News & Events

Making Polymers and Materials From Biomass and Carbon Dioxide

Date: 
Thursday, November 25, 2021 - 11:00 to 12:30
Speaker: 
Prof. Francesca Kerton
Affiliation: 
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Event Category: 
Special Seminar
Location: 
Connect via Zoom

Zoom link will be provided on the day of the event.

Materials and polymer chemists can use the principles of green chemistry to reduce their impacts on the environment. This talk will explore a number of aspects of our recent research in this regard. We have recently shown that liquid phase exfoliation in greener solvents can be used to access nanostructures of biochars to improve the applications of this biobased material. We have also shown that biochars can be used in catalysis and as polymer additives. For example, modified biochar can be used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide. In other research targetting biomass transformations, we have developed a biocatalytic method for producing biogenic calcium carbonate from waste mussel shells and an inorganic ‘sponge’, which can be used as an adsorbent material. We have also been able to make bio-derived non-isocyanate polyurethanes from epoxidized waste fish oil, carbon dioxide and bioderived amines. Finally, selective, catalytic degradation of polycarbonates has been performed to yield cyclic carbonates (with
potential applications as solvents).