Learning from Plant Cell Walls for Innovations in Material Sciences

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Cellulose and other plant cell wall polysaccharides for manufacturing high-value products for the food and pulp/paper industry, for tissue engineering, pharmacology, and other healthcare applications. The research will dissect the structural factors controlling the mechanical properties of plant cellulosic cell wall domains and exploit this knowledge in the production of new materials for a variety of applications. The project is inspired by the recent findings of interactions between the cell wall polysaccharides cellulose and callose (B-1,3-glucans found in discrete cell wall domains) leading to novel properties in hydrogels biopolymer mixtures (Abou-Saleh et al., Nat Comm. 2018). The project will expand and exploit this knowledge by using highly specific molecular probes to quantify the levels of beta-1,3 glucans and other plant cell wall polysaccharides in a variety of plant agricultural wastes outsourced from working farms. Correlation will be established between beta-1,3 glucan composition and the structural-mechanical properties of isolated cell walls, dissolved using ionic liquids and re-casted by water/ethanol exchange. The resulting materials will be studied structurally using Scanning Electron-Microscopy (SEM), NMR, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy. Rheology and AFM nano-indentation, Instron- tensile, fatigue and compression tests and newly established fluorescence emission-Brillouin scattering imaging will be used to study the mechanical properties of the material. During the project, different plant materials will be evaluated as potential sustainable sources for new materials. The student will also determine the capacity of using these new materials as scaffolds for new drugs or cell lines. Biodegradability, immunoreactivity, biocompatibility, allergenicity and, more critically, mechanical and biological stability during handling and storage will be investigated. Their capacity for drug absorption and reactivity will be determined to support the development of new drugs and more switchable patterns for their release (according to needs). New opportunities for biomaterials using plant waste will also impact on environmental sustainability and manufacturing the future addressing global priorities for valorisation of natural resources. The work aligns directly with multiple cross-council high priority areas including biomimetic engineering, polymer sciences and medical biotechnology.