Biomass Group, Nanjing Agricultural University, PO Box 68, 40 Dianjiangtai Road, Nanjing 210031

Prof. FANG attended 2024 CAE Annual Conference & Induction Ceremony of New Fellows

From May 26 to June 5, 2024,  Prof. Zhen FANG visited Canada and USA, attended 2024 CAE (Canadian Academy of Engineering: https://www.cae-acg.ca/) Annual Conference & Induction Ceremony in London (May 27-29), visited  McGill (https://www.mcgill.ca/) in Montreal (May 30-June 1) and New York University (NYU, https://www.nyu.edu/) (June 2-4).

The program included several panel presentations and discussions on important issues:

• AI/ML: The Disruptive Force Reshaping Engineering Disciplines
• Quantum Computing: Unleashing New Potentials and Challenges in Engineering
• From Lab to Market: Translating Cleantech Innovations into Practical Applications

• The next-generation batteries for EVs
• Infrastructure: energy and carbon emissions reduction
• Roadmap for Resilient Building
• The changing nature of severe summer storms and impact on engineering design

Prof. Donna Strickland, the Nobel Laureate (2018, Physics) delivering a keynote lecture in the morning of May 28 （2018年物理诺奖得主唐娜·斯特里克兰院士主题报告）

Prof. Fang in the morning of May 28（方老师出席5月28日的大会）

Profs. Donna Strickland and Fang in the morning of May 28 （大会休息期间，唐娜·斯特里克兰院士和方老师合影）

方老师出席加拿大工程院年会暨新院士入职典礼

2024年5月26日至6月5日，方老师访问加拿大和美国，出席2024 CAE（加拿大工程院：https://www.cae-acg.ca/)年度会议暨新院士入职典礼（伦敦，5月27-29日），随后访问麦吉尔大学(https://www.mcgill.ca/)（蒙特利尔，5月30日至6月1日）和纽约大学(https://www.nyu.edu/)（6月2-4日）。

大会包括几个关于重要问题的报告和小组讨论：

• AI/ML：颠覆性力量重塑工程学科
• 量子计算：释放工程中的新潜力和挑战
• 从实验室到市场：将清洁技术创新转化为实践应用

• 电动汽车的下一代电池
• 基础设施：减少能源和碳排放
• 弹性建筑路线图
• 严重夏季风暴的性质变化及其对工程设计的影响

McGill sci road to the top of Royal Mount （通往皇家山顶的麦吉尔科学之路）

Prof. Fang visited Prof. CJ Li’s Lab at McGill in Montreal （麦基尔大学CJ Li院士实验室）

Prof. Fang visited NYU （纽约大学一角）

Prof. Fang in the library at NYU（纽大图书馆）

生物柴油脂肪酶Biodiesel production via simultaneous esterification and transesterification of Periplaneta americana oil with liquid lipase Eversa® transform 2.0

Recently, PhD student Miss Jing-jing Guo supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang published a research article in Renewable Energy about biodiesel production from high acid value oil with liquid lipase.

Undeveloped Periplaneta americana oil (acid value 38.32 mg KOH/g) was directly used for one-step production of biodiesel with lipase without acid-pretreatment step for the commercial alkaline process. Biodiesel was produced via simultaneous esterification and transesterification of Periplaneta americana oil in the presence of lipase Eversa® Transform 2.0 (ET2) (12 US$/kg) in solvent-free system. The maximum biodiesel yield of 98.63% was obtained under the optimized conditions of 32 °C, 8.5 wt.% lipase dosage, 8 h, 6.5/1 methanol/oil molar ratio, and 4 wt.% water. Lipase ET2 was recycled 6 times at > 89.52 % biodiesel yield. Biodiesel yield of 93.94 % was further achieved in a 1 L reactor with 15.08 g/kg lipase/biodiesel. Biodiesel cost was estimated as 589.3 US$/ton. Kinetics study gave activation energy of 24.50 kJ/mol with kinetic Michaelis constant of 1.19 mol/L. The physicochemical properties of biodiesel met both Chinese national and US ASTM standards that could be blended with petro-diesel to be applied in both countries. This study suggests that lipase could directly catalyze waste oils for the production of biodiesel at low temperature.

Related results were published in Renewable Energy:

JJ Guo, S Gao, J Yang, H Zhang, YT Wang*, WN Ding*, Zhen Fang*. Biodiesel production via simultaneous esterification and transesterification of Periplaneta americana oil with liquid lipase Eversa® transform 2.0. Renewable Energy (IF 8.7), 229 (2024), 120756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.120756

Liquid lipase Eversa® Transform 2.0 catalyzed high acid value Periplaneta americana oil for biodiesel production with 98.63% yield and recycled 6 times at > 89.52% biodiesel yield. （液体脂肪酶催化高酸值美洲大蠊油制备生物柴油的产率为98.63%。酶回收6次，生物柴油产率仍可达 > 89.52%）。

液体脂肪酶Eversa® Transform 2.0催化美洲大蠊油同时进行酯化和酯交换反应制备生物柴油

近期，博士生郭静静同学在方真教授的指导下，在国际学术期刊Renewable Energy (Q1，IF 8.7)发表了一篇关于液体脂肪酶催化高酸值油制备生物柴油的研究性论文。

脂肪酶直接催化美洲大蠊油（酸值为38.32 mg KOH/g）一步法制备生物柴油，而无需传统碱工艺的酸催化预处理步骤。在无溶剂体系中，脂肪酶Eversa® Transform 2.0（ET2）（12美元/千克）催化美洲大蠊油同时进行酯化和酯交换反应制备生物柴油。在最优反应条件下（反应温度32 °C、加酶量8.5 wt.%、反应时间8 h、醇/油摩尔比6.5/1、加水量4 wt.%），生物柴油的产率为98.63%。该酶回收6次，生物柴油产率仍高达 > 89.52%。在1 L反应器中，生物柴油产率仍可达93.94%在15.08 g/kg酶/生物柴油条件下。生物柴油成本估算为589.3美元/吨。动力学研究表明该反应的活化能为24.50 kJ/mol，动力学米氏常数为1.19 mol/L。生物柴油的理化指标符合中国和美国ASTM的标准，可与柴油混合并在两国应用。该研究表明脂肪酶可以在低温条件下直接催化废弃油脂制备生物柴油。

结果发表在Renewable Energy:

JJ Guo, S Gao, J Yang, H Zhang, YT Wang*, WN Ding*, Zhen Fang*. Biodiesel production via simultaneous esterification and transesterification of Periplaneta americana oil with liquid lipase Eversa® transform 2.0. Renewable Energy (IF 8.7), 229 (2024), 120756. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2024.120756

Thermodynamic modeling of freeze pretreatment in the destruction of rice straw structure combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method for enzymatic hydrolysis

Recently, PhD student Miss Qian Dong supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang published a research article in Bioresource Technology about freeze-pretreatment modeling and its combination with alkaline-hydrothermal method to enhance enzymatic hydrolysis of rice straw.

Freeze pretreatment combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method of rice straw for enzymatic hydrolysis was studied. Crystallization stress in the rice stem pores caused by water freezing at -20– -40 °C was modeled to illustrate the destruction mechanism. The stress was calculated as 22.5–38.3 MPa that were higher than the tensile yield stress of untreated stems (3.0 MPa), indicating ice formation damaging pore structure. After freeze at -20 °C, rice straw was further hydrothermally treated at 190 °C with 0.4 M Na₂CO₃, achieving 72.0 % lignin removal and 97.2 % cellulose recovery. Glucose yield rose to 91.1 % by 4.3 times after 24 h hydrolysis at 10 FPU loading of Cellic®CTec2 cellulase. The specific surface area of rice straw was 2.6 m²/g increased by 1.2 times after freeze. Freeze combined with alkaline-hydrothermal treatment is a green and energy-efficient method for improving enzymatic hydrolysis.

Related results were published in Bioresource Technology:

Q Dong, CX Gong, GL Xie, GQ Zhu, Zhen Fang*. Thermodynamic modeling of freeze pretreatment in the destruction of rice straw structure combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method for enzymatic hydrolysis. Bioresource Technology (IF 11.9), 403 (2024), 130864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130864.

Crystallization stress in the rice stem pores was 33 MPa after freeze 4 times at -20 °C. Rice straw was pretreated by freeze-Na₂CO₃-hydrothermal treatment with 91.1% glucose yield after 24 h enzymatic hydrolysis. （在-20 °C条件下冷冻4次后，水稻茎秆孔内水产生的结晶应力为33 MPa。采用冷冻辅助Na₂CO₃水热预处理稻秆，酶解24 h后葡萄糖产率为91.1%。）

冷冻预处理热力学建模及其结合碱性水热法破坏稻秆结构用于酶解

近期，博士生董倩同学在方真教授的指导下，在国际学术期刊Bioresource Technology (Q1，IF 11.4)发表一篇关于冷冻预处理热力学建模及其结合碱性水热法处理水稻秸秆用于酶解的研究性论文。

采用冷冻联合碱水热预处理水稻秸秆。通过建立水稻茎秆中水冻结(-20– – 40 °C)引起的结晶应力模型来阐明冷冻预处理的破坏机制。冷冻产生的结晶应力为22.5–38.3 MPa，高于未处理茎秆的拉伸屈服应力(3.0 MPa)，表明冷冻预处理破坏了水稻茎秆的孔隙结构。水稻秸秆在-20 °C冷冻后进行碱水热处理(190 °C, 0.4 M Na₂CO₃)，木质素去除率为72.0%，纤维素回收率为97.2%。在10 FPU Cellic®CTec2纤维素酶负载下水解24 h后，葡萄糖的产率提高了4.3倍，达到91.1%。冷冻预处理后，水稻秸秆比表面积为2.6 m²/g，提高了1.2倍。冷冻联合碱性水热处理是一种绿色节能的改善酶解的方法。

结果发表在Bioresource Technology：

Q Dong, CX Gong, GL Xie, GQ Zhu, Zhen Fang*. Thermodynamic modeling of freeze pretreatment in the destruction of rice straw structure combined with alkaline-hydrothermal method for enzymatic hydrolysis. Bioresource Technology (IF 11.9), 403 (2024), 130864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2024.130864.

Mr. Pei-dong Wu, Miss Wen-juan Guo, Mr. Gong-xun Xu and Mr. Ge-liang Xie successfully defended their Doctoral and Master theses

In the afternoon, May 20, 2024, graduate thesis defence for PhD student Mr. Pei-dong Wu and Master students Miss Wen-juan Guo, Mr. Gong-xun Xu (supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang), and Mr. Ge-liang Xie (supervised by Dr. Lujiang Xu) of Biomass Group at Nanjing Agricultural University (NJAU), was held at C302 Yuxian Building, Pukou Campus, NJAU. Prof. En-lai Zheng from NJAU chaired the defence committee, and other five experts (Prof. Deng-yu Chen from Nanjing Forestry University, Prof. Shuang Wang from Jiangsu University, Profs. Kun-quan Li, Wei-min Ding and Chun-xia He from NJAU) were invited as the members of the committee.

The four students presented their theses before the Panel after past external review and courses and replied questions raised by all the members.

Mr. Wu presented his PhD dissertation work entitled “Study on construction of visible light-responsive photoanodes enabling photoelectrochemical synthesis of lignin-based oxygen-rich compounds”.

Miss Guo presented her master thesis work entitled “Study on Characteristics of Phenolic Substances Produced by Biomass Catalytic Pyrolysis Based on Experiment and Machine Learning” .

Mr. Xu presented his master thesis work entitled “Red Mud Loaded Ni-Cu Bimetallic Materials for Hydrothermal Hydrogen Production from Biomass”

Mr. Xie presented his master thesis work entitled “High-Value Utilisation of Waste Aromatic Resources Based on Directed Thermal Conversion of Oxygenated Functional Groups”.

Nine first-authored papers were published in prestigious Journals. Three, one, two and three papers were published by Mr. Wu, Miss Guo, Mr. Xu and Mr. Xie, respectively. All the four students were awarded the title of 2024 Outstanding Graduates of NJAU.

After secret ballot, the panel agreed to confer Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering to Mr. Pei-dong Wu, and MSc in Engineering degree to Mr. Gong-xun Xu and Mr. Ge-liang Xie, Master of Electronics and Information Technology to Miss Wen-juan Guo, subjected to the approval by the Academic Degrees Committees of the college and university.

Congratulations to Mr. Wu, Miss Guo, Mr. Xu and Mr. Xie!

硕博答辩

2024年5月20日下午，南京农业大学生物能源组2020级博士研究生吴培栋和硕士研究生郭文娟（女）、徐功迅（导师方真教授）、谢葛亮（导师徐禄江副教授）毕业答辩会在南京农业大学浦口校区育贤楼C302举行。南京农业大学的郑恩来教授担任答辩评审委员会主席，南京林业大学的陈登宇教授，江苏大学的王爽教授，南京农业大学的李坤权教授、丁为民教授和何春霞教授共六位专家担任答辩评审委员。

答辩会上，吴培栋、郭文娟、徐功迅和谢葛亮四位同学依次对其在校期间的学术论文进行汇报，同时答辩委员会主席和各位评委提出了相关问题。根据四位同学的问题回答以及学位论文的外审意见，评委会经过评审决议，一致认为吴培栋、郭文娟、徐功迅和谢葛亮四位同学顺利完成了毕业所需要的研究和学习要求。

吴培栋同学在毕业论文《可见光响应光阳极的构筑及其光电催化合成木质素基富氧化合物的研究》中以BiVO₄、α-Fe₂O₃和TiO₂光电极为出发点，通过掺杂和引入过渡金属基（Mn、Fe、Co和Ni）助催化剂等策略去改善上述问题，构筑了具有潜在应用前景的复合光电极。同时选取木质素衍生醇、酮、β-O-4二聚体和β-1二聚体作为底物，研究光电极界面活性位点与底物的作用机制，阐明C-O成键、C-C断键的机理以促进上述底物高效、专一化升级为芳香族羧酸。郭文娟同学在毕业论文《基于实验与机器学习的生物质催化热解制备酚类物质特性研究》中对生物质催化热解定向制备酚类物质的工艺方法和产率影响因素进行了研究，分析了氮掺杂生物炭催化剂热解过程中产酚的作用机理，并构建了基于生物质原料特性、热解条件和催化剂孔隙特性的苯酚产率预测模型。徐功迅同学在毕业论文《赤泥负载Ni-Cu双金属材料用于生物质水热制氢》通过改性与探究寻找到了一种成本低廉且高效的赤泥基催化剂。对比了不同金属负载量和金属促进剂对赤泥基催化剂性能的影响，确定了30Ni-2.5Cu/RM为最优催化剂。运用了BET、XRD、TPR、XRF等多种技术手段进行深入分析，揭示催化剂的可能催化机理。同时，还对实验温度、时间、催化剂用量及棉秆用量这四个关键参数进行了系统优化，以确定最佳的实验条件。在找到最优条件后，进一步将其应用于多种农业废弃物及模型化合物的气化实验中。谢葛亮同学在毕业论文《基于含氧官能团定向热转化的废弃芳香资源高值利用研究》中研究了芳香族含氧聚合物的下游高值化利用，通过木质素与POM的催化共热解成功合成了富含芳香族烃的生物油，此外通过一锅法氨化与气相加氢脱氧(HDO)两步实现了木质素基香草醛到羟基苯甲腈的绿色制备，还通过PET与尿素的共热解制备了对苯二甲腈。

吴培栋同学以第一作者身份共发表学术论文3篇，郭文娟同学以第一作者身份共发表学术论文1篇，徐功迅同学以第一作者身份共发表学术论文2篇，谢葛亮同学以第一作者身份共发表学术论文3篇，四位同学均获得了2024年南京农业大学优秀毕业生称号。

经评委会无记名投票表决，一致同意吴培栋同学通过博士学位论文答辩，建议授予工学博士学位；郭文娟同学通过硕士学位论文答辩，建议授予郭文娟电子信息专业硕士学位；徐功迅同学通过硕士学位论文答辩，建议授予徐功迅工学硕士学位；谢葛亮同学通过硕士学位论文答辩，建议授予谢葛亮工学硕士学位。

祝贺四位同学！

Publications发表的论文：

[1] PD Wu, H Li*, Zhen Fang*, Synergistic catalysis of Co-Zr/CNx bimetallic nanoparticles enables reductive amination of bio-based levulinic acid. Advanced Sustainable Systems, 2022, 6, 2100321. https://doi.org/10.1002/adsu.202100321

[2] PD Wu, LY Li, KP Wang, H Li*, Zhen Fang*. Non-quantum nanostructures-enabled hot carriers generation for enhancive photoelectrocatalytic oxidation of bio-alcohol in water coupled with hydrogen evolution, Green Chemistry, 2023, 25, 2771-2781. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC00226H

[3] PD Wu, LY Li, H Li*, Zhen Fang*. Interfacial high-valence Ni(IV)-enabled C-H activation for photoelectrochemical C-C bond cleavage of lignin to exclusively produce aromatic carboxylic acids. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2024, 490, 151722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.151722

[4]WJ Guo, YR Wang, W Chen*, GX Xu, GQ Zhu, GL Xie, LJ Xu, Zhen Fang, QF Zhang, HP Yang. Insight into the synergistic influence of nitrogen-doped biochar and NH₃ on selective production of 4-vinyl phenol from biomass catalytic pyrolysis by coupling catalyst in-situ regeneration. Industrial Crops and Products, 2024, 214, 118520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.118520

[5]GX Xu, S Nanda, JJ Guo, YQ Song, JA Kozinski, AK Dalai, Zhen Fang*, Red mud supported Ni-Cu bimetallic material for hydrothermal production of hydrogen from biomass. Industrial Crops and Products, 2024, 212, 118370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.118370

[6]徐功迅,陈伟,方真*.生物质超临界水制氢研究进展[J].农业工程学报, 2023, 39(7): 24-35. 10.11975/j.issn.1002-6819.202301053.

[7]谢葛亮, 周贤君, 董澄宇, 陈伟, 徐禄江*, 方真. 木质素基芳香醛类化合物的制备及其转化研究进展[J]. 林产化学与工业, 2023, 43(04):115-126. 10.3969/j.issn.0253-2417.2023.04.016

[8]GL Xie, GQ Zhu, T Lv, YF Kang, YH Chen, Z Fang, LJ Xu*. Sustainable production of aromatic-rich biofuel via catalytic co-pyrolysis of lignin and waste polyoxymethylene over commercial Al₂O₃ catalyst, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 2023, 174, 106147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2023.106147.

[9]GL Xie, GQ Zhu, YF Kang, MX Zhu, QQ Lu, C He, LJ Xu*, Z Fang. Valorization of Waste PET: Understanding the Role of Active Ammonia in Facilitating PET Depolymerization and Aromatic Nitrile Formation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2024, 434, 140204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.140204.

Interfacial high-valence Ni(IV)-enabled C-H activation for photoelectrochemical C-C bond cleavage of lignin to exclusively produce aromatic carboxylic acids

Recently, PhD student Mr. Pei-dong Wu supervised by Profs. Hu Li and Zhen Fang published a research article in Chemical Engineering Journal about photoelectrochemical C-C bond cleavage of lignin to exclusively produce aromatic carboxylic acids.

Sustainable upgrading of biomass to high-value chemicals is greatly dependent on catalytic C-C/C-O bond cleavage of high selectivity. Here, an oxidation-enhanced photoelectrochemical protocol was developed to be capable of breaking different types of C-C bonds for efficiently producing aromatic carboxylic acids (85.0-99.8% yields) from lignin. Ni local electronic state of the prepared F-Fe₂O₃-Co:NiO_xH_y with excellent durability could be modulated, and high-valence Ni(Ⅳ) reactive species played a key role in the oxidative C-C bond scission of various lignin models. In-situ characterization and control experiments indicated that photocatalytic radical and electrocatalytic interface facilitated C-H/O-H delocalization, contributing significantly to the enhanced oxidation process. In addition, quantum calculations elaborated that photo-excited holes and Ni(Ⅳ) are key reactive species for enhancive electrocatalytic cleavage of different C-C bonds in lignin to exclusively furnish aromatic carboxylic acids. This research provides a renewable funnel strategy for using solar energy to produce high-value mono-functional products from biomass.

Related results were accepted in Chemical Engineering Journal:

PD Wu, LY Li, Hu Li *, Zhen Fang *, Interfacial high-valence Ni(IV)-enabled C-H activation for photoelectrochemical C-C bond cleavage of lignin to exclusively produce aromatic carboxylic acids, 2024, 490, 151722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.151722.

A “funnel” type strategy for photoelectrochemical lignin high value utilization. 用于光电化学木质素高值化利用的“漏斗”型策略。

博士生吴培栋在李虎教授和方真教授的指导下，在国际学术期刊Chemical Engineering Journal发表论文:

界面高价镍（IV）C-H活化促光电化学C-C键裂解木质素专一生产芳香族羧酸

最近，博士生吴培栋在李虎教授和方真教授的指导下，在国际学术期刊Chemical Engineering Journal (Q1; Impact factor: 15.1)上发表了一篇关于光电化学C-C键裂解木质素专一生产芳香族羧酸的论文。

生物质向高价值化学品的可持续升级在很大程度上依赖于C-C/C-O键的高选择性催化裂解。在此，我们开发了一种氧化增强型光电化学方案，该方案能够断裂不同类型的C-C键，从而高效地从木质素中生产出芳香族羧酸（产率为 85.0%-99.8%）。所制备的F-Fe₂O₃-Co:NiO_xH_y光电极具有优异的耐久性，其Ni局部电子态可被调控，高价态Ni（Ⅳ）活性物种在各种木质素模型的C-C键氧化裂解过程中发挥了关键作用。原位表征和对照实验表明，光催化自由基和电催化界面促进了C-H/O-H质子脱出，对氧化过程的增强起了重要作用。此外，DFT计算表明，光激发空穴和Ni（Ⅳ）是增强电催化木质素衍生物C-C键裂解的关键活性物种，使其可完全转换为芳香族羧酸。这项研究为利用太阳能从生物质中生产高价值单功能产品提供了一种可再生“漏斗”策略。

详情可见：

PD Wu, LY Li, Hu Li *, Zhen Fang *, Interfacial high-valence Ni(IV)-enabled C-H activation for photoelectrochemical C-C bond cleavage of lignin to exclusively produce aromatic carboxylic acids, 2024, 490, 151722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.151722.