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Professor Richard T. Olsson

Richard T. Olsson

Olsson Group at Lab 371

Dr. Richard T. Olsson earned his PhD in 2007 at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Sweden, on the topic of microwave-absorbing nanocomposites developed for the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). Prior to his doctoral studies, he developed an early interest in polymeric materials while working with optical fibre coatings at École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, France (–2000), and at Bell Labs, USA (2000–2001).

Olsson’s doctoral work (2002–2007) focused on magnetic nanoparticle dispersions in thermoset polymers. This was followed by the development of a nanofibre-reinforced silicone material for Mölnlycke Health Care AB (2007–2008), a project conducted at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Between 2008 and 2010, he carried out postdoctoral research at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (IATA-CSIC) in Spain, focusing on renewable nanomaterials for bioplastics in food packaging applications. In 2010, he returned to KTH to pursue advanced polymer nanocomposite engineering at the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology.

Dr. Olsson currently supervises two PhD students and two postdoctoral researchers within the Olsson Group at Lab 371. His research focuses on nanocomposite materials synthesis and the interfacial and interphase phenomena between nanoparticles and polymers, with particular emphasis on structure–property relationships in magnetic and dielectric composite materials. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work on magnetic cellulose, being the first to demonstrate covalent grafting of magnetic nanoparticles onto individual crystalline cellulose nanofibres via tailored condensation chemistry, published in Nature Nanotechnology ( 2010 ).

A consistent focus on the realization of functional nanocomposite materials and scalable nanoparticle preparation methods has been maintained throughout his career. The inorganic nanoparticle-based composites developed by his group have been applied to high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable insulation, with several studies highlighted as HOT Papers in Journal of Materials Chemistry A ( 2015  & 2016 ).

In the growing field of organic nanoparticles for HVDC insulation, his recent work targets large-scale conductive carbon black particles for the development of ultra-insulating dielectric composites ( WO Patent ), in collaboration with NKT AB under the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability ( WISE ).

Most recently, Dr.Olsson with students demonstrated for the first time how to effectively exfoliate graphene oxide from synthetic carbon fibres, published in Small ( 2025 ). This breakthrough enables a sustainable and ultrapure route to graphene and doped graphene oxide production, eliminating the reliance on natural, mineral-contaminated graphite, now listed as Critical Raw Material  by the European Union. The work is presently patented and explored under the guidance of KTH Innovation , recognized by Financial Times  as Europe's Leading Start-Up Hubs.

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MgO Nanocomposite HVDC

Natural polymers are a central theme in Dr. Olsson’s research, and cellulose nanofibres' interaction with metal ions have been a consistent focus over the past decade through his membership in the Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC) . The use of natural polymers in biomass as a coordinating matrix for inorganic metal ions has been further developed and extended into the recycling and recovery of lithium-ion batteries, in collaboration with Dr. Kerstin Forsberg at the Division of Resource Recovery , KTH. Within this field, Dr Olsson has directed and published the first reported works on ultrasound process intensification (and modelling), the extraction and recovery of valuable metal ions from lithium-ion battery blackmass, published in the journal Green Chemistry, 2021 .

Since 2015, Dr. Olsson has served as an Editorial Board Member for the multidisciplinary open-access journal Scientific Reports , which maintains a 5-year impact factor of 4.58. His editorial appointment lies within the field of Atomic and Molecular Physics and is renewed on a biennial basis. Beyond his editorial responsibilities, Dr. Olsson is actively engaged in promoting the independence of early-career researchers and provides individual mentoring and specialized classes in scientific writing and publishing.

Dr. Olsson currently serves as Deputy Head of the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology  at KTH Royal Institute of Technology , Stockholm.

Interests and Projects

Main focus: Polymer nanocomposite fabrication (thermoplastics, thermoset and biobased) with rapid turnover polymer formulation investigations, surface adaption of nanoparticles to polymer interfaces, in-situ formation of nanoparticles, extrusion and electrospinning for anisotropic/isotropic composite fabrication. 

Additonal expertise: Inorganic metal oxide crystal synthesis, aqueous nanoparticles preparation, cellulose crystal extractions, (±) nanoparticle coating stabilization by covalent/adsorption assemblies, and miniature reaction technologies are topics of interest.

Direction: Dielectrics, magnetics, ultrathin fiber systems (electrospinning), thincoatings and porositiy preparation strategies, for use in applied reseach materials investigations.

Professional Engagements

Awards

  • Lars-Erik Thunholms stiftelse: – "Young Investigators stipend", 2013.
  • Knut och Alice Wallenbergs: "Mikro/Nanovetenskap stipend ", 2008.
  • Carl Klason Prize, POLYCHAR-14, Annual World Forum on Advanced Materials, 2006.

Courses

  • KF2505  Polymer Materials Processing; 7.5 credits – Lecturer, Course responsible and Examiner
  • KF2110  Mechanical Properties of Materials; 7.5 credits – Lecturer
  • KF1050  Polymeric Materials; 7.5 credits – Lecturer
  • KFxxxx  FPIRC Course no 35: Non Woven - From fundamentals to processing – Lecturer
  • KF3260  Characterization Methods for Fibre and Polymer Science; 7.5 credits – Lecturer
  • KF2500  Polymer Engineering; 9.0 credits – Lecturer, Course responsible and Examiner
  • KF1070  Perspectives on Materials Design; 10.5 credits – Lecturer, Course responsible and Examiner
  • KA101X  Degree Project in Chemical Science and Engineering; 15.0 credits – Project responsible and Examiner
  • KF102X  Degree Project in Polymeric Materials, First Cycle; 15.0 credits – Project responsible and Examiner
  • KF206X  Degree Project in Polymeric Materials, Second Cycle; 30.0 credits – Project responsible and Examiner

Patents

Book Chapters

Cellulose nanofillers for food packaging. In: Lagarón, J. M. Multifunctional and nanoreinforced polymers for food packaging . Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Limited. pp. 86-107 (2011).

Publications (50 most recent)

Google Scholar

[1]
M. A. Bettelli et al., "Biodegradation, Bioassimilation and Recycling Properties of Wheat Gluten Foams," ACS AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 805-821, 2025.
[2]
S. K. Källbom et al., "Vacuum-Formed Composites Based on a Polyolefin and a High Content of Biomass-Waste Fillers," Advanced Engineering Materials, 2025.
[3]
A. Bjurström et al., "A Review of Polyolefin-Insulation Materials in High Voltage Transmission; From Electronic Structures to Final Products," Advanced Materials, vol. 36, no. 52, 2024.
[4]
G. Proietti et al., "Nickel Boride Catalyzed Reductions of Nitro Compounds and Azides : Nanocellulose-supported Catalysts in Tandem Reactions," Synthesis (Stuttgart), vol. 54, no. 01, pp. 133-146, 2022.
[5]
W. Xuan et al., "Antisolvent Precipitation for Metal Recovery from Citric Acid Solution in Recycling of NMC Cathode Materials," Metals, vol. 12, no. 4, 2022.
[6]
X.-F. Wei et al., "Ageing properties of a polyoxymethylene copolymer exposed to (bio) diesel and hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) in demanding high temperature conditions," Polymer degradation and stability, vol. 185, 2021.
[7]
D. Buyuktas et al., "Development of a nano-modified glassy carbon electrode for the determination of 2,6-diaminotoluene (TDA)," FOOD PACKAGING AND SHELF LIFE, vol. 29, 2021.
[8]
A. J. Capezza et al., "Acylation of agricultural protein biomass yields biodegradable superabsorbent plastics," Communications Chemistry, vol. 4, no. 1, 2021.
[9]
X. Ye et al., "High-Temperature and Chemically Resistant Foams from Sustainable Nanostructured Protein," Advanced sustainable systems, vol. 5, no. 9, 2021.
[10]
X.-F. Wei et al., "High-performance glass-fibre reinforced biobased aromatic polyamide in automotive biofuel supply systems," Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 263, 2020.
[11]
O. Das et al., "The Effect of Carbon Black on the Properties of Plasticised Wheat Gluten Biopolymer," Molecules, vol. 25, no. 10, pp. 2279, 2020.
[12]
A. J. Capezza et al., "Carboxylated Wheat Gluten Proteins : A Green Solution for Production of Sustainable Superabsorbent Materials," Biomacromolecules, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 1709-1719, 2020.
[13]
B. Tandon et al., "Fabrication and Characterisation of Stimuli Responsive Piezoelectric PVDF and Hydroxyapatite-Filled PVDF Fibrous Membranes," Molecules, vol. 24, no. 10, 2019.
[14]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Making an ultralow platinum content bimetallic catalyst on carbon fibres for electro-oxidation of ammonia in wastewater," Sustainable Energy & Fuels, vol. 3, no. 8, pp. 2111-2124, 2019.
[15]
C. Antonio et al., "Advances in the use of protein-based materials: towards sustainable naturally sourced absorbent materials," American Chemical Society Symposium Series (ACS), vol. 7, no. 5, 2019.
[16]
C. Antonio et al., "Preparation and Comparison of Reduced Graphene Oxide and Carbon Nanotubes as Fillers in Conductive Natural Rubber for Flexible Electronics," Omega, vol. 4, no. 2, 2019.
[17]
M. Ghaani et al., "Determination of 2,4-diaminotoluene by a bionanocomposite modified glassy carbon electrode," Sensors and actuators. B, Chemical, vol. 277, pp. 477-483, 2018.
[18]
M. Ghaani et al., "A bionanocomposite- modified glassy carbon electrode for the determination of 4,4 0-methylene diphenyl diamine," Analytical Methods, vol. 10, no. 34, 2018.
[19]
C. Rovera et al., "Mechanical behavior of biopolymer composite coatings on plastic films by depth-sensing indentation – A nanoscale study," Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 512, pp. 638-646, 2018.
[20]
B. Alander et al., "A facile way of making inexpensive rigid and soft protein biofoams with rapid liquid absorption," Industrial crops and products (Print), vol. 119, pp. 41-48, 2018.
[21]
J. L. Castro-Mayorga et al., "The impact of zinc oxide particle morphology as an antimicrobial and when incorporated in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) films for food packaging and food contact surfaces applications," Food and Bioproducts Processing, vol. 101, pp. 32-44, 2017.
[22]
D. Liu et al., "Influence of Nanoparticle Surface Coating on Electrical Conductivity of LDPE/Al2O3 Nanocomposites for HVDC Cable Insulations," IEEE transactions on dielectrics and electrical insulation, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1396-1404, 2017.
[23]
P. Medhi et al., "Lidocaine-loaded fish scale-nanocellulose biopolymer composite microneedles," AAPS PharmSciTech, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 1488-1494, 2017.
[24]
Q. Wu et al., "Conductive biofoams of wheat gluten containing carbon nanotubes, carbon black or reduced graphene oxide," RSC Advances, vol. 7, no. 30, pp. 18260-18269, 2017.
[25]
Q. Wu et al., "Flexible strength-improved and crack-resistant biocomposites based on plasticised wheat gluten reinforced with a flax-fibre-weave," Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing, vol. 94, pp. 61-69, 2017.
[26]
Q. Wu et al., "Freeze-dried wheat gluten biofoams; scaling up with water welding," Industrial crops and products (Print), vol. 97, pp. 184-190, 2017.
[27]
L. G. Guex et al., "Experimental review : chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by aqueous chemistry," Nanoscale, vol. 9, no. 27, pp. 9562-9571, 2017.
[28]
F. Nilsson et al., "Influence of water uptake on the electrical DC-conductivity of insulating LDPE/MgO nanocomposites," Composites Science And Technology, vol. 152, pp. 11-19, 2017.
[29]
J. González-Ausejo et al., "Assessing the thermoformability of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)/poly(acid lactic) blends compatibilized with diisocyanates," Polymer testing, vol. 62, pp. 235-245, 2017.
[30]
L. K. H. Pallon et al., "Three-Dimensional Nanometer Features of Direct Current Electrical Trees in Low-Density Polyethylene," Nano letters (Print), vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 1402-1408, 2017.
[31]
K. J. Prathap et al., "Catalytic Reductions and Tandem Reactions of Nitro Compounds Using in Situ Prepared Nickel Boride Catalyst in Nanocellulose Solution," Organic Letters, vol. 19, no. 18, pp. 4746-4749, 2017.
[32]
D. Liu et al., "Interactions between a phenolic antioxidant, moisture, peroxide and crosslinking by-products with metal oxide nanoparticles in branched polyethylene," Polymer degradation and stability, vol. 125, pp. 21-32, 2016.
[33]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Polyethylene Nanocomposites for the Next Generation of Ultralow-Transmission-Loss HVDC Cables : Insulation Containing Moisture Resistant MgO Nanoparticles," ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 8, no. 23, pp. 14824-14835, 2016.
[34]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Highly Efficient Interfaces in Nanocomposites Based on Polyethylene and ZnO Nano/Hierarchical Particles : A Novel Approach toward Ultralow Electrical Conductivity Insulations.," Advanced Materials, vol. 28, no. 39, pp. 8651-8657, 2016.
[35]
Q. Wu et al., "Highly Absorbing Antimicrobial Biofoams Based on Wheat Gluten and Its Biohybrids," ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 2395-2404, 2016.
[36]
L. K. H. Pallon et al., "The impact of MgO nanoparticle interface in ultra-insulating polyethylene nanocomposites for high voltage DC cables," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 4, no. 22, pp. 8590-8601, 2016.
[37]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Aqueous synthesis of (21̅0) oxygen terminated defect free hierarchical ZnO particles and their heat treatment for enhanced reactivity," Langmuir, vol. 32, no. 42, pp. 11002-11013, 2016.
[38]
D. Liu et al., "Cellulose nanofibril core-shell silica coatings and their conversion into thermally stable nanotube aerogels," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 3, no. 30, pp. 15745-15754, 2015.
[39]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Heat treatment of ZnO nanoparticles : new methods to achieve high-purity nanoparticles for high-voltage applications," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 3, no. 33, pp. 17190-17200, 2015.
[40]
D. Liu et al., "Morphology and properties of silica-based coatings with different functionalities for Fe3O4, ZnO and Al2O3 nanoparticles," RSC Advances, vol. 5, no. 59, pp. 48094-48103, 2015.
[41]
D. Liu et al., "Influence of nanoparticle surface treatment on particle dispersion and interfacial adhesion in low-density polyethylene/aluminium oxide nanocomposites," European Polymer Journal, vol. 66, pp. 67-77, 2015.
[42]
I. N. Strain et al., "Electrospinning of recycled PET to generate tough mesomorphic fibre membranes for smoke filtration," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 1632-1640, 2015.
[43]
L. K. H. Pallon et al., "Formation and the structure of freeze-dried MgO nanoparticle foams and their electrical behaviour in polyethylene," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 3, no. 14, pp. 7523-7534, 2015.
[44]
I. U. Unalan et al., "Exceptional oxygen barrier performance of pullulan nanocomposites with ultra-low loading of graphene oxide," Nanotechnology, vol. 26, no. 27, 2015.
[45]
O. Olatunji and R. T. Olsson, "Microneedles from fishscale-nanocellulose blends using low temperature mechanical press method," Pharmaceutics, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 363-378, 2015.
[46]
R. L. Andersson et al., "Antibacterial Properties of Tough and Strong Electrospun PMMA/PEO Fiber Mats Filled with Lanasol-A Naturally Occurring Brominated Substance," International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 15, no. 9, pp. 15912-15923, 2014.
[47]
A. M. Pourrahimi et al., "Water-based synthesis and cleaning methods for high purity ZnO nanoparticles - comparing acetate, chloride, sulphate and nitrate zinc salt precursors," RSC Advances, vol. 4, no. 67, pp. 35568-35577, 2014.
[48]
R. L. Andersson et al., "Micromechanics of ultra-toughened electrospun PMMA/PEO fibres as revealed by in-situ tensile testing in an electron microscope," Scientific Reports, vol. 4, pp. 6335, 2014.
[49]
Q. Wu et al., "Highly porous flame-retardant and sustainable biofoams based on wheat gluten and in situ polymerized silica," Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 2, no. 48, pp. 20996-21009, 2014.
[50]
I. A. Sacui et al., "Comparison of the Properties of Cellulose Nanocrystals and Cellulose Nanofibrils Isolated from Bacteria, Tunicate, and Wood Processed Using Acid, Enzymatic, Mechanical, and Oxidative Methods," ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 6127-6138, 2014.

Additional information

  • ResearcherID: B-8715-2012
  • ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5454-3316
Page responsible:webmaster@cbh.kth.se
Belongs to: Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology
Last changed: Nov 04, 2025
Title
Prof. Mikael Hedenqvist
Prof. Em. Ulf Gedde
Assoc. Prof. Richard T. Olsson
Assistant Professor Anna Hanner (Svagan)
Docent Fritjof Nilsson
Assoc. Prof. Henrik Hillborg
Adjunct Professor Mikael Unge (NKT)
Prof. Petra Mischnick