
Professor Steve Eichhorn
PhD, MSc, BSc
Expertise
I am an expert in cellulosic materials, natural fibre composites and biomimetic/functional materials.
Current positions
Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering
Contact
Press and media
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Biography
Professor Steve Eichhorn graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Leeds in 1993. He then went on to do a Master’s degree and PhD (1995-1998) at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in the Paper Science Department. Following that he carried out postdoctoral research under the supervision of Professor Bob Young FRS in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (1999-2002). He was hired as a new lecturer in 2002 in the Materials Science department, which then became the School of Materials in 2004 when UMIST merged with the Victoria University of Manchester. He was promoted to Senior Lecturer and Reader and then went to become Chair of Materials Science at the University of Exeter in 2011. At Exeter he built an activity around sustainable materials research, and also took on leadership roles as a co-Director of an EPSRC funded doctoral training centre and he was the Head of Engineering (from 2014-2017). In September 2017 he moved to the University of Bristol and into the newly formed Bristol Composites Institute, and was interim Head of School (for the CAME School of Engineering) in 2020. He has been awarded the Rosenhain Medal and Prize in 2012 from the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3) for his contributions to Materials Science, the Hayashi Jisuke prize from the Japanese Cellulose Society (in 2017), the Swinburne Medal and Prize (IOM3) in 2020, and was the Chair of the ACS’s Cellulose and Renewable Materials Division.
In 2021 he was awarded an EPSRC ED&I fellowship on Biobased Composites. The ED&I programme of work has a specific emphasis on Black and Black heritage staff and students.
Research interests
- Cellulose structure and physical properties
- Natural fibre composites and nanocomposites
- Sustainable materials
- Biomimetics
- Decolonisation of STEM subjects
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Bio-derived and Bio-inspired Advanced Materials for Sustainable Industries
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Aerospace EngineeringDates
01/11/2022 to 31/10/2027
Bio-derived and Bio-inspired Advanced Materials for Sustainable Industries
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Aerospace EngineeringDates
01/11/2022 to 31/10/2027
Bio-derived and Bio-inspired Advanced Materials for Sustainable Industries
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Civil, Aerospace and Design EngineeringDates
01/11/2022 to 31/10/2027
Recycling of FRP wind blade waste material in concrete
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
The increased UK investments in the wind energy sector will result in an upsurge in the fabrication of wind turbines. Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) wind turbines have a design life…Managing organisational unit
Department of Civil EngineeringDates
31/01/2022 to 24/01/2025
EPSRC Fellowship
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Aerospace EngineeringDates
01/07/2021 to 30/06/2026
Thesis supervisions
3D printing shape-changing double-network hydrogels
Supervisors
The effects of surface modification of microfibrillated cellulose on its dispersion and reinforcement potential in polyolefin composites.
Supervisors
Investigating The Effects of Manufacturing Processes on the Structural, Thermal and Crystallisation Properties of HDPE and UHMWPE Composite Materials with Polypropylene Fibre Reinforcement
Supervisors
Cellulose nanocrystals-based nanomaterials with aligned microstructures for sustainable energy storage technologies
Supervisors
Cellulose Nanocrystal Reinforced Electrospun Composite Nanofibres
Supervisors
Toughening composite laminates using hierarchical electrospun fibrous veils
Supervisors
Characterisation and Selection of Sustainable Discontinuous Natural Fibre Reinforced Polymer Constituents and Their Composites
Supervisors
Optimised ultrasonic data acquisition and surface-echo suppression for 3D characterisation of composite materials
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
12/01/2025Multi-scale assembly and structure-process-property relationships in nanocellulosic materials
Progress in Materials Science
PROBING COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR AND FAILURE IN SINGLE FIBRE CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES: IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS USING IN SITU LASER RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
European Conference on Composite Materials
Advances in Smart Photovoltaic Textiles
ACS Nano
Detonation of Fulminating Gold Produces Heterogeneous Gold Nanoparticles
Nanoscale Adv.
Investigating the interactions between a poloxamer and TEMPO-oxidised cellulose nanocrystals
Carbohydrate Polymers