(3ar) Emerging Technologies In Biomass Exploitation As a Renewable Source of Energy and Material

The overarching goal of my proposed research program is to develop ways to both chemically and biologically exploit and utilize renewable biomass resources. The long-term focus of my research program is two-fold, I plan to: (1) develop, improve and evaluate methods for the characterization of biomass, biomass conversion, and bio-derived material synthesis; and (2) generate biomass-derived monomeric and polymeric materials for specific energy, electronic, biomedical, and high-performance applications. Potential projects include applications for membranes, drug delivery and with dynamic nuclear polarization NMR and isotopically enriched biomass. During my previous studies, I conducted research employing kinetically controlled cyclodepolymerization of linear siloxane precursors in dilute solution to generate cyclic oligomers in the effort to synthesize complex topological and multi-component polymeric material, such as polyrotaxanes. Recently, my research as part of DOE's BioEnergy Science Center has focused on the chemistry, dynamics, and mechanism of lignocellulosic recalcitrance and deconstruction in an effort to form biofuels with the specific subtask of the application of advanced solution- and solid-state NMR and magnetic resonance imaging techniques.