Rate My Professor Lauri Rautkari

Lauri Rautkari is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems in the School of Chemical Engineering at Aalto University. He also serves as Associate Professor in Wood Material Science, leading the Wood Material Science research group. Rautkari earned his Master's degree in Engineering and Technology from Helsinki University of Technology in 2007 and his Doctoral degree in Engineering and Technology from Aalto University in 2012. His research focuses on water interactions in biomaterials, especially wood, where he develops new methods to analyze water vapor sorption and creates materials with low sorption behavior. This work supports bio and circular economy innovations for applications in construction, textiles, biomaterials, energy, and biomedicine, contributing to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals such as SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Rautkari was appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems in 2023 and Head of the Department in 2024. He has authored or co-authored 191 research outputs, including 121 peer-reviewed articles and 37 conference articles. Notable publications include 'Multiscale interface engineering enables strong and water resistant wood bonding' (Nature Communications, 2025), 'Cell Wall Polymer Degradation during Rhodonia placenta Brown Rot Decay of Thermally Modified and Unmodified Wood' (ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2025), 'Degradation by brown rot fungi increases the hygroscopicity of heat-treated wood' (International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation, 2024), 'Gaseous Ozone Treatment of Wood: Effect of Treatment Conditions on the Wood Wettability and Phenol-formaldehyde Adhesive Bonding Strength' (BioResources, 2026), 'Improving Wood Surface Wettability through Gas-phase Ozone Treatment of Air-dry wood' (BioResources, 2025), and 'Interlaboratory study of automated sorption measurements in wood: method for correcting systematic errors' (Adsorption, 2025). His extensive international collaborations advance knowledge in wood modification, moisture properties, and sustainable bioproducts.