I stared my academic journey at Umeå university in 2015, after 5 years I graduated with a MSc in Chemistry and a MSc in Bioresource Engineering. With a close collaboration with Umeå Plant Science Centre and the industry, a foundation consisting on fundamental plant biotechnology and green chemistry was built.
In my SwedNess PhD project, I will study nanocellulose based materials and its properties such as strength and thermal conductivity at different conditions. As a hygroscopic material, nanocellulose is highly sensitive to moisture and when exposed, it will start to swell which will weaken the interfibrillar bonding, allowing for easier debonding and a significant decrease in mechanical properties. It is known that the mechanical strength of nanocellulose-based materials can lose up to 90% of its strength at wet conditions, compared to dry. It has also been shown that the thermal conductivity of nanocellulose-based materials is moisture dependent as the swelling affects the interfibrillar distance. To gain a better understanding of the properties of nanocellulose at different conditions, I plan to use primarily SANS and INS in my project.