Time：28th May, 2019, 08:30 am
Venue：Conference Room on the First Floor, Energy Building A
Lecturer：Prof. TONG Zhaohui, University of Florida, USA
Abstract:
Our society is facing long-term environmental challenges such as extreme climate change, resource depletion, air pollution, and water and soil contaminations. To tackle these environmental concerns and challenges, Tong’s research focuses on the use of green chemistry and engineering to produce value-added bioproducts including platform chemicals, functional materials, and biofuels from abundant renewable resources, especially low-cost waste. In this talk, She will first briefly review her major research areas in four aspects: 1) Fabrication of functional nanomaterials for mitigating water, soil, food contaminants; 2) Synthesis of chemical building blocks & monomer precursors for sustainable polymer systems; 3) Catalytic conversion of phenolic waste (lignin) to high value aromatic platform chemicals and hydrocarbon fuel precursors; and 4) Sustainable process modeling and optimization. Then, she will introduce a recent work on the development of high value aromatic chemicals (mainly aromatic acids) from lignin, which is the most abundant resource in nature and usually reclaimed from waste streams. One of the major hindrances for selective depolymerization of lignin is still an unsolved puzzle because of the complicated and ill-defined structure of lignin and low selectivity and yield of targeted products. Herein, Tong will describe recent oxidative lignin depolymerization method to selectively convert lignin to aromatic acids with high yield. In addition, she will also talk about her current research on the process control of sustainable bio/chem process using stochastic programming methodology.
Introduction:
Dr. TONZhaohui (Julene) is currently an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Florida (UF). She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in December 2007. She then worked as a chemical engineer in Ch2mhill Co. Ltd. for two years. After that, she joined the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at UF as an assistant professor in fall 2010. Since joining UF, she has won various research grants from USDA, DOE, US-NAS, NASA, and industry as the PI or Co-PI. Dr. Tong also won the outstanding young researcher award (2014) and outstanding young extension worker award (2013) in Florida Section of American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (ASABE).
Contact: ZHANG Xiaochen, DNL0603
Phone: 84379798