[Mini Symposium] Building a new future exploring unexpected synergies between materials chemistry and biology

Mini-symposium

Title: Building a new future exploring unexpected synergies between materials chemistry and biology

Symposium Agenda:

This Symposium in part of the annual meeting of the FLIPT Project "FLow Induced Phase Transitions, A new low energy paradigm for polymer processing".

FLow Induced Phase Transitions is a new European Commission H2020 Future Emerging Technologies OPEN project that seeks to change the way we currently think about plastic processing. Our interdisciplinary team are working on translating lessons from nature to make a new range of bioinspired polymers that can be processed with minimal energy input.
The group brings together researchers across the EU with a diverse set of backgrounds and interdisciplinary skills to better understand how Nature makes its materials, how they are used and how they evolved. We believe our work will help inform and improve how we process our own materials.

Title: Unravelling Spider Silks
Speaker: Fritz Vollrath
Affiliation: Department of Zoology Oxford OX1 3PS, U.K

Abstract:

Spider silks, like the silks of other arthropods, use proteins are the structural components and water as the solvent. Protein and water combine and separate - under ambient pressures and temperatures - to make the silk thread, which can be so tough that it outperforms even the best man-made fibres.

So far, our studies of spider silks and webs have lead us to a number of important discoveries ranging from tunable nano-scale composite structures (that absorb energy hydro-electrically) to complex self-assembling micro-machines (that absorb energy mechanically) all the way to the building of complex webs cleverly engineered to absorb energy aerodynamically.  All these ways-and-means are the works Nature's 'Design by Evolution', which is a powerful albeit rather time consuming process, to create and fabricate highly functional - and energy efficient - materials, devices and systems.

Importantly, silks are not only interesting as highly evolved natural materials but seem to have a bright future both as models to guide our understanding of energy efficient bio-polymers but also as prototype models to guide the design of totally novel polymer systems be it for medicine or engineering.

Title: Where necessity is the mother of invention: putting science & technology to work for refugees in Za'atari
Speaker: Tony Ryan
Affiliation: The Department of Chemistry and Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures, The University of Sheffield

Abstract:

The University of Sheffield has been working with the UNHCR at Za'atari refugee camp, where 80,000 people are squeezed into six square kilometres, the people of Syria have suffered terribly and many have fled. That suffering continues almost unnoticed still.

A team scientists and engineers have spent time in to Za'atari working on "scrap yard challenges" to come up with co-created solutions for home-scale hydroponics, water heating and electricity generation. There are plenty of materials to hand, sheet steel and angle bar, wood, canvas and poles from tents, PU foam mattresses and a stock of recovered bicycles donated by the Amsterdam Police.

The refugees' legal status usually prevents them from taking up employment, owning property or moving freely, stripping them of agency. At home they were farmers, engineers, teachers, doctors, so not only have they been forcibly displaced, but also forcibly unemployed. And they can't do anything that even looks like it might lead to permanence, like getting a job or fixing their house. Despite this, the eagerness to put a plan into action was truly astounding, and many smiles and jokes were exchanged. It is incredible to see the resilience of the Za'atari folk.

We built, through intensive co-creation school buses, mobility devices, and winterised caravans.  And I'll show examples of all of these.  We built a hydroponic greenhouse using repurposed PVC drainpipes and polyurethane foam mattresses as synthetic soil.  This takes what we've learned from our high-tech research at the University, to create a microcosm farm were we make our own rain and build synthetic soil to turn arid land over to food production, and puts it to work on the ground.  An amazing outcome of the work in the refugee camp is that we are now doing urban farming in disused industrial building in Sheffield.

The people who live these camps face daily struggles that many of us cannot imagine. But those we met embodied values that are often forgotten by those of us in more privileged parts of the world: an adaptable approach to solving problems, an aversion to waste, a sense of community. As hard as we must work to live in a world where no one is forced to flee their home, there is much we can learn from Syria's refugees.

Title: How to change the world with rheology
Speaker: Juha Salmela
Affiliation: CTO, Co-Founder of Spinnova

Abstract:

When invented, plastic was, and still is, a great invention. Initially, plastic was based on cellulose, but as industrial chemistry developed, modern plastics are mostly made of crude oil. Since the 1950’s, more than 1 billion tons of plastic has been discarded, and currently about

300 million tons of plastic is produced annually.

Copying Mother Nature

Spinnova is looking to Mother Nature – namely spiders and silkworms – to show us how to re-place oil-based materials such as plastics with completely new, natural solutions. Consequently, while listening to a presentation about how a spider weaves its web is where Juha got my “heure-ka” moment eight years ago, about spinning cellulose into textile fibre.

Promising 1st results

Spinnova role in the FLIPT project is mostly experimental. A modified version of the Spinnova technology is used as a test bench for different FLIPT materials. We have already received several samples ranging from Oxford Biomaterials’ reconstituted silk fibroin to University of Sheffield’s polymers and VTT cellulose derivatives. So far, all samples have been spinnable using our tech-nology.

In the FLIPT project, Spinnova’s goal is to validate the usability of different cellulose based, novel raw materials, and to find commercialization routes for these materials. This role comes natural for us, since we have already done this once for our wood based fibres.

In a nutshell, FLIPT’s ultimate goal is to develop a platform technology to generate inspired, low energy materials and production technologies to outperform petroleum-based polymers. So, thank you spiders and silkworms, you might just save the day some day!

About the Speakers

Prof. Fritz Vollrath is the research leader at the Zoology Department in the University of Oxford. Winner of an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council.

Prof. Vollrath has defined a pioneering area of study into the properties of spider silks that not only promises to revolutionise various polymer industries, but also could have huge potential medical benefits for humans in everything from knee replacements to nerve repair to heart transplants [The Guardian].

Fritz' other interests concern elephant conservation and in that capacity he chairs Save the Elephants, heads the Oxford Tracking Group and and is actively involved with the Mpala Research Centre in Kenya.

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Professor Tony Ryan OBE is the Professor of physical chemistry at the University of Sheffield and the founding Director of the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures. Winner of an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council.

His research covers sustainable synthesis, structure, processing, and applications of polymers using advanced analytical and measurement techniques. Recent research projects included renewable sources for polyurethane synthesis, organic photovoltaics, maximising the properties of polymers and biopolymers through flow-induced crystallisation, formulation of home and personal care products and polymer foams for high intensity urban agriculture. He has co-authored more than 300 papers and patents and 2 books, "Polymer Processing and Structure Development" and "The Solar Revolution: One Planet, 10 Billion People, One Solution."

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Juha is the CTO and co-founder of Spinnova with Janne. Prior to inventing the method for spinning fibre out of cellulose, Juha was a team leader of VTT’s rheology and process flows team. Experimental research of fibre suspension flows was the main focus of his research. Juha has also led several large industrial process development projects. Juha brings both systematic development and a nutty professor kind of experimental spirit to the team. On his time off he does a variety of sports with and without his two children.

Spinnova represents a disruptive, ecological innovation that turns cellulose into textile fibre simply, without harmful chemicals. Spinnova develops the most sustainable fibre in the world.

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