2009 Research for Undergraduates (REU) Program

1. 2009 Research for Undergraduates (REU) Program Directors: Dr. Darrell Donahue, Dr. David Neivandt, Dr. Douglas Gardner

2. Inorganic Wood Composite of Sodium Silicate and cellulose nanofibrilsJohn Attonito – CUNY Queens CollegeAdvisors: Dr. Douglas Gardner, Dr. Yousoo Han & YuchengPeng Sample Compositions in an attempt to prove the effects of nanocellulose as an additive Steel Compression Mold Mixtures consist of Sodium Silicate, Wood Flour, Formaldehyde and various concentrations of nanocellulose Method consists of Pressing within a compression mold and curing in an oven

3. Cellulose Nanofiber Coated PaperJacquie Beckvermit – Fort Lewis CollegeAdvisor- Dr. Doug Bousfield and visiting scientist Hitomi Hamada • 2.7 wt% Nanofiber Cellulose used to coat paper to increase the print quality while eliminating the use of petroleum based products. • This procedure and all materials are ecologically friendly making coated paper a green product. Coated with Nanofibers 3g/m2 Uncoated

4. Life Cycle Assessment of Wood Hemicellulosic Bio-ethanolRachel Bowman– Western Kentucky University, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyAdvisor: Dr. Anthony Halog Normalized Environmental Impacts from Ethanol Production Preliminary SimaPro results show that the greatest environmental impact categories are Fossil Fuels, Respective Inorganics, Climate Change, Land Use, and Acidification from the Causticizing Process, Wood Chip Production, and Hog Fuel Boiler Cradle to Gate LCA of wood based bioethanol using SimaPro, Eco-LCA, Open LCA models Considers Near-Neutral extraction method of producing hemicellulosic bio-ethanol as part of a modified Kraft Pulp Mill Compares the three LCA models and determines which presents the best representation of the data

5. Hydrodeoxygenation of a Model Compound of Pyrolysis Oil Using Molybdenum Catalysts on Activated Carbon Supports. Nick Dunn – Union College. Advisors: Dr. Brian Frederick and Dr. Clayton Wheeler 0.5g of the sulfided catalyst is added to 3.00mL of the model compound guaiacol in 100mL decalin. The mixture is heated up to 300°C and put under 50 bar H2 pressure for 4 hrs, with periodic samples taken

6. Converting Lignin into Nano Structured Carbon MaterialsAlden Earle – Ramapo College of New JerseyAdvisor: Dr. David Neivandt Lignin is an underused byproduct of the Kraft pulping process that is largely burnt for fuel. It is the 2nd most plentiful organic polymer in the world. Nano-carbon is used for numerous applications due to its high electrical and thermal conductivity, high tensile strength, surface area etc. However, it is typically expensive to mass produce and employs non-renewable feedstocks. A proprietary method of converting lignin into nano structured carbon materials is being developed. Significant room exists for optimization of the process.

7. The Study of the Total Pressure during the Acid Hydrolysis with SO2 as a Function of Temperature and SO2 Alex A. Haluska– Syracuse UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Adriaan van Heiningen & Graduate Student, Rory Jara 1% xylan, 1% acetic acid , 98% water to simulate Hot Water Extract (HWE) 1% xylan, 1% sodium acetate, 98% water to simulate Near Neutral Extract (NNE) Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a gas that can be used as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of hemicelluloses oligomers Xylan e H2O2 SO2 H2SO4 SO2 Scale SO2 + H2O2 → H2SO4 SO2 trap Reactor

8. Utilizing Tangential Flow Ultrafiltration for the Concentration of Hemicellulose ExtractsRob Jonson – Kansas State UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Peter van Walsum & Graduate Student Sara Walton Hot water and green liquor hemicellulose extracts must be concentrated before they can be fermented. Filtration might be optimized by developing a relationship between extraction intensity and the extract’s molecular weight distribution.

9. Separation and Classification of High-Value Chemicals in Picea speciesAnnemarie Nauert – University of Missouri Advisors: Drs. Cole & Fort • Graduate Student: Regan LeBlanc • Separation of secondary metabolites found in bark by liquid-liquid extractions • Classification based on antioxidant activity, phenolics, and flavonoids content • Effort to use most environmentally-conscious solvents

10. Bioprospecting for an enzyme that cleaves ether bonds between lignin and hemicellulose in hardwoodsRosie Ochoa- Sacramento City College Advisors: Dr. Nancy G. Kravit Environmental samples and ATCC cultures were screened for their ability to cleave the ether bond between xylan (primary sugar in hardwood hemicellulose) and 4-Methylumbelliferone. Positive cultures were grown and tested in different media and growth conditions to optimize enzyme expression. Environmental colonies

11. Acid springing and extraction using trioctylamineAudrey Polifka – Kansas State UniversityAdvisor – Dr. Peter van Walsum • Goal is to extract acetic acid from a model solution using trioctylamine (TOA) as the extractor and octanol as the diluent. • Testing variables such as concentrations of organic & aqueous phases, ratio of organic to aqueous, temperature of reaction, and pH of aqueous phase. • Also determining recyclability of TOA to be used in economic analysis.

12. Analysis of the Hemicellulose Pre-Extraction from Red Maple WoodDiego Rosso – University of Puerto Rico-MayaguezAdvisor: Dr. Adriaan van Heiningen & Graduate Student, Rory Jara ~30.0g of Dry Wood Extractor HPLC HPAEC Mass Balances Comparison of hemicellulose extractions by hot water extraction using a batch and a continuous flow process. Analyze the rate of hemicellulose extraction for Red Maple wood strands, wood chips, and wood meal.

14. Extraction of Shikimic Acid from foliage of the Picea SpeciesAlexander Shaffer – Youngstown State UniversityAdvisors: Drs. Barbara Cole & Ray Fort * Graduate Student: GedivinneNilmini * HS Student: Mark Rowe 140 C 100 C 100 C 140 C Crushed Needles / Whole Needles B = Basic C = Crushed H = Hour W = Whole • Goal: Minimize tree waste in an optimized industrial ready process that maximizes yield of shikimic acid at a low cost while maintaining other industrial operations at their current capacity. • Initial Findings: • Higher temperature = Better Extraction • Crushing needles improves results • Length of extraction impacts extraction results

15. Isolating a Novel Enzyme that Cleaves Non-glycosidic Bonds Between Lignin and HemicelluloseMorgan Urello – Columbia UniversityAdvisor: Dr. Nancy Kravit & Dr. Kathy Schmidt Figure 1. Plaque Lift membrane under 254 nm UV light Figure 2. Plaque Lift membrane under 365 nm UV light B603 produces an enzyme that cleaves the non-glycosidic bonds between lignin and hemicellulose cDNA from B603 has been used to create a lambda library The library was screened using a substrate that mimics the lignin-hemicellulose ether bond The insert coding for the desired enzyme is being identified and subcloned into an expression vector to optimize production

16. 2009 Research for Teachers (RET) Program Tracy Vassiliev James F. Doughty School, Bangor, ME Raye Anne DeSoto, Gardner Middle School, Gardner, MEAdvisor: Dr. David Neivandt & Dr. Darrell Donahue Fungus Bread in a Bag Brewing Root Beer LCA Teacher Blog 4 FBRI Geocaches • Develop Curriculum • Fermentation, Life Cycle Assessment, Fungus, GPS (FBRI geocaches), Nanotechnology • Dissemination • FBRI Teacher Blog • http://fbri.edublogs.org • FBRI Middle School Curriculum Ideas • REU Interviews • 2009 Maine Association of Middle Level Education Conference • 2010 National Science Teachers Association Conference • 2009 New England & Maine Educators of the Gifted & Talented