Greener formulation using biopolymers

Our projects focus on the use of biopolymers such as cellulose, lignin, tannins and hemicellulose in formulations ranging from therapeutics, to home and personal care, agrochemicals and additive manufacturing, with the goal of reformulating without synthetic polymers. We are particularly interested in the use of green deep eutectic solvents to extract and modify cellulose, and lignin, and the use of cellulose nanofibrils and lignin polymers as rheology modifiers, pickering particles for emulsions stabilisation, soft gels and thin films or coatings. Deep eutectic solvent interactions with TEMPO-oxidised cellulose nanofibrils and commercial lignins are also under investigation for development of novel soft materials, and to develop more sustainable processing routes. We use small angle  synchrotron X-ray and neutron scattering to characterise the nanoscale structures in our materials and suspensions, alongside rheology, light scattering, mechanical testing, to correlate macroscopic properties with the molecular and fibril interactions in our systems.