(Lecture, June 8) Applications of Molten Salt Hydrates in Fractionation, Conversion, and Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass
time: 2017-06-02

Title: Applications of Molten Salt Hydrates in Fractionation, Conversion, and Valorization of Lignocellulosic Biomass
Speaker: Prof.Xuejun Pan (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Time: 9:00a.m., June 13th, 2017
Venue: Room 405, Shaw Engineering Building, Wushan Campus

Abstract:

Molten salt hydrates (not molten salts) are aqueous solutions of inorganic salts at extraordinarily high concentration, which varies from salt to salt, dependent on the coordination number of the salt cation. In a perfect molten salt hydrate, the cation is highly hydrated (coordinated with water), while the anion is coordination-free in the system. This nature gives molten salt hydrates some unique properties such as high boiling point, low vapor pressure, and liquid status at moderate temperature, and some molten salt hydrates are even able to swell and dissolve cellulose and biomass. Molten salt hydrates have been used as solvent and reaction medium in many chemical reactions and processes including biomass conversion. Because of similar properties and performance with ionic liquids, molten salt hydrates are sometime called inorganic ionic liquids. However, molten salt hydrates usually have lower cost, lower viscosity, and lower toxicity than organic ionic liquids. This presentation summarizes the recent work in my lab on using molten salt hydrates for fractionation, conversion, and valorization of lignocellulosic biomass, including cellulose dissolution and hydrolysis, biomass saccharification and fractionation, glucose isomerization, sugars to furan-based chemicals and hydrocarbons, lignin quantitation, lignin depolymerization, glucose/cellulose to organic acids, nanocellulose production, and hydrogel and aerogel preparation.

Biography:

Dr. Pan is a Professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his Bachelor, Master and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering at Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China, and a PhD degree in Applied Bioscience at Hokkaido University, Japan. Dr. Pan conducted postdoctoral researches at Georgia Tech, University of Minnesota, and University of British Columbia, successively.


Dr. Pan’s areas of interest include (1) pretreatment and fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass; (2) enzymatic and chemical saccharification of lignocellulose; (3) chemical and biological conversion of lignocellulose to chemicals and liquid fuels; (4) high-value utilization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin; and (5) fundamental understanding of physical and chemical changes of plant cell wall during biorefining.

Dr. Pan has published 90+ peer reviewed journal articles, 6 book chapters, and 3 US patents. Total citation >6500, h-index 37, and i10-index 64. He was elected as Fellow of International Academy of Wood Science in 2013 and won Alfred Toepfer Faculty Fellow Award in 2011 and NSF Career Award in 2009.