At SML we research renewable and underutilized bio-based resources for sustainable material alternatives. Our focus is on fungal, cellulosic, and proteinaceous feedstocks. These resources are deconstructed into fundamental units, which can then be reassembled into hierarchical architectures with tunable properties. In addition to conventional materials engineering, the natural growth mechanisms of microorganisms, such as fungi, are harnessed to direct the assembly of polymers and nanomaterials into compositionally distinct hybrids, promoting new configurations, functionality, and molecular-scale interactions, for a distinct class of materials grown to function.
Our lab is grateful for the support of the Chair in Sustainable Materials at the lnstitute of Materials of the School of Engineering of EPFL, co-funded by: BASF SE, Logitec, Nestlé and SIG Services AG.