BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN
TZID:America/New_York
X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:0-8337@eng.ufl.edu
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260324T150000
DTSTAMP:20260312T201343Z
URL:https://www.eng.ufl.edu/news-events/events/abe-biocomplexity-engineeri
 ng-seminar-22/
SUMMARY:ABE Biocomplexity Engineering seminar
DESCRIPTION:Speaker:\nDr. Guilhem De Hoe\nTitle:\nABE Biocomplexity Enginee
 ring seminar:"Polymeric additives and biodegradable polymers"\nBio:\nGuilh
 em was born in Paris\, France and obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from Califo
 rnia Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. He went on to get a 
 Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Minnesota\, during which time he f
 ocused on dynamic polymer networks\, polyesters\, and biodegradation. Afte
 r a brief post-doctoral appointment at Argonne National Laboratory working
  on anti-biofouling polymers\, Guilhem transitioned to a research fellow p
 osition in the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at the University of M
 anchester. While there\, he split his time between translational research 
 in plastics recycling and collaborative projects addressing systems-level 
 material sustainability challenges with SMEs in Greater Manchester. In Jan
 uary of 2024\, Guilhem started as an assistant professor in the Department
  of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida. His gr
 oup now works on polymer processing in the context of mechanical recycling
  as well as the structure–property relationships that underpin the biode
 gradation of polymers and polymer blends.\nAbstract:\nPlastic pollution\, 
 low levels of recycling\, and ecotoxicological concerns regarding additive
 s and microplastics have driven increased awareness about the unsustainabl
 e use of plastics in our modern society as well as their negative impacts 
 on the environment. In this talk\, we will cover recent research on plasti
 cs additives and ongoing work on understanding structure–property–biod
 egradation relationships for water soluble polymers (WSPs). Many plastics 
 additives (e.g. antioxidants) are small molecules that are critical to pla
 stic processing and/or performance\; however\, they can migrate to interfa
 ces and potentially leach into packaged products (during use) or the envir
 onment (when plastic waste is mismanaged). Our work addresses this challen
 ge through two generations of innovative polymeric antioxidants that demon
 strate comparable—or better—performance than conventional small-molecu
 le counterparts while showing remarkably lowered leaching potential. We de
 monstrate this using polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as the plastic matri
 x\, incorporating the additives by twin screw extrusion and subjecting the
  extrudate to a variety of performance tests including oxidative induction
  time\, solvent immersion trials\, and colorimetry. Along the way\, we sho
 w that a seemingly minor change in polymeric additive structure results in
  a significant benefit to antioxidant efficacy without enhancing leaching 
 potential. In the second portion of the talk we will transition to polymer
  biodegradation\, showing recent respirometric results for common WSPs tha
 t highlight just how important it is to contextualize biodegradability cla
 ims within a specific “receiving environment”.
CATEGORIES:Seminars
LOCATION:https://ufl.zoom.us/s/95028256655
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/New_York
X-LIC-LOCATION:America/New_York
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20260308T030000
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
TZOFFSETTO:-0400
TZNAME:EDT
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
END:VCALENDAR