Enantiomers are pairs of compounds that have the same chemical formula but different spatial structures (like your left and right hand, they are non-superimposable mirror images of each other). This i...
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The sugars found in biomass can be treated with solvent and converted into many important building block chemicals. One such chemical is 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which is used to make plastic ma...
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Common biodegradable polymers such as poly(lactide) and poly (3-hydroxyalkanaoates) are derived from relatively expensive chemical feedstocks and have low melt stability. This presents a challenge for...
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Producing biofuel on a useful scale requires efficient fermentation of cellulosic plant material. The sugars glucose and xylose are the most abundant carbohydrates found in hemicellulose. The yeast mo...
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Bleaching plant material with alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) is an old process used for papermaking. Several decades ago researchers suggested that this method also could be used in biofuel producti...
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Maximizing how much sunlight strikes a solar panel is one tactic to boost efficiency. Some approaches have tried to imitate heliotropic plants by repositioning the panels to follow the sun. Unfortunat...
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Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have attracted tremendous attention because they are cheap and efficient. The DSSCs with the highest power conversion efficiency (greater than 12 percent) are based ...
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Lignin is a major component of non-edible biomass (15-30 percent by weight; 40 percent by energy). It is a cheap byproduct of pulp and biofuel production and is one of the few naturally occurring sour...
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Juvenile and adult grass tissue dramatically differs in anatomy, chemistry and ability to withstand stresses. Juvenile plants cannot flower and their leaves are better able to resist cold and drought....
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Electrodes routinely are used in electrochemical sensing, fuel cells, batteries and numerous other applications. Critically, the surface of an electrode must be clean before sensing elements can be at...
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Levulinic acid is a biomass-derived compound that can be obtained inexpensively in high yields from waste cellulose-containing materials. It has been identified as a top biomass-derived chemical due t...
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Fossil fuel resources supply almost 90 percent of the world’s energy and the vast majority of its organic chemicals. This dependency is insupportable in light of rising emissions, demand and diminis...
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E. coli is the most common prokaryote used to produce protein.  The expressed protein generally accumulates in the cytoplasm.  While this approach is useful for some proteins, not all proteins can b...
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Wireless sensing technology provides an unprecedented ability to monitor the physical environment by using a network of cheap sensor nodes. Current approaches to extracting information from a wireless...
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Ethanol obtained from the fermentation of grains and sugars is being blended with gasoline to bolster dwindling petroleum supplies. The alcohol increases combustion efficiency and octane value, and ca...
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In 2008, coal-fired power plants generated 49 percent of electricity consumed in the U.S., more than twice that of any other energy resource. Coal is an important fossil fuel because world coal reser...
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Beyond its fuel potential, biomass is poised to supplant nonrenewable sources in the production of important building block chemicals. One such intermediary is 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a primary...
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Sorbic acid has been used extensively as a preservative in a vast array of food. The benefits of sorbates as food preservatives are two-fold: sorbates inhibit a wide spectrum of bacteria, yeasts and m...
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Efficient fermentation of cellulosic feedstocks is an essential step in the production of biofuel from plant materials. Glucose and xylose are the two most abundant monomeric carbohydrates found in he...
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The desire to store renewable energy such as solar or wind energy in the form of hydrogen gas, which could substitute for non-renewable fossil fuels, is driving the development of effective water oxid...
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Significant research is conducted to improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of energy generated by renewable resources. Existing photovoltaic cells and conventional photoelectrochemical cells conv...
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Increasing crude oil prices and concerns with sustainability have led to a growing interest in producing chemicals and fuels from renewable sources. A major focus for the replacement of petroleum feed...
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Thermodynamically, a specific voltage is required to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. In practice, the actual potential required to oxidize water is greater than the thermodynamic potential. The ...
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The finite nature of fossil fuels along with rising oil prices has prompted a need for alternative fuel sources. One alternative involves the conversion of biomass materials into biofuel. But current ...
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Lignin is a complex, heterogeneous polymer found in all vascular plants. It rigidifies plants and plays a crucial role in water transport. However, lignins are effectively indigestible and interfere w...
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