Tobias Benselfelt

My research focuses on colloidal systems of polymers or particles and how to assemble them into functional materials. Of particular interest are cellulose fiber, nanocellulose, and polyelectrolytes. My interests range from traditional paper chemistry via low-density bio-based materials to colloidal glasses and gels. I also deal with the fundamental understanding of interactions between polymers in liquids or their adsorption onto surfaces. Typical applications are packaging materials, absorbents, electroactive materials, hydrogel actuators, and electronically tunable membranes.

I currently hold the ERC starting grant DynanoNet, which is aimed at using the dynamic nature of nanofibril networks to develop new separation technologies to tackle future challenges in pharmaceutical manufacturing and other industries. Electronically tunable membranes are a part of this project with the potential to digitalize separation science to optimize separation processes using digital infrastructure, such as machine learning.

I teach colloidal properties of nanocellulose, fiber technology, characterization methods in fibre and polymer science, atomic force microscopy, and polymer physics.

Background

MSc in Bioengineering, Linköping University (2014)

PhD in Fiber and Polymer Science, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2019)

Postdoc within the Digital Cellulose Center (2019-2021)

Wallenberg Postdoctoral Fellow, NTU Singapore (2021-2023)

Researcher, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2023-2025)

Assistant Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (2025-current)

Sole proprietor of Benselfelt SciArt (2020-current)