Progress 09/01/13 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:Biobased industries and the research community, regional agricultural community, ethanol companies, feed companies, corn growers, and the general public with interest in cellulosic ethanol. State and regional educators, professionals and farmers. The Sustainable World Tour (Ohio State Univ.) has programming for middle school to high school students. Changes/Problems:In the Section of this report entitled,"Major Goals of the Project," the Summary and Strategic Area to be addressed for Dr. David Hodge's project is incorrect. These sections were unintentionally copied from Dr. Rafiq Islam's proposal. Following is the correct information from Dr. Hodge's proposal: Dr. David Hodge, Michigan State University: USDA Sun Grant Funds $105,086, (Matching: $26,623), "Catalytic Oxidation of biorefinery-and forest products industry-derived lignins for the production of functionally active aromatic monomers"; SUMMARY: This project proposes to investigate the conversion of lignins derived from biorefinery and forest products industry process streams to phenolic acid and aldehyde monomers that may be used for higher value applications including renewable polymers that displace petroleum-derived polymers. Two promising catalytic routes for the oxidation of these process lignins will be investigated and lignin structural properties relating to product distributions and yields will be identified. STRATEGIC AREA ADDRESSED:This project fits into the Northeast Region's Priorities by addressing technologies that enable the production of bioproducts through the development of conversion processes and systems integration. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training of undergraduates, M.S. and Ph.D. Students, Professionals, Educators, farmers, middle school and high school students, and the general public. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Research results were disseminated through conference presentations, scholarly publications, engagement with industry, as well as through the training of undergraduates, graduate students, post doctoral research associates, middle and high school students, farmers, educators, and other professional personnel. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Dr. Changqing Wu: Univ. of Delaware: We have developed an effective extraction method to prepare lignin from lignin residues generated from two different pretreatment and fermentation processes. A best lignin extract was identified to have strongest antioxidant, and/or antimicrobial activities against L. innocua. In addition, the lignin extract was evaluated for its toxicity and structure-function relationship. One exchange graduate student, Mingming Guo, joined my lab in October 2014 to work on the extraction and characterization of lignin extracts. Two graduate students: Chan Ho Jang and Lingxiao Shao also worked in May and June 2015 to study lignin toxicities and antiviral effects. I have discussed our research work in DuPont Lignin Research Roundtable on February 2015. The major results were submitted as a symposium talk to IFT Annual Meeting 2015 and will be presented in the coming July. One manuscript is under preparation and will be submitted for publication. Dr. David Hodge, Michigan State University: The project was able to fulfill the project goal of linking lignin properties in fractionated lignins to monomer yields from a catalytic oxidation process. Currently, a manuscript on the results of these studies is in preparation for submission to ChemSusChem. Other impacts of this project were to provide partial support to two postdocs: Postdoc Ryan Stoklosa: Lignin generation, fractionation, and characterization Postdoc Aditya Bhalla: Lignin characterization and partial support to two PhD students: Graduate student Thanaphong Phongpreecha: lignin characterization and catalysis Graduate student Muyang Li: lignin characterization. Furthermore, for this project, methods were developed and adapted that include: New method for quantifying aromatic monomers by HPLC with improved separation of all aromatic monomers (e.g. Fig. 4) Compared maximum possible yields of aromatic monomers. Dr. Ben Dawson-Andoh, West Virginia University: The objectives of this one year project beginning in August 2014 was to produce high value carbon products employing hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of Lignol, a commercial by-product of biorefinery industry. For HTC, an autoclave (Parr Instruments, Model 4766) with a pyrex-glass liner was used to vary the temperature and pressure. The medium was distilled water and the ratio of water to Lignol was varied (5 to 10 grams of Lignol in 70 mL of water). Seven experiments at different temperature/pressure (T/P) conditions were done between 200oC/200 psi and 335oC/ 2000psi. The yield of the carbon produced decreased with increase in the T/P conditions from a high of 88% at 200oC/200 psi to a low of 56% at 335oC/ 2000psi. The properties of the Lignol before HTC, the obtained carbons after HTC, and the carbons produced after activation of these products were then determined by a variety of techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), NMR, elemental analysis and BET surface area measurements. The results are compared with those obtained on carbon BP 2000, a commercial carbon used in a variety of applications and hence of great value. Because the period of performance was decreased to a mere 9 months ending in June 15, 2015, not all the analysis of the data is yet finalized. However, a summary of these results obtained to-date is given in this report. Based on this analysis, it is concluded that in general the quality of the carbon produced increased with the increase in the T/P condition but with only marginal improvements beyond 300oC/ 1250psi. Since the percent yield of the carbon produced also decreases with increase in T/P conditions, our initial conclusion is that 300oC/ 1250psi for which a carbon yield of about 80 % is obtained represents the optimum T/P conditions for producing valuable carbons from Lignol. Dr. Robert Birkenholz, Ohio State University: This project engaged an interdisciplinary team to design, test, and launch a web-based, interactive learning module, videos, games, and a survey to help increase awareness and interest of biobased products. The team is pleased with the quality of the interactive programs and believes this will be a very useful tool to engage and educate consumers on biobased products. Dr. Rafiq Islam, Ohio State University: While using our best land to grow energy crops is not a logical choice, the question is: how can the economic benefits of growing crops for energy and bio-based products be balanced by the environmental concerns. Our goal is to conduct a series of multistate train the trainer workshops for professionals to equip them with knowledge based information, teaching materials, and assessment tools to assist farmers in shifting to bioenergy feedstock production on marginal lands with enhanced ecosystem services. Four multistate workshops were conducted in Michigan (one), Maryland (one), and Ohio (two) during 2014 to 2015. During these events, speakers/presentations were followed by hands-on activities (use of soil quality test kit) and visualization of tools (OSU soil organic matter calculator), questions and answers, group discussions, and evaluation. More than 160 educators and professionals (including farmers and students) from 5 states were trained in those workshops. Evaluations of the training activities showed that more than three fourths of the participants were very pleased with the educational materials and tools provided for teaching local farmers. On average, participants stated a 32 to 40% increase in knowledge gain on the topics covered. Among the states, highest knowledge gain by participants was reported in Maryland (44+5%) followed by 37+5% in Ohio and lowest knowledge gain (25%) in Michigan. Highest knowledge gain (29+9 percent) by the participants was reported on sorghum for ethanol (42+3%) and SOM calculator (42+11%) followed by 37+6% on bio-products, 36+1% on energy crops and bio-feedstock production, and 35+3% on ecosystem services. About 40 to 55% of the participants recommended the use of degraded land for bio-feedstock production followed by 33+3% for reclaimed mine land as compared to 9+4% for prime agricultural land or 8+4% for CRP land. Based on communications during and following our workshops, we expect that our training information and tools will be shared with more than 1,000 farmers by professionals. A web page (http://southcenters.osu.edu/soil) has included our project information (results, surveys, videos and photographs, and peer reviewed and Extension publications).
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Hodge, D. Phongpreecha T, Stoklosa RJ, Thies M, Hodge DB (in preparation). Oxidation of fractionated lignins to yield aromatic monomers. ChemSusChem.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2015
Citation:
Yang, D., Moran-Mirabal, J. M., Parlange, J.-Y., and Walker, L. P. 2015. Revisiting size-exclusion chromatography for measuring structural changes in raw and pretreated mixed hardwoods and switchgrass. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, In press.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Other
Year Published:
2016
Citation:
Wu, C. Extraction and characterization of lignin extracted from Low Moisture Anhydrous Ammonia (LMAA) pretreated corn stover for antimicrobial and antioxidant applications. Under preparation.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Yang, D., Moran-Mirabal, J. M., Parlange, J.-Y., and Walker, L. P. 2014. Cellulases Significantly Alters the Nano-scale Reaction Space for Pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomass. Industrial Biotechnology, 10, 395 493.
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