At the UGA New Materials Institute, we believe that a material’s useful end-of-life should be considered at the design stage and that Green Engineering principles should be part of this process.
At the UGA New Materials Institute, the Innovative Materials Research Team directed by Suraj Sharma, a professor of polymer, fiber, and textile sciences, is working with Joro spiders to explore new, sustainably based materials for use in textiles and packaging. First, you have to capture a spider. Watch this video to join us in a spider search!
In this study, the performances of polysaccharides xanthan gum and tragacanth gum, which are natural polymers, are compared. The paper highlights xanthan gum’s ability to facilitate faster diffusion through its thick, highly hydrate gel layers and tragacanth gum’s ability to sustain uniform release over longer periods of time through thinner, less hydrated but more cohesive gel networks that gradually erode over time. Additionally, tragacanth gum was effective at polymer loadings as low as 5% whereas xanthan gum required at least 25% loading for effective release control. Both polymers showed further improvement when blended with other polysaccharides, but ultimately, tragacanth gum outperformed xanthan gum.
Tiny crystals that mimic the chiral opening of seed pods — twisting and coiling into helices as they grow — could open a path to smarter sensors, soft microrobotics, and miniaturized quantum photonics, according to a new study. Just as a seed pod springs open because its mismatched layers of cellulose fibers store and release elastic energy, these two-dimensional crystals are built from stacked, misaligned sheets that pull against one another and cannot lie flat. Unlike a plant, though, the crystals are semiconductors that glow, and their twist is continuously tunable — opening a route to optical technologies that plants cannot access.
Using high-shear homogenization as a processing strategy, researchers valorized consolidated bioprocessing residues from switchgrass and poplar biomass into functional poly(butylene succinate), or PBS. Their process, documented in a recent publication, eliminated the use of organic solvents and incorporated renewable plant-derived feedstocks from waste streams, while also addressing several common manufacturing challenges. Their processing strategy is broadly applicable to other industrial plastics and composite formulations.
A recent study from a team based in the University of Georgia New Materials Institute examined hemp hurd fibers as reinforcement for polyhydroxyalkanoate-based composites, investigating their development, processing behavior, and printability in additive manufacturing, specifically fused deposition modeling, to create a biologically degradable filament.
Student Profile: Shariful Islam Tushar
Shariful Islam Tushar is a PhD student studying development of sustainable alternatives to traditional plastics, textiles and materials. Tushar’s work includes designing and engineering bio-based soft materials, including films, aerogels, foams, hydrogels, and functional textiles.
To increase miscibility between the polymer and API and reduce waste early in the development process, a research team at the University of Georgia New Materials Institute utilized experimentally derived Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) to predict compatibility between 10 commercially relevant polymers and three active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Mark A. Eiteman, a professor of biochemical engineering in the College of Engineering and a member of the New Materials Institute faculty, is one of seven members of the University of Georgia faculty and administration to be awarded a 2026-2027 Fulbright Scholarship. The award is Eiteman’s second Fulbright award.
Researchers from the Circularity Informatics Lab at the University of Georgia recently examined five-years (2019-2023) of published peer-reviewed manuscripts on the circular economy to identify knowledge gaps related to the circularity of single-use plastic packaging.
Student Profile: Artem Sulimov
Artem Sulimov became interested in materials science as a teenager, once he realized it combined chemistry, physics, and engineering—his favorite subjects. Now Sulimov is pursuing a PhD in chemistry under the mentorship of Jason Locklin, PhD, the co-founder and director of the UGA New Materials Institute. As a member of the Locklin Group, Sulimov has learned to grow research concepts from laboratory experiments to scaled-up, real-world applications that can help manufacturers achieve sustainability goals.
