Bio-Inspired Polymers

The goal of the programme is to develop advanced bio-inspired polymeric materials and methodologies for existing and new applications. The development of these materials is inspired by natural polymeric structures and nature’s principles (such as self-assembly and biocatalysis).

These polymers can be produced from natural or synthetic resources and by using (chemo)enzymatic and microbial catalysis. The structure-property relationships of the novel materials are to be studied in order to elucidate why they exhibit these unique properties. The scale of the synthesis is to be developed to such an extent that tangible amounts of materials will become available for testing. The aim is to demonstrate scale-up potential as well.