On April 12, 2024, a BikiarisLab member, Eleftheria Xanthopoulou successfully defended her doctoral thesis in Polymer Science, with dissertation title: "Preparation and study of properties of homopolyesters and copolyesters of vanillic acid". Her PhD dissertation was performed under the supervision of Prof. George Papageorgiou (University of Ioannina) and the co-supervision of Prof. Dimitrios Bikiaris.
Eleftheria began her academic journey at BikiarisLab during her MSc years, focusing on the modification of natural polymers with biobased acids for controlled release of insoluble drugs. Her insightful investigation and research showcased her dedication and expertise in the field.
During her doctoral research, Eleftheria achieved significant milestones, including an STSM (Short Term Scientific Mission) grant from the Fur4Sustain Cost Action at University de Cote D’ Azur (France), under the supervision of Dr. Nathanael Guigo, who is an expert on physicochemical properties of polymers, especially furan-based polyesters. Additionally, she obtained an ITC Conference grant as well as a Virtual Mobility grant from the same Cost Action. Up to now, Eleftheria participated in 16 Conferences, in all of which presented her work through poster or oral presentations.
For her 3-year PhD journey duration, Eleftheria co-authored in 24 papers, 5 of which included her PhD research and published in high-impact factor journals:
"Poly(propylene vanillate): A Sustainable Lignin-Based Semicrystalline Engineering Polyester", in ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. (2021).
"Effectiveness of Esterification Catalysts in the Synthesis of Poly(Ethylene Vanillate)", in Catalysts (2021).
"Molecular mobility investigation of the biobased Poly(ethylene vanillate) and Poly(propylene vanillate)", in Polymer (2021).
"Towards novel lignin-based aromatic polyesters: In-depth study of the thermal degradation and crystallization of poly(propylene vanillate)", in Thermochimica Acta (2022).
"Poly(hexylene vanillate): Synthetic Pathway and Remarkable Properties of a Novel Alipharomatic Lignin-Based Polyester", in ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. (2023).
As an active member of BikiarisLab, Eleftheria had the opportunity to participate in several research projects, including BIOMAC, Sustain-a-Print, Nanomythic, Proderma, Phresco, Prosotherma and Fur4Sustain, enabling her to expand her knowlegde horizons and collaborate within the framework of sustainable materials. Her energetic involvement in these projects illustrates her dedication to cooperative research and her commitment to discovering solutions in real-world challenges.
She will continue her academic journey as a postdoctoral researcher at BikiarisLab, where she will further investigate biobased polymers for packaging applications.
Congratulations Eleftheria, on your remarkable accomplishment and promising future!
Check out more of Eleftheria's work on Scopus.
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