New insight into the structure of building blocks of plant biomass.

FLOWER approved by the Interreg VA France (Channel) England Programme

Development of innovative flax fibre reinforcements for composite applications

Professor Paul Dupree named a 2017 Highly Cited Researcher

A strategy to improve the processing of softwood to sustainable biomaterials and biofuels

In a paper recently published in Biotechnology for Biofuels we are looking at a possible way to improve the processing of timber derived from conifers to feedstock used for sustainable manufacturing of novel biomaterials and biofuels. Softwood, as any other timber, is predominantly composed of plant secondary cell walls - an intricate matrix of polysaccharides and phenolic compounds which surround wood cells. Due to abundance of trees, plant secondary cell walls are the largest, renewable, resource of bioenergy on the planet.

Green method developed for making technical fibres

The team at the Centre for Natural Material Innovation has designed a super stretchy, strong and sustainable material that mimics the qualities of spider silk and viscose rayon, and is ‘spun’ from a material that is 98% water.