The RBI Research Portfolio

Portfolio Overview

Dr. Norman Marsolan

The RBI Endowment

Endowment Value

$41 mm

Objectives:

>Leadership

>Knowledge

Earnings Support 4-yr Fellowships

Average Annual Fellowship Spend

of $1.4 mm

Graduates and Career Choices:70% join industry; 35% impact forest products

Recent five-year totals

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

National Labs, Academia

Other Industries

Other Forest Bioproducts

Pulp & Paper; Suppliers

Source: Academic Program Review Report, Jan. 20162008-09 through 2014-15

Academics

5 Co-Advised

18 ChBE

8 ME

18 MSE

3 CHEM

• 52 students are currently supported

• Degrees are conferred by Home Schools:• Chemical and Biomolecular

Engineering• Materials Science and

Engineering• Mechanical Engineering• Chemistry and Biochemistry

• 4 PSE courses required—2 core; 2 elective

Upgrades In Progress:• Upgrade the minor• Discontinue major• Add additional electives

Input

RFP

Proposals

Fellowship Awards

Student Recruitment

Research

Results

MemberInfluence

MemberInfluence

MemberInfluence

MemberInfluence

MemberInfluence

MemberInfluence

The PSE Member

Engagement Process

Our Members Influence the Endowment Portfolio

Process Changes This YearEnhanced member opportunities

Greater program visibility

Improved faculty and student information on the RBI website

Standardized application format

A Balanced Offering:2017-18

Applications

Interdisciplinary ResearchModeled after NSF’s IGER / NRT Interdisciplinary Programs by

Engaging Professor Advisors from at Least Three Schools

IGER ChBE, MSE, ECE—first ECE engagement

MSE, ME, ChBE—The first Inter-IRI proposal with IEN

(FYI) “Reverse IGER”—one student; three segments in three schools

Current Consortium ResearchBlack Liquor

• Nair, et al.

• Final Report stage

• GP, IP, Kapstone, SAPPI, WestRock

Water Use Reduction

• Singh

• Final year

• IP; Domtar

Next-Gen

Pulping

• Bommarius, et al.

• Kickoff stage

• GP, Solenis, Domtar

• Others welcome

RBI’s Strategic Thrusts

Biochemicals and Fuels

Matthew RealffProfessor

ChBE

Biocomposites & NanocelluloseMeisha ShofnerAssoc. Professor

MSE

Pulp, Paper, Packaging

Chris Luettgen Prof. of the Practice

ChBE

Operational ExcellencePulp, Paper & Packaging

Chris Luettgen

Professor of the Practice

ChBE

Solid Bonds to Agenda 2020 Technology Strategy

Source: Agenda 2020 Presentations and URL: http://www.agenda2020.org/vision.html

Agenda 2020 Focus Areas, Plus Others:

Next-Generation Pulping

Black Liquor Concentration

Reduce Drying Energy Multi-phase forming

Reuse of Process Effluents

• Dr. Sankar Nair, ChBE, PI

• Goal: Develop a more energy-efficient method to remove water from Kraft pulp mill black liquor

– Intensify black liquor concentration by reducing the energy requirements through new membrane technology

– Graphene oxide (GO) membranes developed to tolerate both the pH and temperature requirements

– Current focus is on scale-up

Project Highlights: Black Liquor Concentration

Team: Fereshteh Rashidi, Zhongzhen Wang, Meisha Shofner, Scott Sinquefield

Black Liquor CharacterizationBench-Scale Membrane Testing

with Characterization of StreamsDr. Scott Sinquefield, RBI, PI

• Develop capability and test promising commercial membranes and the Georgia Tech Graphene Oxide membranes for selectivity, flux and fouling

• Develop reference black liquors• Determine the osmotic pressure of

black liquor at the temperature levels of weak BL at the mill, time and funding permitting

• Project in development—additional sponsors welcome

Project Team Members: Fereshteh Rashidi, Meisha Shofner, Sankar Nair

Project Highlights: Next-Generation Pulping

• PSE and consortium projects supervised by Dr. Andy Bommarius, ChBE

• Goal: Preserve fiber strength and pulp performance while improving yield; lignin extraction prior to digester has debottlenecking potential for many mills

• Significant results to date– Project awarded and the focus of PhD

candidate Thomas Kwok

Other OpEx AreasReuse of process effluents – focus on corrosion science and metallurgy in closed water systems, Dr. Preet Singh

Drier Web – 3D modeling of dewatering, Dr. David Rosen; new application of membrane proposal in response to Agenda 2020 RFP, Dr. Fereshti RashidiMulti-phase forming – fluid dynamic modeling of foam/water/fiber in oriented headbox flows, Dr. Cyrus Aidun

Packaging Advancements• Barrier and surface properties

• Controlling barrier and mechanical properties using cellulose nanomaterials

• Tunable surface hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity for paper product application

• Stronger, smarter packaging• Strain-field mining for fracture toughness• Using nanocellulose-based conductivity layers • Electrofunctional paper for highly conductive and

switchable displays• Paper surface characterization and improvements

for printed electronics• Internet of Things

• Embedding intelligence in everyday materials (paper) for ubiquitous computing

• 3D-printed biomaterials on paper• 3D printing polymer patterns for tunable surface properties• Creating active surfaces with stimuli-reactive properties

Chemicals from Forest BiomassOverview of GT RBI Portfolio

Dr Matthew J Realff

Professor, ChBE

Emerging Strategy

Pulp

Advanced Cellulose Materials

C5 Sugars

C6 Sugars

Lignin based Materials

Value-added chemicals

Lignin Monomers

Materials for chemicals

Tree Fractionation

Traditional Materials & Advanced Substrates

Focus on:Innovative pathwaysTechnological innovation to improve these pathways

Cellulose Nanocrystals as Alternative Supports for Cooperative Organocatalysis (Jones)

CNC: 0.9 wt% S

Typical support:

Mesoporous silica

(e.g. SBA-15)

Acid-base

catalyzed reactions

Cellulose nanocrystals as catalyst

supports:

Unmodified CNC Chemically modified CNC

Emerging Strategy

Pulp

Advanced Cellulose Materials

C5 Sugars

C6 Sugars

Lignin based Materials

Value-added chemicals

Lignin Monomers

Materials for chemicals

Tree Fractionation

Traditional Materials & Advanced Substrates

Focus on:Innovative pathwaysTechnological innovation to improve these pathways

Mechanocatalytic Depolymerization (Sievers)Objectives:Development of a process for

depolymerization of biomass – in particular lignin – with solid catalysts under solvent-free conditions.

Removal of oxygen containing functional groups during the depolymerization process.

Design of inexpensive catalysts for mechanocatalytic reactions

Approaches:Reactivity studies, modified ball millCharacterization of active sites in

mechanocatalytic reactionsSynthesis of catalysts based on

natural mineralsAssessment of energy consumption

and economic viability

milling balls

lignincatalyst

Mechanocatalytic reaction in a milling vessel

Depolymerization of lignin

Email: carsten.sievers@chbe.gatech.edu

Advanced Porous Materials and Processes for Biorefinery Separations (Lively/Nair)This project aims demonstrate separations in biorefineries/solvent (e.g., 2,5-

dimethylfuran/n-butanol) mixtures by using carefully selected nanoporous materials

(e.g., UiO-66). Our results show that UiO-66 has much higher affinity for n-butanol

over DMF with an estimated binary n-butanol/DMF selectivity > 9. To achieve higher

diffusion selectivity, we recently focus on tuning the window size via the use of otherdicarboxylate linkers.

6 Å11 Å

8 Å

DMF(k.d.: >5.3 Å)

n-BuOH(k.d.: 4.3 Å)

Simplified UiO-66 window-cage pore structure

O

OH

O

HO

O

OH

O

HO

OO

H

OH

O

O

OH

O

HO

OO

H

OH

O

Triangularwindow

Tuning window size

6 Å<6 Å

Microbial Production of Adipic Acid from Catechol (Bommarius/Yalta)

• Goal: Engineer E. coli strain to produce adipic acid using lignin-derived catechol

• Strategy:1. Engineer E. coli for

muconic acid production2. Engineer yeast biosensor

for adipic acid detection3. Engineer muconic acid

reductase for conversion of muconic acid to adipicacid

Faculty Across the Research Spectrum

Fundamentals of thermochemical,

catalytic, and biocatalyticprocesses

Biomass component

separation & conversion

Process systems design

Biocomposites and Nanocellulose

Dr. Meisha Shofner, MSE

Presented by Dr. Norman Marsolan

Thematic Research Areas

3D-printed nanocellulose compositeImage: Vincent Li, Georgia Tech

Additive Manufacturing

High strength and high modulus carbon fiber

Image: Gary Meek, Georgia Tech

Fiber Production

Sheet molding compound pilot lineImage: Kyriaki Kalaitzidou, Georgia Tech

Polymer Matrix Composites

Nanocellulose/polyhydroxybutyrate compositeImage: Stephanie Lin, Georgia Tech

Organic Electronics

Recyclable Solar CellsImage from: Zhou, Fuentes-

Hernandez, Khan, Liu, Hsu, Shim, Dindar, Youngblood, Moon, Kippelen, Scientific Reports

(2013)

Current Projects Related to Biocomposites And Nanocellulose

Approximately 43% of currently funded projects relate to biocomposites and nanocellulose

Advisors from all four of the traditionally supported Schools

– Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE)

– Chemistry and Biochemistry (CHEM)

– Materials Science and Engineering (MSE)

– Mechanical Engineering (ME)

1st Year22%

2nd Year22%

3rd Year30%

4th

Year +26%

Project Highlights: Additive Manufacturing

• PSE projects supervised by Yulin Deng, ChBE, and Jerry Qi, ME

• Goal: Utilize additive manufacturing technologies for fabricating next-generation bioproducts with complex functionalities

• Significant results to date– Enhanced mechanical stiffness and

strength

– Nearly 100% pure cellulose nanocrystal structures via Direct Ink Write (DIW) 3D printing

– Demonstration of various complex CNC 3D structures printed via DIW

Printed hydrogels After freeze drying

Image: Li, Dunn, Zhang, Qi, and Deng, Advanced Material Technologies (under review)

Project Highlights: Fiber Production

• PSE projects supervised by Satish Kumar, MSE

• Goal: Use bio-based materials to produce carbon fibers with improved properties, reduced cost

• Significant results to date• Carbon fibers produced from lignin/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) blends

• met or exceeded DOE property goals for automotive applications• may require less energy (and money) to produce due to lignin

addition

• CNC/PAN nanocomposites with high CNC loadings, useful for the production of functional nanocomposites (i.e., piezoelectric)

Image: Rob Felt, Georgia Tech

CN@GT

• Student community of interest led by Dr. Robert Moon, USDA-US Forest Service

• Monthly student meetings with presentations to disseminate results/build collaborations

• 27 students involved

Other Projects and Efforts to Be Featured in the Program

• Expanding the processibility and applications of cellulose and chitin nanomaterials – J. Carson Meredith, ChBE, part of IGER project

• Opportunities in bio/mineral cement composites – Kim Kurtis, Civil and Environmental Engineering

• Cellulose nanomaterials towards lightweighting of polymer composites -Kyriaki Kalaitzidou, ME/MSE

Opportunities for Industry

• Engage with metrology projects– Rheological Characterization of Nanocellulose for

Metrology and Quality Control Research – Rapid, Reliable Optical Analysis of Cellulose Nanocrystal

Morphology/Size

• Collaborate to strengthen future external proposal submissions– National Science Foundation: Grant Opportunities for

Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI)– U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities: P3Nano

• Host PSE project teams (students and faculty) at your facility to disseminate and provide real-world perspective to their research

Conclusion:

A Dynamic and Growing Portfolio

Summary—The RBI Portfolio

Faculty Engagement

• A point of entry to the industry—and vice-versa

Collaboration

• Partnerships

Close Industry Ties

• Agenda 2020; P3Nano; TAPPI; others

People, Technologies, Ideas

The Building Blocks of our Industry’s Future!

Enjoy the Endowed Research Posters!

• 6 Teams of 3-4 judges each will review an assigned set of up to six posters

– Research Merit

– Potential for Commercialization

– Poster Clarity

– Quality of Presentation

• Judges received packages at sign-up

• FOCUS FIRST on lunch-only presenters! Highlighted on score sheet; flagged on displays