Kristian Salminen, VTT
Imperial College of London was ranked as the sixth best university in the world in the QS World University Rankings this year right after MIT, Cambridge, Stanford, Oxford and Harvard. I had the opportunity and pleasure to visit Professor Koon-Yang Lee and his research group during summer 2022. Professor Lee and his team are part of the faculty of Engineering and Department of Aeronautics. His research focuses on the development and manufacturing of novel polymeric materials with a focus on tailoring the interface between two (or more) phases to bridge the gap between chemistry, materials science and engineering. More specifically, his team is focusing on cellulose and nanocellulose engineering, design and fabrication of renewable polymer composites and cellulose nanocomposites, surface and interface engineering to improve performance of high-performance polymer (nano)composites, and life-cycle assessment of composite materials.
Image 1. Fracture toughness test by single edge notched beam method
Image 2. Professor Koon-Yang Lee Image 3. Imperial Collage London (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/koonyang.lee)
The purpose of my visit was to link the world-class expertise of this team to HiPer-project. A special focus was on finding suitable ways to characterize the mechanical performance of samples produced in HiPer-project and to start active co-operation in the area of novel composite structures with the research group. Imperial College had already carried out some experiments (fracture toughness and fracture toughness of single edge notched beam fracture toughness) for samples produced by VTT.
Despite some challenges caused by COVID-19 and food poisoning, the visit went well. I also had the chance to visit interesting parks, museums, restaurants, and tourist attractions of London during my visit. The co-operation with Professor Lee’s research group has continued after the visit. Next, we are planning a seminar for the HiPer consortium to introduce the main research activities of Professor Lee and his research group.
More info on Koon-Yang Lee’s group: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/future-materials-group
Kristian Salminen, VTT
HIGH PERFORMANCE CELLULOSE-BASED COMPOSITES 