Chemistry Weekly Seminar - Leila Dehabadi
Leila Dehabadi (PhD student, Wilson Group) will present a seminar on her PhD research
Speaker: Leila Dehabadi
Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan
Title: Development of Biopolymers and Their Modified Forms as Sustainable Sorbent Materials
To address the large energy footprint of conventional distillative separation of biofuels and water, new materials and methods are required to reduce GHG emissions and develop sustainable industrial processing. The overall goal of my research focuses on the sorption properties of biopolymers and their modified forms as adsorbents for fractionation of water/ethanol in binary mixtures. Based on the overall goal, I will highlight the progress in this thesis topic according to four leading edge contributions in this presentation: i) The development of polysaccharides and their modified forms for the controlled uptake of ethanol in binary W-E systems, ii) Evaluation of the adsorption properties using dyes, nitrogen adsorption, and mixtures containing W-E, iii) Evaluation of biomass and its biopolymer components for the fractionation of W-E mixtures, and iv) Evaluation of the role of hydration effects on adsorption properties of biopolymers. Based on the results, the biomaterials as adsorbents displayed preferential uptake of water over ethanol in binary W-E solutions. An understanding of the variable solvent uptake selectivity of water over ethanol (Rselectivity) requires an understanding of hydration phenomena, biopolymer structure, and textural properties of adsorbent materials. This research contributes to a molecular-level understanding of the solvent fractionation properties of biopolymers and their modified forms, and contributes to the development of green strategies for biofuel separation.