Biomaterials & Biointerfaces
TSustainable Macromolecular Engineering: Polymer Synthesis, Engineering and Environmental Interactions
Polymers and polymer composites are essential to the transition toward sustainable, high-performance materials across global industries. Combining tunable chemistry, mechanical versatility, and processability, they enable solutions from renewable feedstock-based plastics to advanced energy-storage materials, and are central to addressing climate change, resource circularity, and next-generation manufacturing.
Scope:
Established and emerging approaches to polymer synthesis are enabling a shift away from fossil-based feedstocks, spanning carbon-negative synthesis, low-energy catalytic polymerization, bio-based monomers, and PFAS-free alternatives to fluoropolymers, with applications in automotive, packaging, and building materials, while additive manufacturing reduces processing waste. Polymers and composites also address environmental challenges directly, from water treatment and pollution control to compostable packaging, agricultural films, and pollutant sensing. Bio-based and biodegradable systems such as PLA, PHA, and natural-fiber biocomposites advance sustainable textiles and biomedical devices, while UV-resistant, thermal-barrier, and corrosion-resistant composites extend lifetimes in marine, aerospace, and automotive applications. Circular economy strategies — enzymatic and catalytic depolymerization, closed-loop recycling, and remanufacturing — are central to recovering value from polymer waste, alongside halogen-free, bio-based flame retardants compatible with recycling; life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis will be discussed as tools for validating sustainability and scalability. Finally, the symposium addresses sustainable polymers in energy storage, from biodegradable electrolytes to disassembly-friendly, recyclable batteries for EV, wearable, and renewable-energy systems.
Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:
- Sustainable synthesis: Renewable feedstocks, biomass, and waste-gas-derived monomers;
- PFAS-free alternatives: Sustainable substitutes for persistent fluoropolymers;
- Sustainable additive manufacturing: Waste-reducing polymer processing;
- Green composites: Bio-based materials for automotive, packaging, and construction;
- Environmental remediation: Water treatment, pollution control, pollutant sensing;
- Biodegradable materials: Compostable packaging and agricultural films;
- Bio-based polymers: PLA, PHA, and natural-fiber biocomposites;
- Biomedical and textile applications: Sustainable fibers and devices;
- Climate & weathering resilience: UV-, thermal-, and corrosion-resistant composites;
- Circular economy: Chemical recycling, upcycling, remanufacturing;
- Depolymerization: Enzymatic and catalytic routes to waste valorization;
- Sustainable flame retardancy: Halogen-free, bio-based, and recycling-compatible fire-safety systems;
- Sustainability metrics: Life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis;
- Battery circularity: Biodegradable electrolytes and recyclable cell design.
Scientific committee members:
- Bernadette Charleux, R&D Director, Saint-Gobain, France ; Member of Academia Europaea and Académie des technologies (France).
- Xuesi Chen, Professor, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry ; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- Andrew Dove, Professor, University of Birmingham, UK.
- Stephen Eichhorn, Director of Royce Manchester, University of Manchester, UK ; Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
- Sébastien Lecommandoux, Professor at the University of Bordeaux, France ; Member of the Institut Universitaire de France and Academia Europaea.
- Johannes A. Lercher, Professor, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany ; Member of Academia Europaea and the US National Academy of Engineering.
- Victoire de Margerie, Executive Chair of Rondol Industrie, France ; Member of Académie des technologies (France).
- Brigitte Voit, Professor at TU Dresden / Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (IPF), Germany ; Member of acatech – German Academy of Science and Engineering.
- Frederik Wurm, Professor at the University of Twente, The Netherlands.
- Meifang Zhu, Professor, Donghua University, China ; Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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Strasbourg, France
daniel.grande@ics-cnrs.unistra.frChinese Academy of Engineering
liqunzhang@xjtu.edu.cnMember of the Royal Academy of Sciences (Belgium), Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences
philippe.dubois@umons.ac.beR.P. China
yzwang@scu.edu.cn