SUPERVISOR: Notburga GIERLINGER

PROJECT ASSIGNED TO: Florian GREGOR

Toughening mechanisms caused by cell wall interlocking have previously been observed in mature walnut and pistachio endocarp tissues. This project aims to design and build materials utilizing extracted walnut endocarp cells as building blocks for bio-based composite materials through matrix integration, as depicted in figure 1.

Figure 1: The cell assembly as found in vivo gets broken down into individual cells, which are combined with a matrix to form a composite material.

Exploiting cell interlocking behavior for compressive performance in combination with a tough matrix will result in a composite system offering tunability for both manufacturing as well as applications. By utilizing waste products from food industry as main constituent, the material can also be a part of a circular bioeconomy, offering an alternative to petroleum-based plastics.