Research and training come together to develop novel soft materials to meet new consumer needs



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## Research and training come together to develop novel soft materials to meet new consumer needs

23/07/2024 |
SCP

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* [![ multiSMART Retrat_Draft_press_release_24DLL0151](/com/investigacio/arxiu/noticies/2024/6/multiSMART/Retrat_Draft_press_release_24DLL0151.jpg)](#)

Soft materials, such as gels, emulsions or viscous fluids, are a mixture of components with specific properties, such as softness, hardness, fluidity or thickness, that can trap and release organic oils or active substances and support the growth and differentiation of living cells. These properties are conferred by an interconnected nanostructure or microstructure (a type of fibrillar network of molecules) dispersed in the liquid (water or water and oil).

They behave differently to solids or liquids and are part of our lives in the form of cosmetics, detergents, stickers, paints, lubricants or food additives and, more recently, as cell growth media. However, their performance should be improved to adapt to the new demands of consumption and product production.

The MultiSMART project (Multi-component Soft Materials Advanced Research Training Network), in which the BIOSUPRAMAT group (Chemistry and Bioinspired Supramolecular Materials) of the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló, led by Beatriu Escuder, is involved, aims to provide a response to these needs in areas as common as personal and home care, cosmetics or in new applications such as tissue engineering for regenerative medicine, through the innovative use of programmable self-assembled molecular gelators.

To achieve this, the research on these materials will be combined with the specific training of researchers in materials design and formulation technologies, a skill not currently available in the educational environment, with the aim of creating research experts in this field for their employability in industry and academia. For this reason, the MultiSMART Gel School has recently been organised, not only limited to the project partners, but open to the whole scientific community.

The integrated training and research programme brings together ten participants from the academic and private sectors. The academic partners are internationally recognised players with previous experience in the ITN SMARTNET network (on single-component molecular gels), and the industrial partners are closely linked to the applications and bring industry knowledge. MultiSMART involves a breakthrough in multi-component soft materials, called 'multimats', through a design-to-formulation approach.

Funded by the European Union's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the MultiSMART project provides interdisciplinary training to ten young researchers focusing on the development of multicomponent soft materials based on self-assembling small molecules for use in sustainable products for personal and home care and regenerative therapies. Sustainable development contributes to the European Green Pact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, namely environmentally sound management of chemicals (12), development of industry, innovation and infrastructure (9), health and well-being (3) and gender equality (5).

The partners form a multidisciplinary network with specialisation in design, synthesis and materials research: Techniche Universiteit Delft-The Netherlands (TUD), Universitat Jaume I de Castelló-Spain (UJI) and University of York-United Kingdom (UY); advanced characterisation: Université de Bordeaux-France (UB), Universität Stuttgart-Germany (UST), HENKEL and EVONIK; Modelling: University of Strathclide-Scotland (UoS); Biology: Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe-España (CIPF) and POIETIS; and formulation: HENKEL and EVONIK. Henkel, a leading manufacturer of consumer products on a very large scale, aims to introduce multimats in environmentally friendly personal and home care products. Evonik is one of the world's largest speciality chemical companies and POIETIS is involved in 3D bioprinting of living cells.

The MultiSMART project will enable the training of nine PhD students, two of them at the UJI. Thus, Misthi Singh will carry out her international doctoral studies on new multicomponent materials formed by low-weight organic molecules, with short stays at TU Delft and HENKEL. On the other hand, Martina La Manna will carry out her international doctoral studies on low-weight polypeptide-peptide hybrid materials in close collaboration with the CIPF, where she will spend an extended stay, in addition to another stay in the industrial environment at EVONIK.

![](https://ujiapps.uji.es/ade/rest/storage/CIFNDJF2HNOLTL37PFXF0AAKHYJE1REI)

\*Project funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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