Liang-Shin Wang has a BSc in Chemical Engineering from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Hsinchu, Taiwan. She continued with a MSc degree in Chemical Engineering at Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. During her master’s project, she studied the influence of solvent extraction on the properties of poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate). In 2022, she became a PhD candidate at the Membrane Materials and Process Group, Department of Chemical Engineering & Chemistry, Eindhoven University of Technology and Wetsus (www.wetsus.nl). Her expertise includes chemistry, biopolymer downstream processing, polymer science, and polymer characterization.

This project focuses on advanced biobased membrane development. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are polyesters that could harvest from bacteria and serve as energy storage sources. These polymers are of interest due to their complete biodegradability and biocompatibility. This project aims to investigate methods for modulating polymer quality during the recovery step and control the quality with valued properties towards processing windows suitable for generating membranes, films, and/or coatings. The ultimate goal is to combine this biopolymer recovery process with a direct conversion into functional materials.