26Fig. 1. Biobased building blocks to realize functional materials as environmentally more benign alternatives to fossil-fuel based material concepts.Materials scientists have long been interested in shaping cellulose, the most abundant biopolymer present on Earth, into functional materials. On account of its high molecular weight and the existence of a strong intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding network, cellulose is not melt-processable, and cannot be readily dissolved in common solvent systems. The introduction of ionic liquids as novel, tunable solvents for cellulose processing opened new horizons in this field.Ionic liquids are a type of molten salts, mostly defined as those Research Digest through Fig. 2. Shaping cellulose into intriguing functional materials using ionic liquids as green, tunable processing media.2References1) R. P. Swatloski, S. K. Spear, J. D. Holbrey, R. D. Rogers, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124, 4974 (2002)2) L. Szabó, R. Milotskyi, G. Sharma, K. Takahashi, Green Chem. 1, 1354 (2023)with melting point below 100 ºC. They are recognized as “green solvents” due to their non-volatile character, together with thermal and chemical stability. Furthermore, they are seen as “designer solvents” with exceptional tunability as huge number of cation-anion combination provides a large pool of solvent candidates with various physicochemical properties.Cellulose processing entered a new era with the introduction of ionic liquids as novel solvents with the first report dating back to 2002.1 The past two decades have seen fruitful efforts in shaping cellulose into novel functional materials using ionic liquids, in many cases with intriguing properties thanks to these novel sol-vents. In our recent review paper,2 we provide guidance in this topic from a materials science perspective (Fig. 2). We cover a wide range of materials, in particular, we discuss on coatings and thin film applications for structural materials (e.g., for packag-ing), on thin film filtration membranes, on the immobilisation of enzymes, and catalytically active nanoparticles, on separator membranes and conductive composites for energy storage and other electronics applications, on cellulose/biopolymer green biocomposites, on cellulose-based ionogels, hydrogels and aerogels, and on cellulose-based or composite fibres. The full potential of ionic liquids as tunable solvents for cellulose pro-cessing is far from being fully exploited.Biopolymers in the Service of a Carbon-Neutral SocietyLaszlo SZABO1. Outline of ResearchOur society became heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are not only finite resources, but are also localized to certain countries (i.e., imported to Japan). Furthermore, the petroleum refinery sector is amongst the highest CO2 emitters, and thus petroleum-based synthetic polymers have large CO2 footprint. Therefore, increasing use of petroleum-based polymers is in contrast with our efforts towards building a carbon-neutral society. Biopolymers that are derived from biomass may be seen as carbon-neutral alternatives to petroleum-based polymers that have large carbon footprint. While the petroleum refinery sector generates large amount of hazardous waste, and synthetic (e.g., polymers are considered as emerging pollutants microplastics), bio-based material concepts may provide environmentally more benign solutions to overcome these issues. Thus, there is an increasing interest in shaping biopolymers into functional materials (Fig. 1). My scientific interest centers around green chemistry, in its broadest sense. My research focuses on the realization of benign-by-design, environmentally more friendly materials, and processes. With my research, I would like to contribute to the well-being of our society realization of the environmentally more benign material concepts.2. Research Activities
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