Biobased Materials and Technology

Full course description

Concerns about climate change and the security of industrial feedstock sources have accelerated the interest and development of biobased materials. However, scientists, policymakers, and companies face technological, environmental, and societal challenges to implement the transition from a linear and fossil-based to a circular and biobased society. 

The scientific field of Biobased Materials provides a multidisciplinary approach in which biology, chemistry, (bio)chemical engineering, and sustainability assessment are integrated to develop the materials   of the future. This creates an opportunity to not only replace currently made materials (like plastics and polymers)  with biobased alternatives but also to produce new materials with additional functionalities derived from renewable biological sources. New technologies may be required to obtain suitable synthesis routes to produce biobased materials, with tunable performance properties for applications in the health industry, packaging, consumer products, textiles, etc.

This course exploits the development of biobased materials involving the biology of biological feedstock, the chemistry of biobased building blocks and polymers, the technological processes, principles of circularity, and environmental and societal implications. This course also aims to create a critical as well as a creative attitude towards biobased materials and technologies. The students should be able to recognize the challenges and possibilities concerning materials in the transition towards a sustainable biobased circular economy and society.