We are very glad to introduce our next speaker Silvia Vignolini. She is currently a Reader in Chemistry and Bio-inspired materials whose research interest lies at the interface of chemistry, soft-matter physics, optics, and biology. In particular, her research focuses on the study of how natural materials are assembled into complex architectures within living organisms and how these architectures define the organism’s optical appearance. Her talk has the title “Colours with a twist”
Nature’s brightest colours are created without any pigments or colourants, but they are made of transparent materials like cellulose. Now, scientists can “twist” cellulose to fabricate brilliant colours which can be used as novel sustainable pigments safe for us and the environment.
Her approach to fabricate novel optical materials is unique in the field of bio-mimetic and photonics. Grounded on her multidisciplinary background, Dr. Vignolini uses optics to understand the assembly of naturally occurring photonic structures and she applies those concepts to fabricate novel bio-inspired sustainable materials.