Margaret Brennan Fournetمشاهده پروفایل
استاد پژوهشی
Margaret Brennan Fournet serves as Research Institute Director for both LIFE: The Health & Biosciences Research Institute and PRISM (Polymer, Recycling, Industrial, Sustainability and Manufacturing engineering) Research Institute at Technological University of the Shannon. Her leadership spans sustainability-focused research with demonstrable impact on UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in plastic pollution mitigation and circular economy solutions. Her research expertise centers on advanced polymer recycling technologies, with signature contributions in PET depolymerization , bacterial nanocellulose production from plastic waste , and antimicrobial biomaterial development . Current work integrates microwave-assisted chemistry, microbial biotechnology, and nanomaterial engineering to transform plastic waste into high-value products like nanocellulose and specialty chemicals. The fingerprint analysis of her 33 research outputs reveals dominant expertise in polyethylene terephthalate (100%), depolymerization (63%), and silver nanoparticle applications (46%). Recent publications demonstrate accelerating impact, with 10 articles in 2023 and 7 in 2024 across journals like Journal of Cleaner Production and Sustainable Materials and Technologies . Key trends include upcycling mixed plastics into bacterial nanocellulose, developing essential oil-enhanced antimicrobial blends, and creating bone regeneration scaffolds from recycled materials. Her work bridges fundamental science with industrial applications, particularly in chemical recycling and biosensing. €2.9 million plastic pollution project launch (2021) EU-China sustainability research liaison role Media coverage in 6 press outlets including X and Bluesky As principal investigator, she leads transnational collaborations spanning microbiology, materials science, and chemical engineering. Current initiatives include the PRISM institute's industrial partnerships focusing on polymer recycling infrastructure and the LIFE institute's health-focused biomaterials development. Her research program actively engages with industry partners to scale chemical depolymerization technologies and nanocellulose production systems for commercial implementation.







