Alain Dufresne

Preparation and Applications of Cellulose Nanomaterials   Université Grenoble Alpes, France

Biography

Alain Dufresne is currently Professor of The International School of Paper, Print Media and Biomaterials (Pagora) at Grenoble Institute of Technology, Grenoble, France. Professor Dufresne obtained a PhD in Electronics from the National Institute of Applied Sciences at Toulouse, France and he has already Masters in Chemical Engineering from École Polytechnique de Montréal and in Solid State Physics from Paul Sabatier Univesity, Toulouse.

Dufresne is an expert on polysaccharide nanofibrils and nanocrystals (cellulose, chitin, starch), on processing and characterization of nanocomposites based on renewable resources and on valorization of the biomass. He is, at the same time, member of the Editorial Board of “Carbohydrate Polymers, ”ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering”, "Fibers", "Materials Research Ibero-American Journal of Materials" and "Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology". He is also Associate Editor of "Polímeros: Ciência e Tecnologia".

Alain Dufresne was Associate Professor of Physical and Metallurgy & Materials Physics Lab. at National Institute of Applied Sciences, Lyon, and professor in the Research Center on Vegetable Macromolecules (CERMAV) at Joseph Fourier University, Grenoble. He was, for one year, visiting professor at Program of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials (PEMM) of COPPE/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, and visiting professor for one month at Polymer Research Centre (PORCE) at Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia. From 2014 to 2016, Alain Dufresne was at Fortaleza, Brazil, working in the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA) (one month/year).

He received the 2016 International Nanotechnology Division Award and FiberLean® Technologies Prize awarded by TAPPI and is in the 2016 top 300 most cited researchers in materials science and engineering/Elsevier Scopus Data.

Abstract

The properties of cellulose nanomaterials (mechanical, rheological, optical, film-forming properties) make them interesting materials for many applications and they have a high potential for an emerging industry. An overview is proposed but this list is of course not exhaustive. It is difficult to classify these applications by degree of achievement and maturity because this information is difficult to apprehend.