Eleftheria Roumeli

Materials Science and Engineering

Our group focuses on designing sustainable materials. Through a holistic approach we develop bioplastics, biocomposites, and environmentally friendly structural materials sourced from biological building blocks, and specifically from biopolymers. Our work involves the study of diverse organisms from algal, bacterial, and plant kingdoms, aiming to leverage their inherent biopolymer composition and hierarchical structure for innovating new materials. Our focus on circularity includes utilizing carbon-negative biological materials, minimizing energy-intensive processing, and enabling end-of-life strategies. We investigate the relationship between structure, processing, mechanical properties and environmental impacts aiming to engineer materials with tailored performance and a reduced environmental footprint.