biological functions (as secondary plant cell wall) and outstanding properties to be exploited in material applications. Hemicelluloses act as the molecular connection, interacting with cellulose microfibrils and lignins, contributing to wood integrity (biological function) but also to recalcitrance (technical challenge). The dynamics of hemicelluloses in hydrated form

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Study of the multiscale networks of hemicellulose hydrogels by scattering techniques

The aim of the project is to develop multifunctional soft materials (hydrogels) from hemicelluloses for biomedical and food applications. We combine chemo-enzymatic methods to modify the molecular structure of the hemicelluloses and to tailor their assembly and rheological properties. In this project we want to understand the assembly mechanisms that drive the gel formation upon

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