Giulia Fredi

The work involves the experimental and numerical investigation of the pultrusion process of reactive thermoplastic matrix composites. The thesis is part of the INFRALight collaborative project, whose objective is to develop a light rail infrastructure on piles consisting of composite material rails for the circulation of very light autonomous shuttles.

The thesis work will be performed at the Institut Clément Ader (ICA) at the IMT Mines Albi site (Albi, Tarn, France), in collaboration with prof. Olivier De Almeida.

This thesis aims to design and manufacture bioderived and biodegradable alginate films for applications in food packaging. The activity involves film preparation and the subsequent microstructural, thermomechanical and functional characterization, as a function of the physico-chemical properties of the alginate used. The addition of stabilizing additives and antioxidants will be also evaluated to increase the shelf life of packaged food products. The thesis will be performed in collaboration between the Polymers and Composites Lab and the BIOtech center. 

Ref: 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afres.2023.100290

This thesis, the result of a collaboration with the company Bioniks srl (Verona, Italy), aims to study materials derived from fermented beverage production waste. The material, called SCOBY (from Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast), consists mainly of bacterial nanocellulose. Its properties strongly depend on its microstructure, which in turn is closely related to the production processing parameters. The purpose of the work is the characterization of various samples of SCOBY provided by Bioniks srl, in order to deepen the understanding of their physical-mechanical properties and correlate them with their microstructure, so as to identify promising fields of application.