Unforgettable week in Girona (7-11 July 2025)

On Monday, July 7th, 2025, Gabriela Bastida (LEPAMAP-PRODIS) and Candice Rey (LGP2) chaired the the Cellulose Packaging Day. The event was hosted by the Polytechnic School at Universitat de Girona (UdG). During a whole day, researchers from different public and private institutions, especially from the UdG, from Grenoble INP-Pagora, and from the Packaging Cluster, shared their views on the current status and the future of sustainable packaging.

The day featured presentations from renowned researchers, including Julien Bras (Cellulose Valley Chair), Marc Delgado-Aguilar (LEPAMAP-PRODIS) and Salvatore Lombardo (LEPAMAP-PRODIS). Remarkably, the event also attracted delegates from the food and packaging industries. And one cannot forget about the undergraduate students that were (are) on the verge of attaining an Engineering degree, either at the UdG or at Grenoble INP-Pagora. The round table discussion, which gathered Joice Kaschuk, Julien Bras, Pere Becerra Costa, Emilien Fréville, and Roberto J. Aguado (LEPAMAP-PRODIS), provided further insights.

On Tuesday 8th, in the morning, LEPAMAP-PRODIS members toured TAPPI NANO 2025 attendees through our facilities. It was a pleasure to share with them our efforts on bio-refining, TCF bleaching, functional coatings, active/smart packaging, paper wet-strength enhancement, nanoparticle synthesis, modeling of nanocellulose production, sorbents for wastewater remediation, and biocomposites.

The rest of the week was defined by the highly successful TAPPI NANO conference. Props go to Marc Delgado-Aguilar for his outstanding role in the organization, to the TAPPI staff, to the sponsors, and to every participant: from early-career researchers to the most renowned voices in the field. In this context, members of the LEPAMAP-PRODIS research group brought about no less than 8 contributions:

🗓️ Wednesday, July 9th:

► Giovana Signori-Iamin: Effects of Processing Consistency in High-pressure Homogenization of TEMPO-oxidized Eucalyptus Fibers: Balancing Cost, Energy, and Quality.

► Ronald Marquez: From Colloid Science to Industrial Applications: Mapping Research Progress in Nanocellulose-Based Pickering Emulsions.

► Roberto J. Aguado: Polymerization of Aniline in Nanocellulose-Stabilized Multiphasic Systems, Leading to Smart Coatings for Food Packaging.

► Gabriela Bastida: Nanocellulose-Stabilized Wax-in-Water Emulsions for Food Packaging Applications: Synergies Between Substrate Properties and Coating.

► Salvatore Lombardo: poster entitled "Nanocellulose-stabilized natural wax emulsions for sustainable food packaging".

🗓️ Thursday, July 10th:

► Elisa Faggioli: Cellulose-Based Nano-Additives for Paper Strength: Introduction of Cationic Moieties and their Impact on Pulp Features". Joint work with Politecnico di Milano.

► Quim Tarrés: Zeolite-Cellulose Nanofibers Suspension with Silver Nanoparticles for Ethylene Scavenging in Active Food Packaging.

► Samanta Sam: Active Paper-Based Packaging with Antioxidant Selenium Nanoparticles: Stabilized by Cationic Cellulose Nanofibers and Chitosan.