EAGER - New Material Paradigms for Biorefinery Separations

近年来，替代燃料的产生，特别是从纤维素等非食用原料中产生的替代燃料已经成为一个引起国家极大兴趣的话题。这项工作的重点主要是将纤维素转化为有用的产品或中间体。然而，为了使生物炼制概念充分发挥其潜力，必须出现新的分离范例/工艺。纤维素的分解通常会导致高度含氧化合物的复杂混合物，这些化合物不热稳定且非常亲水。PI假设有机-无机纳米复合膜提供了实现这些分离的一种途径。为了验证这一假设，PI将探索将促进纤维素加工/转化为可用化学原料的关键分离：通过微过滤从纤维素水解形成的残余固体中选择性分离低分子量组分（如戊糖/己糖）。2. 从热解得到的模型生物油中分离低分子量组分（如乙酸）。生物油和纤维素水解混合物的分离研究很少，但这些类型的分离对于推进生物炼油厂的目标至关重要，以减少国家对石油的依赖。

The generation of alternative fuels, particularly from non-edible feedstocks such as cellulose has become a topic of great national interest in recent years. The focus of this effort has been primarily on conversion of cellulose to useful products or intermediates. However, for the biorefinery concept to achieve its full potential it will be essential for new separation paradigms/processes to emerge. Decomposition of cellulose typically leads to a complex mixture of highly oxygenated compounds that are not thermally stable and quite hydrophilic. The PI hypothesizes that organic-inorganic nanocomposite membranes offer one route to achieve these separations. To test this hypothesis the PI will explore key separations that will facilitate processing/conversion of cellulose into usable chemical feedstocks: 1. Selective separation of low molecular weight components (e.g. pentoses/hexoses) from residual solids formed in cellulose hydrolysis via microfiltration. 2. Separations of low molecular weight (e.g. acetic acid) components from model bio-oils obtained from pyrolysis. Separations of bio-oils and cellulose hydrolysis mixtures have been sparingly studied, yet these types of separations are essential to advancing towards the goal of a biorefinery to reduce the nation's dependency on oil.