Research

Mission Statement

Wood is a renewable and CO2 storing material with excellent mechanical properties and a sophisticated hierarchical structure from the nanoscale of cell wall polymers up to the macroscale of timber in construction. Climate change, shortage of resources and the demand of modern societies to become more sustainable are increasingly affecting the utilization of engineering materials and will make wood a key material in a future bioeconomy. However, as with any other material, the inherent characteristics of wood include both beneficial and challenging properties.


The aim of the professorship with group members located at ETH and Empa is to expand the utilization of wood by tailoring performance of wood materials to specific applications, thus improving beneficial properties and meeting the challenges, which limit a wider use. This includes modification of wood to render it more UV stable or flame retardant and developing novel wood materials by embedding new functionalities in the porous wood scaffold to enabling wood to function as a sensor, energy harvest unit or as a high-strength cellulose composite. Besides a wider use as a modern building material we strive for enhanced application in the automotive sector or building automation (smart home).