Fırat University: Bio-based Materials, Biomass Valorisation and Environmental Applications

I am Associate Professor Betül Çiçek Özkan from the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Technology, Fırat University, Türkiye. I am seeking to join Horizon Europe Cluster 6 consortia working on biomass valorisation, circular bio-based materials and materials-based solutions for environmental applications.

My research connects polymer science, renewable raw materials, functional nanocomposites and environmental chemistry. My publication record demonstrates experience in the following areas:

• Biomass valorisation and nanocellulose: extraction and characterisation of cellulose nanocrystals from chestnut and horse chestnut seed-shell waste, alongside research on ultrasound-assisted cellulose processing.

• Biopolymers and functional composites: development of cellulose–chitosan–graphene materials, including investigation of adsorption, swelling, thermal behaviour, dielectric properties and bioactivity.

• Water treatment and photocatalysis: investigation of biopolymer-based adsorbents for dye removal and TiO₂/ZnO photocatalytic systems for dye degradation, including process optimisation, degradation kinetics and total organic carbon removal.

• Environmental analysis: published research on determining aromatic amine pollutants in wastewater and textile samples using GC–MS, microextraction and multivariate optimisation.

• Advanced functional materials: conducting polymers and biosensor interfaces, graphene-containing polymer composites, and metal-oxide materials with tailored electrical and dielectric properties.

These complementary research areas provide a foundation for contributing to projects that transform biomass residues into useful materials, develop functional bio-based products, and investigate pollutant removal and detection.

My European collaboration experience includes leading Fırat University’s participation in VERDEDRIVE, a Horizon Europe MSCA Staff Exchanges project addressing the conversion of by-products into sustainable fuels.

Within a consortium, I can contribute to material synthesis and formulation, experimental design, characterization, performance evaluation, data interpretation, scientific dissemination and researcher training. I welcome opportunities to help develop proposals and undertake defined research tasks in collaboration with complementary academic and industrial partners.

I am particularly interested in partnerships with biomass processors, bio-based product developers, water-treatment companies, and organizations specializing in life-cycle assessment, circularity evaluation and industrial scale-up.