
Leonidas Matsakas
Associate Professor
Research subject: Biochemical Process Engineering
Division: Chemical Engineering
Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering
-
Luleå, C148
About me
I received my PhD in 2015 from the school of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens (Greece). Since 2022, I am working as Associate Professor at the Biochemical Process Engineering group at LTU.
My research is focusing on the production of next generation biofuels, chemicals and materials from sustainable resources by developing and improving integrated technologies for efficient conversion of forest residues and other sustainable resources (including aquatic biomass and industrial waste streams) into a range of highly demanded advanced bio-based products following a zero-waste approach. I have also developed a strong expertise on lignin structural characterization towards enabling the controlled isolation of lignin to meet specific downstream requirements. During the last years, I have been also working on the fractionation and upcycling of post-consumer mixed plastic waste by adopting the successfully established organosolv fractionation process (for biomass treatment) to accommodate plastic waste as feedstock.
I have been the main applicant or co-applicant in >30 projects funded by national (such as FORMAS, Swedish Energy Agency, SIP-STRIM VINNOVA, Kempe Foundations, Bio4Energy, Wallenberg WISE/WASP) and EU (Horizon 2020, EIT RawMaterials) funding agencies. Notably, I received a FORMAS future research leaders project in 2019 as the sole applicant, and currently I lead a European consortium comprising LTU, ETH Zürich, and LIST Luxembourg, under the FORMAS-funded Bioholistic project and WEAVE cross-European initiative.
I have published >130 peer-reviewed publications: Google Scholar External link..
In 2020 I was awarded the Kungl. Skytteanska Samfundet award for young promising researchers. I am recognized among the top 2% of the world’s leading scientists for the years 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 according to the Standford University international ranking list.
Here are some examples of research projects:
Updated:
Published: