Our research

Our research group is part of the Materials Science & Engineering Department at the University of Washington. 

We focus on engineering sustainable high-performance polymer nanocomposite materials. 

Sustainable biological matter-based materials - Utilizing biological matter (which we call biomatter) from natural and renewable resources, we create new materials which combine mechanical performance similar to petroleum-derived commodity plastics with compostability in soil. Our main focus is on understanding how processing, biopolymer composition & ultrastructure impact the mechanical properties of our biomatter-based materials. We currently study bioplastics and polymer blends from biomatter, inks and filaments for 3D-printing, as well as structural materials (biomatter/cement mixtures and engineered wood panels bonded with bio-adhesives).