{"676569":{"#nid":"676569","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Develop More Efficient Approach for Turning Plant Biomass into Useful Chemicals ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELignin is one of the most plentiful organic polymers on Earth, making up about 20 to 30 percent of the dry mass of wood and other plants.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite this abundance, lignin\u2019s complex structure has challenged researchers in breaking it down into useful components that can be used in the sustainable production of chemicals, plastics, and fuels. Therefore, lignin is often discarded as waste during the production of paper and other plant-based products.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHowever, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an approach that could transform lignin into valuable chemicals more efficiently than ever before.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers published their \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pubs.acs.org\/doi\/10.1021\/acssuschemeng.4c03590\u0022\u003Efindings\u003C\/a\u003E in the journal \u003Cem\u003EACS Sustainable Chemistry \u0026amp; Engineering\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003Eon using a method known as mechanocatalysis, which uses physical forces, such as vibration or rotation, in a ball mill to drive chemical reactions without the need for solvents, heat, or high pressure.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECarsten Sievers, a professor in Georgia Tech\u2019s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (ChBE), explained that the first step in a lignin biorefinery is depolymerization, which breaks lignin down into small molecules.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/news\/2024\/09\/georgia-tech-researchers-develop-more-efficient-approach-turning-plant-biomass-useful\u0022\u003ERead Full Story on ChBE Website\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EResearchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an approach that could transform lignin into valuable chemicals more efficiently than ever before.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed an approach that could transform lignin into valuable chemicals more efficiently than ever before."}],"uid":"27271","created_gmt":"2024-09-05 20:19:30","changed_gmt":"2024-09-18 19:43:36","author":"Brad Dixon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-09-05T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"674846":{"id":"674846","type":"image","title":"ballmill.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EIllustration of a mechanical impact that creates a reactive environment for depolymerization of biomass into value-added\u0026nbsp;chemicals.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1725567605","gmt_created":"2024-09-05 20:20:05","changed":"1725567605","gmt_changed":"2024-09-05 20:20:05","alt":"Illustration of a mechanical impact that creates a reactive environment for depolymerization of biomass into value-added chemicals.","file":{"fid":"258410","name":"ballmill.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/05\/ballmill.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/05\/ballmill.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":212909,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/09\/05\/ballmill.jpg?itok=uAqcdyZj"}},"674847":{"id":"674847","type":"image","title":"sievers2023crop.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003EProfessor Carsten Sievers\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1725567681","gmt_created":"2024-09-05 20:21:21","changed":"1725567681","gmt_changed":"2024-09-05 20:21:21","alt":"Carsten Sievers","file":{"fid":"258411","name":"sievers2023crop.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/05\/sievers2023crop.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/09\/05\/sievers2023crop.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":97170,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/09\/05\/sievers2023crop.jpg?itok=cm_u0a7p"}}},"media_ids":["674846","674847"],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"1240","name":"School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering"},{"id":"85951","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"}],"categories":[{"id":"141","name":"Chemistry and Chemical Engineering"}],"keywords":[{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39491","name":"Renewable Bioproducts"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrad Dixon, braddixon@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["braddixon@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}