MrMartin Zaki

Protein/biopolymer and encapsulation scientist, with a background in chemistry. I specialise in material science, specifically the encapsulation of small volatile materials such as fragrances and the production of artificial fibres.

Prior to my PhD, I spent two years working in a R&D company developing silk vascular grafts. I also spent 5 years working as an encapsulation chemist using biopolymers to create greener microcapsules for a range of industries including construction, food, cosmetics and fragrances. I developed the third global commericially-available biodegradable encapsulation technology suitable for fragrances (AromaCore Bio) for the company CPL Aromas. During this time I learned how to formulate cosmetic and household products, develop basic fragrances, have had smell training, worked on counteracting malodours, developed a range of encapsulation techniques, and Hansen Solubility parameters. 

My PhD focussed on producing biomimetic silk fibres by understanding how the silkworm spins a fibre that is one of the toughest in nature and produced using 90% less energy than melt spun fibres. By using the current knowledge of how the silkworm produces silk, the PhD wet-spun fibres that were 2.3x tougher than nature, that also showed nanofibrillar strucutre (the first for wet-spun silk fibres). The knowledge obtained not only helped improve how we spin artificial silk fibres but more importantly helps us understand how silk is produced in nature.

My future work is looking to apply this knowledge into other biopolymers to see if we can produce commerically viable fibres that are better mechanically but also for the environment and our pockets.