Dr. Wenyang Xu
Main Focus
Wenyang has concentrated on biomass-derived polysaccharides, employing methods ranging from traditional hot water extraction and chemical functionalization to interfacial engineering for material applications (Biomacromolecules 2018 19 (4), 1245-1255, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2019, 11(13), 12389-12400).
Furthermore, he has broadened his research to include physical surface adsorption, developing a solid-state adsorption technique to modify lignocellulosic materials with integrated fundamental insights (ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2024, 16(25), 32874-32885; Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 605 (2022): 441-450).
His current research is dedicated to enhancing the resource efficiency of biomass-derived biopolymers and utilizing chemical and interfacial engineering to develop innovative polysaccharide-based materials. The primary objective is to achieve sustainable structural coloration as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional organic dyes. This work seeks to deepen our understanding of biopolymer interactions and advance the development of circular, bio-based materials.
I am particularly interested in:
- Improving the resource efficiency of biomass-derived biopolymers
- Utilizing chemical and interfacial engineering to develop innovative polysaccharide-based materials
- Sustainable structural coloration as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional organic dyes
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Wenyang Xu is a group leader in the Department of Sustainable and Bio-Inspired Materials, headed by Prof. Silvia Vignolini at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces.
Wenyang began his academic journey at Åbo Akademi University in Turku/Åbo, Finland, where he earned a Master of Science degree with Distinction in 2015 from the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He continued his studies at the same university, completing his Ph.D. with Distinction in 2019 under supervision of Prof. Stefan Willför and Prof. Chunlin Xu. Wenyang´s career is distinguished by his commitment to advancing bio-based materials science through international collaboration and a wide range of research experiences. His global perspective was enriched by a research mobility stint at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Austria in 2016, where he worked with Prof. Antje Potthast and Prof. Thomas Rosenau on renewable resource chemistry. Additionally, in 2017, he collaborated with Dr. Binbin Zhang and Prof. Gordon Wallace at the University of Wollongong in Australia, focusing on advanced biopolymer fabrication.
After completing his Ph.D. in 2019, Wenyang held a joint postdoctoral position from 2019 to 2020, collaborating with the Materials Chemistry of Cellulose group (Prof. Eero Kontturi) at Aalto University and the Surface Chemistry and Corrosion Science (Prof. Eric Tyrode) as well as the Fibre Technology group (Prof. Torbjörn Pettersson) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. The project is also recognized as part of Century Independence gift to Finland from Sweden (https://www.ksla.se/om-ksla/projekt/tandem-forest-values/tfv-kommunikation/).
In January 2021, Wenyang became a Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Natural Material Technology at Åbo Akademi University. There, he excelled in fundraising, securing substantial grants. Notably, he was the main co-applicant for the "Novel Bioinks 100% Based on Finnish Trees (3D CelluGel)" project. As the PI, he also received the Academy of Finland Postdoc Research Fellowship for his project "Photonic Inks Formulated by Hemicellulose Block Copolymers and Cellulose Nanocrystals: 3D Printable Structural Colour."
His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing from the Journal of Carbohydrate Polymers, The Netherlands, and the Best Oral Award at the 15th European Workshop on Lignocellulosics and Pulp (EWLP) in Aveiro, Portugal, both in 2018. In 2020, he received the Det Alfthanska Priset for outstanding doctoral theses, awarded annually since 1984 by the Finska Kemistsamfundet (Finnish Chemical Society), the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad from the China Scholarship Council (awarded to 500 students worldwide each year), and the C. J. Jansson Prize for outstanding technical-scientific articles related to the bioforest industry, awarded by the Finnish Forest Products Engineers’ Association, Finland.
Wenyang is an active member of the scientific community. He has co-organized symposiums with Prof. Vignolini in the ACS Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division. Wenyang has also received several invitations to speak at conferences, including ACS 'New Horizons in Cellulose and Renewable Materials' and the '2nd International Symposium on Cellulose and Renewable Materials (ISCRM)', as well as at various universities such as the University of Helsinki (Finland), Chalmers University of Technology (Sweden), and Tampere University (Finland).