{"id":526,"date":"2025-04-02T20:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T20:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/?page_id=526"},"modified":"2025-04-07T16:51:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T16:51:25","slug":"plenary-speakers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/program\/plenary-speakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Plenary Speakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
\"speakers\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, June 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the SAR (Structure-Activity Relationship) of Lignin – Recent Advancement<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yuji Matsumoto, Professor Emeritus, Wood Chemistry Laboratory, The University of Tokyo<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lignin chemical structure greatly affects the reactivity of lignin when wood undergoes both natural and manmade process. Examples are the presence or absence of a phenolic hydroxy group in a unit (phenolic or non-phenolic), the frequency of \u03b2-O-4 linkage in a molecule, stereo structure of \u03b2-O-4 linkage (erythro or threo), the type of aromatic structure (guaiacyl or syringyl), or, the presence of carbonyl group in a side-chain especially at \u03b1-position, etc. Successive works conducted at Wood Chemistry Laboratory, The University of Tokyo, have shown that lignin structure is quantitatively related to the chemical reactivity such as delignification during chemical pulping by taking the syringyl\/guaiacyl or erythro\/threo ratio as an index. In many years, knowledge on the quantitative reactivity of lignin were mainly based on the research on chemical pulping process or biodegradation process. However, recent studies on the lignin utilization is producing numerous amount of information of lignin reaction. Although it is rather difficult to obtain the knowledge of quantitative reactivity from these studies, Dr. Matsumoto tried to extract quantitative information from them, which will be reviewed in his presentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, June 4<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Multiscale Assembly of Cellulose: Advancing Spectroscopic Characterization for Structure-Property Relationships of Cell Walls<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Seong H. Kim, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plants use carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to photosynthesize glucose; then, plants use this highly water-soluble ingredient to construct water-insoluble cell walls at the right place (tissue) at the right time (growth stage) with the right function (physical property), the main ingredient for constructing highly complicated structural units \u2013 called plant cell walls. Among various components in cell walls, cellulose is produced by polymerizing \u03b2-d-glucopyranose units linked together by the 1 and 4 carbon atoms and allowing individual linear chains into fibrils. Although the elementary fibrils are only a few nm in diameter, they are conventionally called microfibrils. By controlling or regulating the nano-to-meso scale arrangements of these microfibrils during cell wall synthesis, plants attain specific biological and physical functions of individual cells in various tissues at specific growth stages. Thus, understanding the connection between the multiscale cellulose structure\/arrangement and the cell wall property is of great interest and importance for plant biology as well as biomaterial utilization. To that end, there have been a great deal of attempts for and advances in structural characterization of cellulose in plant cell walls and lignocellulose biomass. This talk will focus on how vibrational spectroscopy can be used to study cellulose in plant cell walls. A specific focus will be given to nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy called sum frequency generation (SFG). A critical component of nonlinear spectroscopy is the presence of noncentrosymmetry. The \u201ccrystalline\u201d domain of cellulose has the P21<\/sub> space group, which lacks centrosymmetry; in contrast, hemicellulose and lignin in plant cell walls are all amorphous. This makes SFG capable of detecting cellulose in plant cell walls without interferences from other wall matrix components. Being a nonlinear spectroscopy, the SFG intensity is not just sensitive to the concentration, but also spatial packing or order between crystalline domains. This enables SFG to probe nano-to-meso scale structural orders of cellulose in plant cell walls. By combining the SFG technique with optical microscopy, it is possible to carry out cellulose-specific vibrational spectroscopic analysis with subcellular spatial resolution. This talk will address some new physical insights into cellulose structure in plant cell walls revealed by SFG that are not accessible by other techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Water and Gelation: Advancing Green Technologies Based on Wood-based Colloids<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Orlando J. Rojas, Ph.D., Canada Excellence Research Chair in Bioproducts and Director of the Bioproducts Institute, University of British Columbia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Rojas will present emblematic cases from their recent work that illustrate the potential of biobased colloids derived from plant biomass and residues, including lignin and tannin particles as well as fibrillated cellulose. These materials demonstrate their suitability for tailoring surface chemistry, size and shape, which is critical for designing supraparticle assemblies, relevant to coatings, carbon capture and other applications. The correlation between particle size and physicochemical characteristics\u2014such as molar mass, surface charge, and functional groups\u2014is highlighted as a key strategy for identifying (nano)technological applications that leverage the functionality and cost-effectiveness of biogenic particles. Additionally, he will discuss processing routes that convert low-value residual biomass into all-green materials, showcasing their recyclability and biodegradability in natural environments. These materials address challenges related to circularity and the end-of-life limitations of non-renewable products. Given the low cost of raw materials, their inherent microstructural design, and natural self-adhesion, this work demonstrates fully sustainable alternatives to conventional carbon-based products. The success of these technologies hinges on our ability to control water interactions and gelation phenomena, paving the way for broader adoption in sustainable material systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thursday, June 5<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Advances in Process Development for Lignin-first Biorefining<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gregg T. Beckham, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow, Renewable Resources and Enabling Sciences Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lignin-first biorefining aims to selectively remove lignin from the plant cell wall and use various stabilization strategies to prevent lignin condensation reactions, thus generating useful products from both polysaccharides and lignin. Among the several prominent lignin-first biorefining methods, reductive catalytic fractionation (RCF) uses a polar protic solvent, a heterogeneous catalyst, and hydrogen gas or a hydrogen donor to depolymerize and convert lignin from whole biomass into a stable oil rich in aromatic monomers from C\u2013O bond cleavage and C\u2013C-linked dimers and oligomers, leaving behind a holocellulose pulp. Through a close collaboration with colleagues at MIT, Dr. Beckham and his team have been advancing the RCF concept into an economically-viable and sustainable process in the last several years. This talk will cover several process development efforts to that end, all of which are guided by process modeling, techno-economic analysis, and life cycle assessment. Recent developments include reducing downstream separations burdens through solvent and lignin oil recycling, evaluation of catalyst recycling and stability of pelleted catalysts, and the use of unique reactor configurations to inform at-scale reactor designs by understanding the competition between solvolysis, stabilization catalysis, and condensation reactions. This talk will also briefly cover their efforts for valorization of the resulting lignin oils into fuels and chemicals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cellulose and Lignin \u2013 Advancing Analytical Methodology for Lignocellulosics<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Antje Potthast, Ph.D., University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU University), Institute of Chemistry of Renewable Resources, Austria<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lignocellulose analysis presents both opportunities and challenges, with researchers often facing the limitations of existing analytical methods or even the absence of appropriate tools to address specific research questions. Today\u2019s biorefinery and biomaterials research has the general problem that new products are poorly defined analytically\u2013in terms of the structural, physico-chemical, biological or pharmacological properties of the components, by-products and aging products. And how can such a characterization be successful if, in many cases, not even the starting materials can be sufficiently analytically addressed? This talk will highlight recent developments from BOKU University\u2019s lab focused on advancing the chemical analysis of cellulose and lignin. Regarding technical lignins, they have prioritized the analytical throughput without sacrificing accuracy or precision, exploring approaches, such as high-speed techniques, two-dimensional chromatography systems for lignosulfonates, and the integration of chemometrics with classical methods, based on an in-house database of technical lignins. In the case of celluloses, their research spans celluloses and pulps, their chemically modified variants, cellulosic fibers, and historical materials, always combined with the development of tailored analytical methodology to better characterize structure, chemical changes, aging behavior and resulting material properties. Selected examples will be presented to illustrate how these analytical advancements are enhancing their understanding of lignocellulose and how they improve the reliable, reproducible analysis in both basic and applied research. Ultimately, these innovations enable more informed decisions in biorefinery research and product development and better insights into the complex and fascinating world of lignocellulosic materials.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday, June 3 Understanding the SAR (Structure-Activity Relationship) of Lignin – Recent Advancement Yuji Matsumoto, Professor Emeritus, Wood Chemistry Laboratory, The University of Tokyo Lignin chemical structure greatly affects the reactivity of lignin when wood undergoes both natural and manmade process. Examples are the presence or absence of a phenolic hydroxy group in a unit…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"parent":88,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","ncst_content_audit_display":false,"ncst_backToTopFlag":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-526","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":749,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/526\/revisions\/749"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cnr.ncsu.edu\/iswfpc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}