BPG 2024

From Lignin Derived Building Blocks to Covalent Adaptable Networks and Recyclable Materials (IL01)

Prof. Katrien BERNAERTS

MAASTRICHT UNIVERSITY, Geleen, The Netherlands
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Prof. Katrien BERNAERTS

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Katrien Bernaerts holds a PhD in Polymer Chemistry from Ghent University (Belgium). After obtaining her PhD with Prof. F. Du Prez, Katrien spent 7 years in industry, doing research in the field of coatings and fibers. Since 2012, she has been an Associate Professor at Maastricht University, where she is leading the Sustainable Polymer Synthesis group. Her main research focus is on the design and synthesis of sustainable polymer materials with tuneable properties for the circular economy. Sustainability entails biobased building blocks (but no biorefinery) instead of fossil raw materials, green routes for polymer synthesis/processing, as well as (chemical) recycling methods to make the end-of-life of polymers more sustainable. Structure-property relationships of the resulting polymers are evaluated in several fields of application e.g. stimuli-responsive polymers, coatings, fibres, engineering plastics and biomedical materials. Katrien has a growing focus on the use of artificial intelligence techniques to support and accelerate the experimental work, e.g. data interpretation and prediction of structure-property relationships.

Designing Functional Polymers for 3d/4d (Micro)Printing (IL04)

Prof. Eva BLASCO

IMSEAM - HEIDELBERG UNIVERSITY, Heidelberg, Germany
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Prof. Eva BLASCO

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Eva Blasco completed her Ph.D. studies at the University of Zaragoza (Spain). Thereafter, in 2014, she obtained an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to work in the groups of Prof. C. Barner-Kowollik (Polymer Chemistry) and Prof. M. Wegener (Applied Physics) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. Afterwards, she continue as a group leader at the same institution. In October 2020, she was appointed junior professor at the University of Heidelberg (Germany) and since January 2023 she has been promoted to full professor in the newly funded Institute for Molecular System Engineering and Advanced Materials. She is a PI and member of the executive board in the Excellence Cluster 3DMM2O. She has received several awards: e.g. Ernst-Haage Prize in Chemistry 2022, SPIE 3D printing award, Young Investigator Award in Chemistry 2023 (Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry,… Her research interests include the development of new functional materials for 3D/4D printing.

On-line Near InfraRed Spectroscopy Using Artificial Intelligence to Monitor Oligomer Synthesis in Real-Time (IL02)

Dr Dirk BONTINCK

ALLNEX BELGIUM, Drogenbos, Belgium
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Dr Dirk BONTINCK

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Senior Business Technology Director at allnex since 2016. Mainly working on new technologies and innovations in collaboration with universities, knowledge institutes and other companies. Building consortia to develop technology that allnex could never achieve on its own, because it does not have the necessary resources and knowhow to do so. Obtained a Master in Chemistry at UGent in 1982, and a PhD in Chemistry in October 1987 at UGent. Joined UCB in 1987 as R&D Manager Polyurethanes in Drogenbos, Belgium. UCB was acquired by Cytec in 2005 and then became allnex in 2013 Moved to various positions in R&D, becoming Global R&D Director Radcure in 2007.

Polymerization with Real Time MWt and Conversion Monitoring in Flow (IL03)

Prof. David HADDLETON

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK, Coventry, United Kingdom
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Prof. David HADDLETON

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Professor David Mark Haddleton Polymer Synthesis and Catalysis 1980-1983: University of York, B.Sc. (Hons) 1983-1986 University of York, D.Phil. “Photochemistry of some metal ethene complexes” (Robin Perutz) 1987: PDRA, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (G A Ozin) 1988-1993: I: CI/Zeneca Senior Research Scientist 1988: Secondment to the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, USA (A C Griffin) 1993-1996Lecturer, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL 1996-1998: Senior Lecturer, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL 1998- : Professor of Chemistry, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL: 2001- 2011: CEO, CTO and Founder, Warwick Effect Polymers Ltd: 2013: Adjunct Professor, Monash University (Pharmacy and Materials Engineering) 2014 – 2017: Chair Professor Soochow University, Suzhou, China 2014- :Founder of Medherant Ltd, Executive Director and CSO. Our group at Warwick currently focuses on controlled polymerisation methodology with current research including: • Polymers for Healthcare, therapeutics and medicine • Controlled free radical polymerisation • Polymers from renewable resources for a sustainable future • Publications: Approx. 350 published papers in refereed journals, 10 refereed reviews, approx. 32 patent familes, 2 book chapters. H-index = 83 (WoS), 92 (GS), total citations >22500 (WoS), >28000 (GS).

Biannual Award Lecture
Injectable Polymeric and Colloidal Building Blocks to Overcome Challenges in Tissue Engineering (AL01)

Prof. Laura DE LAPORTE

DWI-LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR INTERACTIVE MATERIALS E.V., Aachen, Germany
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Prof. Laura DE LAPORTE

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Laura De Laporte combines engineering, chemistry and biology to design biomaterials that control and direct the interaction with cells. She is a Chemical Engineer from Ghent, where she got the tissue engineering microbe. To follow her dream, she did her PhD with Lonnie Shea at Northwestern University and engineered guiding implants for nerve regeneration. At EPFL, she learned about hydrogels in Jeffrey Hubbell’s group during her post-doctoral research. Since 2018, she is a Leibniz Professor at the RWTH University in Aachen, Germany, where she works on Advanced Biomedical Systems at the DWI-Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials. Her team designs injectable polymeric hydrogel precursors, consisting of nano –and micron-scale building blocks that interlink to form macroporous 3D cell scaffolds, orient after injection to grow anisotropic tissues, and actuate to include movements into the growing tissues

Enhancement of Lithium Ion Conductivity on Amphiphilic Liquid-Crystalline Block Copolymer by Electric Field Alignment (OC05)

Mr Isaac ALVAREZ MOISES

UCLOUVAIN, Louvain-la-neuve, Belgium
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Mr Isaac ALVAREZ MOISES

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Isaac Alvarez studied Chemistry at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena in Germany, where he obtained his master’s degree working on sodium nickel chloride battery. Since 2020, he has been a Ph.D. student in the group of Prof. Jean-François Gohy within the European project of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, where he is investigating novel active materials for polymer-based organic solid electrolytes for lithium metal batteries.

Synthesis and Characterization of a Triblock-Copolymer Composed of Poly(ε-caprolactone) and Poly(L-lactic acid) Processable by Electrospinning and Melt Electrowriting (OC16)

Mr Jef BREBELS

KU LEUVEN, Leuven, Belgium
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Mr Jef BREBELS

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Jef earned his master’s degree at the Faculty of Engineering Technology from KU Leuven with a specialization in chemical engineering. During his master thesis, he worked on the characterization and quantification of precious metals in liquid waste streams in collaboration with recycling company Indaver, Antwerp. The thesis aimed to gain more knowledge on the contents of waste streams originating from pharmaceutical industry containing precious metals. Hereby, a new characterization procedure was established using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for ruthenium, rhodium, palladium and platinum. Simultaneously during his master’s education, his interests shifted to the biomedical field and he is now working on his PhD topic at KU Leuven, funded by FWO, under the supervision of Prof. Arn Mignon and Prof. Veerle Bloemen. Here, he is investigating the development of an enzyme-responsive polymer-based tubular construct for flexor tendon repair. Leveraging his knowledge on polymer synthesis and characterization, Jef will look at the processability of various materials by both electrospinning and melt electrowriting in order to achieve both a biological and mechanical solution for flexor tendon injuries.

Controlling the Relaxation Dynamics of Polymer Networks by Combining Associative and Dissociative Dynamic Covalent Bonds (OC01)

Mr Aleix COSTA CORNELLÀ

VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL, Brussels, Belgium
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Mr Aleix COSTA CORNELLÀ

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Aleix Costa is a PhD student at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in the Physical Chemistry and Polymer Science (FYSC) research group. Working in the EU Marie Curie international training network on soft, self responsive, smart materials for robots (SMART). He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS) School of Engineering. His research focuses on improving the sustainability of self-healing polymers based on Diels-Alder bonds, with a special focus on the application of these materials in real-world applications.

Competition of Timescales in Polymer Processing: Crystallization and Diels-Alder Crosslinking (OC08)

Mr Jelle DE CEULAER

KU LEUVEN, Leuven, Belgium
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Mr Jelle DE CEULAER

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Jelle received his master’s degree in chemical engineering from KU Leuven with a specialization in product engineering. During his master thesis, he worked on the melting behavior of polyamide 12 sintering powder and their post-condensation effect. The thesis aimed to develop a procedure to reverse the post-condensation effect, thereby enhancing the sustainability and reusability of polyamide sintering powder. He is currently working on his PhD topic at KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. Peter Van Puyvelde and Prof. Ruth Cardinaels, where he is investigating the interplay of timescales in polymer processing to manipulate and control material microstructures. Leveraging the semi-crystalline nature and reversible crosslinking characteristics of the materials, he will look into the structure-property relation of those materials and how to manipulate them.

Development of Lignin Derived Semi-Aromatic Polyesters with Tuneable Properties (OC14)

Mr Tom DE FRENE

KU LEUVEN, Kortrijk, Belgium
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Mr Tom DE FRENE

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Tom De Frene obtained his master’s degree in Bioscience Engineering (Catalytic technology) at KU Leuven. During his master’s thesis, he worked on the development of more robust zeolite catalysts. In 2022, he joined the Sustainable Materials Lab of professor Wim Thielemans at KU Leuven Kulak to start his PhD. His work focusses on the development of condensation polymers (polyesters, polycarbonates) from lignin first reductive catalytic fractionation biorefinery streams.

Modification of Hybrid Hydrogel Scaffolds for Cartilage Repair (OC11)

Mr Sander DRIESEN

UHASSELT, Hasselt, Belgium
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Mr Sander DRIESEN

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Sander received his bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Hasselt University in 2019. He subsequently worked on stimuli-responsive biopolymer nanocarriers for his master's thesis at the Nanobiophysics and Soft Matter Interfaces Group, earning his master's degree in Biomedical Sciences from Hasselt University in 2021. Subsequently, Sander joined the Biomolecule Design Group as part of his PhD thesis. He is now working on merging hybrid hydrogels with peptide conjugation for targeted cartilage tissue engineering, a project co-supervised by Louis Pitet of the Advanced Functional Polymers Group.

Hydrogel-Based Patch Entrapping Commensal Bacteria Secreting Beneficial Molecules for Skin (OC09)

Ms Louise DUPONT

UCLOUVAIN, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Fabrication of Mechanically Robust Hydrogels for 3d Printing and Injection: the Role of Thiol-Yne/Ene Chemistry and the Network Topology (OC15)

Ms Mahsa EBRAHIMI

UHASSELT, HASSELT, Belgium
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Ms Mahsa EBRAHIMI

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Mahsa received her master's degrees in materials science and engineering from University of Tehran, Iran. She worked on analyzing the microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and deformation behavior of materials for her master thesis. Currently pursuing a joint Ph.D. at Hasselt University and Maastricht University under the supervision of Prof. Louis Pitet and co-supervised by Prof. Matthew Baker, she focuses on developing robust injectable and 3D printable hydrogels using thiol-yne and thiol-ene chemistry for tissue engineering applications. She is also interested in studying the structure-property relationships of soft materials. Her Ph.D. is getting into its final stage and she plans to finish her Ph.D. in 2024.

Sustainable Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane Thermoset Foam’s Design: Harnessing the Power of Supercritical CO2 as a Blowing Agent (OC03)

Ms Katherine GOUVEIA

UNIVERSITY OF MONS, Mons, Belgium
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Ms Katherine GOUVEIA

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Katherine Gouveia is a materials engineer who graduated from Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela. During this period, she also studied abroad for one year at the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto in Portugal. Later on, she worked at the headquarters of Hilti in Liechtenstein to conduct her master's thesis on the study of the corrosion performance of duplex and metallic coatings exposed to harsh atmospheric conditions. Afterward, she embarked on her journey by joining the NIPU-EJD project as a PhD student in the Laboratory of Polymeric and Composite Materials at the University of Mons and the ICGM at the University of Montpellier. Currently, she is working on the development of Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane foams.

Reprocessability and Chemical Recyclability of Polyurethane Foams Using Beta-Amino Esters (OC02)

Ms Hiba KASSEM

UGHENT, Gent, Belgium
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Ms Hiba KASSEM

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After finishing her bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the Lebanese University, Hiba obtained her master’s degree in Biobased materials at Maastricht University in 2020. Later she joined the group of Filip Du Prez to do a PhD on reprocessable polyurethane foams (PUFs) at Ghent University. Together with industry, Hiba tries to find solutions for the end of life of PUFs. Her research focuses on finding straightforward methods for synthesizing thermally reprocessable and chemically recyclable PUFs, providing a promising avenue for addressing end-of-life concerns in polyurethane foam applications.

Development of Superplasticizers for Alkali-Activated Concrete (OC07)

Ms Phanumat LATSRISAENG

UGHENT, Ghent, Belgium
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Ms Phanumat LATSRISAENG

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Phanumat Latsrisaeng is a joint Ph.D. researcher between the company Resourcefull and the University of Ghent (UGent). She obtained her BSc. in Chemistry at the University of Hasselt (UHasselt) in 2017 and her MSc. in Chemistry at the University of Ghent (UGent) in 2019. In 2020, she obtained a Baekeland mandate and started her Ph.D in collaboration with the company Resourcefull, the Supramolecular Chemistry group of Prof. Richard Hoogenboom, and the Magnel-Vandepitte Laboratory for Concrete Research of Prof. Geert De Schutter. Her Current research project involves the development of superplasticizers for alkali-activated concrete.

Development of Conjugated Sequence-Defined Macromolecules (OC13)

Mr Wout MILIS

KU LEUVEN, Leuven, Belgium
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Mr Wout MILIS

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In 2020, Wout graduated as Master in Chemistry of Faculty of Science at KU Leuven. During his master thesis, he studied the expression of chirality in linked poly(thiophene)s in the group of professor Koeckelberghs. After his education, he joined the LPS group under supervision of professor Koeckelberghs to start his PhD, focused on the development of orthogonal conjugated sequence-defined macromolecules.

Biocompatible Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane Elastomers for Blood-Contacting Biomedical Applications (OC10)

Ms Anna PIERRARD

ULIÈGE, Liège, Belgium
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Ms Anna PIERRARD

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After graduating in 2019 from a master's degree in chemistry at the University of Liège, during which I carried out research on non-isocyanate polyurethanes (NIPUs) for biomedical applications as part of my master's thesis at the Center for Education and Research on Macromolecules (CERM), I continued this research by starting a PhD in the same laboratory under the supervision of Christine Jérôme and Christophe Detrembleur. Thanks to funding as a teaching assistant, I have since been developing NIPU implants and devices, in particular for cardiovascular applications, such as heart valve prostheses or vascular grafts. To do so, I synthesize these polymers from various cyclic carbonates and diamines, and then characterize these materials to see if they match the criteria for such implants. I also work in the field of 3D printing in order to produce personalized implants/prostheses in view of the needs of today’s medicine.

Facile Synthesis of Functional Poly(oxazolidone)s Via Thiol-Ene Click Polymerization (OC12)

Ms Seyedeh Maliheh RAZAVI-ESFALI

ULIÈGE, Liège, Belgium
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Ms Seyedeh Maliheh RAZAVI-ESFALI

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Maliheh completed her BS in Chemical Engineering in 2014 in Iran. She subsequently dedicated her efforts to job analysis and the development of job and training standards within the Technical and Vocational Training Organization in Iran. In 2019, she relocated to South Korea to pursue a Master's degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Ulsan. Her research at Ulsan centered on the study of photocatalysis, specifically investigating the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and the generation of hydrogen and hydrogen peroxide. Currently, she is an MSCA doctoral fellow in the NIPU-EJD program, where she is developing innovative techniques for the recycling and upcycling of non-Isocyanate Polyurethanes (NIPUs), furthering her commitment to environmental engineering and sustainable materials science.

Raveling New Mechanisms for Polyurethane Formation: Complex Formation and Solvent Effects (OC04)

Ing Lynn TROSSAERT

UGHENT, Zwijnaarde, Belgium
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Ing Lynn TROSSAERT

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In 2017, Lynn started her studies at Ghent University in Chemical engineering Technology, after which she received her Bachelor’s degree in 2020. In 2021 she obtained her master’s degree after completing her thesis related to processing and recycling of PET-based multilayers at the Centre for Polymer and Material Technologies under professor Ludwig Cardon. Now she is in the third year of her PhD for which she also works at the Laboratory for Chemical Technology in the group of professor Dagmar D’hooge. Her work focuses on sustainable polymer reaction engineering, combining both modelling and experimental work.

Diketopyrrolopyrrole-Based Push-Pull Conjugated Polymers for Fully Transparent Organic Photovoltaics (OC06)

Ms Kaat VALKENEERS

UHASSELT, Hasselt, Belgium
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Ms Kaat VALKENEERS

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Kaat Valkeneers obtained her Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Hasselt University in 2017 after finishing a Bachelor's thesis on the synthesis of novel ladder-type donor units for organic electronics in the DSOS group. For her Master's studies, she went to KU Leuven and finished in 2019 with a dissertation in the group of Prof. W. Dehaen on a novel metal-free synthesis of 4-formyl-1,2,3-triazoles and their use in the preparation of triazole-functionalized dyes. Currently, she is performing her Ph.D. in Chemistry in the DSOS group. Her research focuses on the optimization of donor and acceptor materials for truly transparent organic photovoltaics.