Student Projects
Please check also the groups' websites for student projects that are not listed here yet.
Biomineralization of Hydrogels-Based Structures
Currently, the mineralization capacity of S. pasteurii is being exploited in developing construction materials in the form of bio-bricks and bio-cement. These materials are mostly compact structures with different degrees of porosity to increase the diffusion of nutrients through the material. Nevertheless, one recurrent challenge in biomineralized structures is the limited precipitation across the structure.
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Making Novel Porous Bacterial Cellulose Hydrogels for Sustainable Applications
Pressing challenges in climate change require the development of the next generation of renewable materials addressing cooling, CO2 capture and energy production. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a very promising material to be used in a sustainable future as it is purer than plant-extracted cellulose and most importantly, it is produced in a sustainable and scalable way [1]. To exploit the use of BC as a functional material, such as heat insulators or filters, we need to develop robust methods to control their macrostructure.
In this project, you will explore the combination of phase separation techniques [2,3] in bacterial cellulose hydrogels to tune the morphology of the phase. And study the optical and mechanical properties of the resulting novel materials.
[1] Z. Wu, et al. ‘Insights into hierarchical structure–property–application relationships of advanced bacterial cellulose materials’, Advanced Functional Materials 33, 2214327 (2023).
[2] Fernandez-Rico et al, ‘Putting the Squeeze on Phase separation’, JACS Au (2021).
[3] Fernandez-Rico et al, ‘Elastic microphase separation produced robust bicontinuous materials’, Nature Materials (2023).
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Project or thesis student, 60-100%, m/f/d
qCella, a deep tech startup from ETH Zurich, specializes in innovative materials for resistive heating applications. Their paper-thin, flexible heating mats aim to replace traditional heating wire technology in various products like car seats, clothing, and shoes. They are looking for master's students in Materials Science or Chemistry to contribute to product and material development, tackle research challenges with practical applications, design and conduct experiments, and analyze results.
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Bacteria meet materials! From biomineralization to carbonate-based living materials
Natural calcium carbonate is produced through a complex process determined by chemical, biological, physical, and anthropological factors whereas synthetic calcium carbonate is obtained by easy chemical protocols. Although the synthetic approach seems attractive due to the short synthesis time and control over the mineral microstructure, the reactants and products of this reaction can be toxic and thus being an unsustainable process. On the other hand, a bioinspired method based on mineralization induced by soil bacteria emerges as a sustainable alternative to synthesize calcium carbonate in a controlled manner. Biomineralization is a natural process that harnesses the biological and biochemical mechanisms of microorganisms to induce the precipitation of minerals intra or extracellularly. The polymorphs of bacterial-induced calcium carbonate are dictated by the chemical composition of the medium used for the culture of mineralizing bacteria as previously described. Despite biomineralization is already being exploited in the development of applications such as self-healing concrete, bio bricks, bio cement, among others, it remains still challenging to predict the resulting polymorph and control over the structural properties of the calcium carbonate based on the biological feature of the system.
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Mineralization Biosensors
Natural calcium carbonate is produced through a complex process determined by chemical, biological, physical, and anthropological factors whereas synthetic calcium carbonate is obtained by easy chemical protocols. Although the synthetic approach seems attractive due to the short synthesis time and control over the mineral microstructure, the reactants and products of this reaction can be toxic and thus being an unsustainable process. On the other hand, a bioinspired method based on mineralization induced by soil bacteria emerges as a sustainable alternative to synthesize calcium carbonate in a controlled manner. Biomineralization is a natural process that harnesses the biological and biochemical mechanisms of microorganisms to induce the precipitation of minerals intra or extracellularly. The polymorphs of bacterial-induced calcium carbonate are dictated by the chemical composition of the medium used for the culture of mineralizing bacteria as previously described. Despite biomineralization is already being exploited in the development of applications such as self-healing concrete, bio-bricks, bio cement, among others, it remains still challenging to predict the resulting polymorph and control over the structural properties of the calcium carbonate based on the biological feature of the system.
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Soft materials with active transitions in mechanical properties
Active and adaptive materials show exciting, new dynamic functionalities that far exceed those of classically passive materials. To enable these new functionalities, we follow a bio-inspired approach based on biochemical processes at the single-cell level. Thanks to these biochemical processes, individual cells can fulfill surprisingly complex tasks such as computing time or finding nutrients. Our goal is to transfer such processes to responsive hydrogels, so that we can locally trigger a chemical wave that self-propagates through the entire material and induces changes in mechanical properties.
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