Call for Papers

Please contact the symposium organizers with questions.

Bioproducts and renewable materials can be accessed from biological resources as suitable solutions to fulfill the needs of a range of technologies. Within the concept of the circular bioeconomy, many opportunities are being uncovered considering a sustainable society that uses widely available bioresources while simultaneously lowering the net carbon footprint. Nature provides inherently structured and hierarchical systems that can lead to transformative impacts as we approach a fossil-free future. There are still grand challenges in the fundamental research to bring lignocellulosic-based materials closer to market, many of which relate to the fractionation, handling, and processing in ways that diverge from practices that are currently applied. The possibility of tailoring the assembly and resultant properties of lignocellulose, for instance, in the design of advanced materials demands fundamental understanding. Novel devices with both excellent functionality and mechanical flexibility call for system-level integration. Sustainability is critical in the context of green and energy-efficient processing, recycling, etc.

This symposium aims to bring together scientists and engineers from diverse and multidisciplinary fields with a strong interest in lignocellulosic materials, their fractionation, processing, new materials design, and advanced applications. We provide a forum to communicate recent technological developments and to exchange ideas about next-generation material development.

Topics will include:

• Nanocellulose, lignin, and other biobased materials—Accessing and characterizing cellulosic materials, lignin, chitin, and other biological materials and hierarchical structures
• Fundamental Science—Mechanical, thermal, barrier, and optical properties. Nanostructuring and multi-scale modeling
• Lignocellulose-based functional structures and nanomanufacturing—Multifunctional composites, functionalization, lightweight and strong composites, transparent substrates, magnetic nanostructures, 3D aerogel, hydrogel, nanomanufacturing, etc.
• Wood nanotechnology—Wood nanostructure understanding, nanostructural control, and multi-functional materials design
• Electronics—Flexible and printed electronics, plasmonics and nanophotonics on cellulose, actuators, liquid crystals and displays, piezoelectronics, etc.
• Biodevices—Microfluidics, biosensors, cellulose plasmonics and nanofluidics, bioactive materials, biomedical, etc.
• Energy management—Solar cells, batteries, novel carbon and fuel cells, flexible energy storage, etc.
• Other Emerging applications of lignocelluloses—Novel dispersion agents and additives, smart materials, emerging membranes, etc.
• Sustainable development—Green chemistry, energy-efficient processing, recycling, etc.

Invited Speakers (tentative):

• Ingo Burgert (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
• Chaoji Chen (Wuhan University, China)
• Emily Cranston (The University of British Columbia, Canada)
• Qi Dong (University of Maryland, USA)
• Teng Li (University of Maryland, USA)
• Tian Li (Purdue University, USA)
• Aji Mathew (Stockholm University, Sweden)
• Amir Sheikhi (The Pennsylvania State University, USA)
• Daniel Söderberg (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
• Silvia Vignolini (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
• Lars Wågberg (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
• Min Wu (Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Yuan Yao (Yale University, USA)
• Kai Zhang (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany)
• Hongli Zhu (Northeastern University, USA)

Symposium Organizers