At the Laboratory of Natural Materials Technology, the resarch topics include producing and processing biomass and the use of it in production of wood based fibres, biopolymers, biocomposites and biofuels as well as coating of materials based on natural fibres. Other research activities in this area include embedding functionality into fiber-based substrates and making them compatible with potential future value-added applications such as printed sensors, electronics, and photonics. One of the major research areas, controlling printability of traditional graphic paper grades, is today expanded to include coating and printing of functional materials.

The research is done within the following research groups:

Fibre and Cellulose Technology

• Biomass engineering
• Smart fibres, functional cellulosic beads, cellulosic bioplastics, bioactive materials based on hemicelluloses, and hydrotropic lignin

Paper Coating and Converting

• Surface engineering of natural fibre-based materials such as paper and board
• Use of coating and printing technologies as fabrication methods for novel value-added products

Wood and Paper Chemistry

• Wood, pulping, and papermaking chemistry
• Biorefinery and biobased materials

Laboratory of Natural Materials Technology is a part of the subject cluster Chemistry and Chemical Technology that is headed by professor Johan Bobacka.

Research personnel

Teachers

Jan Gustafsson, Senior Lecturer, Fibre and Cellulose Technology
Research profile and publications

Mari Nurmi, Senior Lecturer, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Anna Sundberg, Senior Lecturer, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Martti Toivakka, Professor, Paper Coating and Converting, Head of Laboratory
Research profile and publications

Chunlin Xu, Research Director, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Stefan Willför, Professor, Vice-rector for Research Affairs
Research profile and publications

Researchers and Doctoral Students

Yury Brusentsev, Project Researcher, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Jarl Hemming, Researcher, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Liqiu Hu, Doctoral Student, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Jani Kniivilä, Research Assistant, Paper Coating and Converting
Research profile and publications

Ekaterina Korotkova, Coordinator for analytical services, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Ruut Kummala, Doctoral Student, Paper Coating and Converting
Research profile and publications

Rui Liu, Doctoral Student, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Kyudeok (Kevin) Oh, Post-doctoral Researcher, Paper Coating and Converting
Research profile and publications

Andrey Pranovich, Senior Researcher, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Annika Smeds, Laboratory Technician, docent, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Diosángeles Soto Véliz, Doctoral Student, Paper Coating and Converting
Research profile and publications

Luyao Wang, Doctoral Student, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Research profile and publications

Qingbo Wang, Doctoral Student, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Xiaodeng Yang, visiting researcer, Wood and Paper Chemistry
Hichem Zergane, visiting researcer, Wood and Paper Chemistry

Address:

Åbo Akademi University
Natural Materials Technology
Porthaninkatu 3
20500 Turku