Research Focus
Anthe George manages the Biomass Science and Conversion Technologies department at Sandia National Laboratories. As a member of the Deconstruction Division’s Pretreatment Optimization and Process Integration team at JBEI, Anthe focuses on understanding the mechanisms of lignin breakdown under different environments, and the interactions between lignin and ionic liquids. A key focus area is investigation into the conversion of lignin to higher value products via chemical and thermochemical methods, and the development of new lower cost ionic liquids to enhance the economics of conversion.
Projects
- Devise new lignin valorization strategies
- Develop of new low cost biocompatible ionic liquids (ILs), and deep eutectic solvents (DES)
- Create predictive tools for ILs and DES properties
- Understand mechanisms of IL and DES-lignin interactions
- Design integrated technologies for biomass to fuels and products
Featured Publications
- “Design of low-cost ionic liquids for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment”, Green Chemistry (2015)
- “Efficient biomass pretreatment using ionic liquids derived from lignin and hemicellulose”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2014)
- “Lignin fate and characterization during ionic liquid biomass pretreatment for renewable chemicals and fuels production”, Green Chemistry (2014)
- “One-pot ionic liquid pretreatment and saccharification of switchgrass”, Green Chemistry (2013)
- “The effect of ionic liquid cation and anion combinations on the macromolecular structure of lignins”, Green Chemistry (2011)
- “Synthesis of three advanced biofuels from ionic liquid-pretreated switchgrass using engineered Escherichia coli”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)