Dr Lukas Schertel

Visiting Researcher (Senior Reseacher @ University of Fribourg, Switzerland)

In 2018 I completed a collaborative PhD between the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and the University of Konstanz (Germany). The work of my thesis focused on materials from soft and condensed matter to understand fundamental effects in optics and photonics, namely Anderson localization and Coherent Backscattering. In 2019, I was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Early Postdoc Mobility Fellowship to continue my scientific career at the University of Cambridge (UK) with a focus on "Light Management with Biocompatible Disordered Photonic Structures". I continued this work as an Isaac Newton Trust Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge until begin of 2021. Since then I work at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) as a Senior Researcher with an SNSF BRIDGE fellowship on research innovation to transfer a cellulose white pigment technology into an industrial environment. This work continues in close collaboration with the Vignolini group at the University of Cambridge.

I aim to fabricate bio-inspired functional materials with sustainable compounds such as biopolymers. I work on the understanding of light management in materials with tailored optical responses, such as maximum diffuse reflectance (whiteness), uniformly scattered colour response or controlled opacity. In this context, nature can not only serve as a source of inspiration but can also be used as a primary source of materials. I am highly interested in understanding how we can use environmentally friendly, sustainable materials to create future paints, coatings and end-uer products and what it takes to bridge the gap between industry and science.

My interest is also to develop an understanding of light scattering and light transport behavior in complex living systems such as bacteria colonies that assemble to form iridescent colors from Bragg scattering and might serve as the future of biosensors, to nanostructures in plants used as protective coatings and for coloration.