2009 Research for Undergraduates (REU) Program

2009 Research for Undergraduates (REU) Program

Directors: Dr. Darrell Donahue, Dr. David Neivandt, Dr. Douglas Gardner

Inorganic Wood Composite of Sodium Silicate and cellulose nanofibrilsJohn Attonito – CUNY Queens CollegeAdvisors: Dr. Douglas Gardner, Dr. Yousoo Han & Yucheng Peng

• Mixtures consist of Sodium Silicate, Wood Flour, Formaldehyde and various concentrations of nanocellulose

• Method consists of Pressing within a compression mold and curing in an oven

Steel Compression Mold

Sample Sodium Silicate

Wood Flour

Nano-cellulose

1 70% 30% -

2 70% 28% 2%

3 70% 25% 5%

4 70% 22% 8%

5 70% 20% 10%

Sample Compositions in an attempt to prove the effects of

nanocellulose as an additive

Cellulose Nanofiber Coated PaperJacquie Beckvermit – Fort Lewis CollegeAdvisor- Dr. Doug Bousfield and visiting scientist Hitomi Hamada

• 2.7 wt% Nanofiber Cellulose used to coat paper to increase the print quality while eliminating the use of petroleum based products.

• This procedure and all materials are ecologically friendly making coated paper a green product.

Uncoated

Coated with Nanofibers 3g/m2

Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Hemicellulosic Bio-ethanolRachel Bowman– Western Kentucky University, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAdvisor: Dr. Anthony Halog

• Cradle to Gate LCA of wood based bioethanol using SimaPro, Eco-LCA, Open LCA models

• Considers Near-Neutral extraction method of producing hemicellulosic bio-ethanol as part of a modified Kraft Pulp Mill

• Compares the three LCA models and determines which presents the best representation of the data

Preliminary SimaPro results show that the greatest environmental impact categories are

Fossil Fuels, Respective Inorganics, Climate Change, Land Use, and Acidification from the Causticizing Process, Wood Chip Production,

and Hog Fuel Boiler

Normalized Environmental Impacts from Ethanol Production

Hydrodeoxygenation of a Model Compound of Pyrolysis Oil Using Molybdenum Catalysts on Activated Carbon Supports. Nick Dunn – Union College. Advisors: Dr. Brian Frederick and Dr. Clayton Wheeler

• 0.5g of the sulfided catalyst is added to 3.00mL of the model compound guaiacol in 100mL decalin.

• The mixture is heated up to 300°C and put under 50 bar H2 pressure for 4 hrs, with periodic samples taken

Converting Lignin into Nano Structured Carbon MaterialsAlden Earle – Ramapo College of New JerseyAdvisor: Dr. David Neivandt

• Lignin is an underused byproduct of the Kraft pulping process that is largely burnt for fuel. It is the 2nd most plentiful organic polymer in the world.

• Nano-carbon is used for numerous applications due to its high electrical and thermal conductivity, high tensile strength, surface area etc. However, it is typically expensive to mass produce and employs non-renewable feedstocks.

• A proprietary method of converting lignin into nano structured carbon materials is being developed. Significant room exists for optimization of the process.

The Study of the Total Pressure during the Acid Hydrolysis with SO2 as a Function of Temperature and SO2

Alex A. Haluska– Syracuse UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Adriaan van Heiningen & Graduate Student, Rory Jara

• 1% xylan, 1% acetic acid , 98% water to simulate Hot Water Extract (HWE)

• 1% xylan, 1% sodium acetate, 98% water to simulate Near Neutral Extract (NNE)

• Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a gas that can be used as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses oligomers

SO2

SO2

Reactor SO2 trap

H2O2

H2SO4

Xylan e

ScaleSO2 + H2O2 → H2SO4

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 17002468

101214161820

Hot Water Extract

.5% SO21% SO22% SO25% SO210% SO2

Temperature [°C]

Tota

l Pre

ssur

e [b

ar]

90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 17002468

101214161820

Near Neutral Extract

.5% SO21% SO22% SO25% SO210% SO2

Temperature [°C]

Tota

l Pre

ssur

e [b

ar]

Utilizing Tangential Flow Ultrafiltration for the Concentration of Hemicellulose ExtractsRob Jonson – Kansas State UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Peter van Walsum & Graduate Student Sara Walton

• Hot water and green liquor hemicellulose extracts must be concentrated before they can be fermented.

• Filtration might be optimized by developing a relationship between extraction intensity and the extract’s molecular weight distribution.

-1.00 1.00 3.00 5.00 7.00 9.00 11.00 13.00 15.000.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

Concentration Effectiveness of Tested Systems

MilliporeGE SEPANOVASPEP Ceramic1 to 1

Volume Concentration Factor

Xylo

se C

once

ntra

tion

Fact

or

Separation and Classification of High-Value Chemicals in Picea speciesAnnemarie Nauert – University of Missouri

Advisors: Drs. Cole & Fort • Graduate Student: Regan LeBlanc

• Separation of secondary metabolites found in bark by liquid-liquid extractions• Classification based on antioxidant activity, phenolics, and flavonoids content• Effort to use most environmentally-conscious solvents

Total Phenolics Content

0.002.004.006.008.00

10.00

BFB 69Layers

BFB 69total

BFBLayers

BFBtotal

EWP691B

Layers

EWP691B

total

EWP692B

Layers

EWP692B

total

mg/

gram

bar

k

BUTEA

EE

Bioprospecting for an enzyme that cleaves ether bonds between lignin and hemicellulose in hardwoodsRosie Ochoa- Sacramento City College Advisors: Dr. Nancy G. Kravit

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

-2000

-1000

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000ATCC cultures

626106423058887MYA-245866753963126665664230

Time for assay

Coun

ts

Environmental colonies

Environmental samples and ATCC cultures were screened for their ability to cleave the ether bond between xylan (primary sugar in hardwood hemicellulose) and 4-Methylumbelliferone.Positive cultures were grown and tested in different media and growth conditions to optimize enzyme expression.

Acid springing and extraction using trioctylamineAudrey Polifka – Kansas State UniversityAdvisor – Dr. Peter van Walsum

• Goal is to extract acetic acid from a model solution using trioctylamine (TOA) as the extractor and octanol as the diluent.

• Testing variables such as concentrations of organic & aqueous phases, ratio of organic to aqueous, temperature of reaction, and pH of aqueous phase.

• Also determining recyclability of TOA to be used in economic analysis.

Analysis of the Hemicellulose Pre-Extraction from Red Maple WoodDiego Rosso – University of Puerto Rico-MayaguezAdvisor: Dr. Adriaan van Heiningen & Graduate Student, Rory Jara

• Comparison of hemicellulose extractions by hot water extraction using a batch and a continuous flow process.

• Analyze the rate of hemicellulose extraction for Red Maple wood strands, wood chips, and wood meal.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0123456789

Hot Water Extraction of Red Maple Wood Strands in a Batch Reactor Process

ArabinanGalactanGlucanXylanMannanAcetic AcidFormic AcidFurfural

Log(Ro)

Olig

omer

ic S

ugar

Ext

racti

on Y

ield

mg/

g Dr

y W

ood

Free

Aci

d Yi

eld

mg/

g Dr

y W

ood

Mass Balances

~30.0g of Dry Wood

Extr

acto

r

HPLC HPAEC

Stress vs. Strain of various MFC filler loading levels in latex

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

0 1 2 3 4 5 6Strain (%)

Stre

ss (M

Pa)

2wt%5wt%8wt%10wt%Pure latex

Extraction of Shikimic Acid from foliage of the Picea SpeciesAlexander Shaffer – Youngstown State University

Advisors: Drs. Barbara Cole & Ray Fort * Graduate Student: Gedivinne Nilmini * HS Student: Mark Rowe

• Goal: Minimize tree waste in an optimized industrial ready process that maximizes yield of shikimic acid at a low cost while maintaining other industrial operations at their current capacity.

• Initial Findings: – Higher temperature = Better Extraction– Crushing needles improves results– Length of extraction impacts extraction results

100 C140 C

100 C 140 C

Crushed Needles / Whole Needles

B = BasicC = CrushedH = HourW = Whole

Isolating a Novel Enzyme that Cleaves Non-glycosidic Bonds Between Lignin and HemicelluloseMorgan Urello – Columbia UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Nancy Kravit & Dr. Kathy Schmidt

• B603 produces an enzyme that cleaves the non-glycosidic bonds between lignin and hemicellulose

• cDNA from B603 has been used to create a lambda library

• The library was screened using a substrate that mimics the lignin-hemicellulose ether bond

• The insert coding for the desired enzyme is being identified and subcloned into an expression vector to optimize production

Figure 1. Plaque Lift membrane under 254 nm UV light

Figure 2. Plaque Lift membrane under 365 nm UV light

2009 Research for Teachers (RET) Program Tracy Vassiliev James F. Doughty School, Bangor, ME Raye Anne DeSoto, Gardner Middle School, Gardner, MEAdvisor: Dr. David Neivandt & Dr. Darrell Donahue

• Develop Curriculum• Fermentation, Life Cycle Assessment, Fungus,

GPS (FBRI geocaches), Nanotechnology

• Dissemination• FBRI Teacher Blog

• http://fbri.edublogs.org • FBRI Middle School Curriculum Ideas• REU Interviews

• 2009 Maine Association of Middle Level Education Conference

• 2010 National Science Teachers Association Conference

• 2009 New England & Maine Educators of the Gifted & Talented

Bread in a Bag

4 FBRI Geocaches

Fungus

LCA

Brewing Root Beer

Teacher Blog