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

Miss Lu-ping Li successfully defended her Master thesis

In the afternoon of June 3, 2021, Miss Lu-ping Li supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang, successfully defended her thesis in B404 Huixian Building, Pukou Campus of Nanjing Agricultural University. The defending committee was composed of Profs. Min Kang (chair) & Chun-xia He, and associate Profs. Xiu-qing Fu & Xing-shen Wang from Nanjing Agricultural University, as well as external member Senior Researcher Mr. Jun-heng Liu from Bosch Automotive Aftermarket (China) co., ltd.

Miss Lu-ping Li presented her research results for Master thesis in 15 min, the committee members raised relevant questions. Based on the replies and external thesis reviews, the panel agreed that Miss Li had successfully completed her research and course requirements on agricultural bio-environment and energy engineering. Miss Li studied the production of liquid fuel precursors from furfural with research entitled “Synthesis of liquid fuel precursors from furfural with lanthanide-based oxide catalyst”. Her work realized the efficient conversion of furfural and significantly improved the yield of 1,5-di-2-furanyl-1,4-pentadien-3-one. She co-authored 2 papers. After the jury voted by secret ballot, the panel agreed to confer Master of Science in Engineering Degree to Miss Lu-ping Li, subjected to the approval by the Academic Degrees Committees of the college and university.

She got a decent Job in a provincial Bank close to Nanjing.

Congratulations to Miss Li!

李路平同学顺利通过硕士论文答辩

2021年6月3日下午，南京农业大学生物能源组2018级工学硕士研究生李路平（女）毕业答辩会在南京农业大学浦口校区汇贤楼B404举行。南京农业大学的康敏教授担任答辩评委会委员主席主席，何春霞教授，傅秀清副教授，王兴盛副教授和博世汽车技术服务（中国）有限公司刘军恒副研究员共四位专家担任评审委员。

答辩会上，李路平同学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。根据李路平同学的问题回答以及学位论文的评阅意见，评委会经过评审决议，一致认为李路平同学完成了农业生物环境与能源工程的研究和课程要求。李路平同学在毕业论文《镧系金属氧化物催化生物质基糠醛合成液体燃料前体的研究》中研究了糠醛制备液体燃料前体的课题。实现了糠醛的高效转化，并显着提高了1,5-2-呋喃基-1,4-戊二烯-3-酮的产率。李路平同学参与发表论文2篇。经评委会无记名投票表决，一致同意李路平同学通过硕士学位论文答辩，建议授予李路平同学工学硕士学位。

祝贺李路平同学！

Direct production of biodiesel from renewable oils using calcined blast furnace dust

Recently, Dr Ms. Yi-Tong Wang (Associate Professor, College of Metallurgy and Energy, North China University of Science and Technology) and Prof. Zhen Fang published an article in Renewable Energy using calcined blast furnace dust as catalyst material for biodiesel production.

Direct production of biodiesel by both esterification and transesterification of renewable oils with acid value (AV) of 9.6-28.9 mg KOH/g using calcined blast furnace dust is studied. Blast furnace dust calcined at 600-700 ^oC obviously promotes efficient biodiesel production because of the crystal form transformation from lead sulfate particles in dust into active lead oxide, lead sulfide, and lead particles. It is found for the first time that lead oxide, lead sulfide and lead particles can resist saponification from fatty acids to catalyze raw renewable oils to biodiesel with catalytic activity order as follows: lead oxide > lead > lead sulfide > lead sulfate. Biodiesel production process is optimized according to an orthogonal design with biodiesel yield of 92 wt% obtained at AV of 9.6 mg KOH/g (82 wt% after 5 cycles). Biodiesel yield of 84 wt% is achieved at AV of 28.9 mg KOH/g with acidity of 0.18 mmol/g. Calcined blast furnace dust presents potential applications in the production of biodiesel from renewable oils with high AVs.

Related results were published in Renewable Energy:

YT Wang, WJ Cong, YN Zeng*, YQ Zhang, JL Liang, JG Li, LQ Jiang*, Z Fang*. Direct production of biodiesel via simultaneous esterification and transesterification of renewable oils using calcined blast furnace dust. Renewable Energy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.013 (2021).

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Recently, Prof. Zhen Fang was appointed as board member of polymers as announced by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin Publisher & President of MDPI (Basel, Switzerland).

Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360) is an international, open access journal of polymer science. It publishes research papers, communications and review articles. Polymers provides an interdisciplinary forum for publishing papers which advance the fields of (i) polymerization methods, (ii) theory, simulation, and modeling, (iii) understanding of new physical phenomena, (iv) advances in characterization techniques, and (v) harnessing of self-assembly and biological strategies for producing complex multifunctional structures. Scientists are encouraged to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible. Therefore, there is no restriction on the length of the papers. The full experimental and computational details must be provided so that the results can be reproduced.

Journal Rank: JCR – Q1 (Polymer Science) / CiteScore – Q1 (Polymers and Plastics)

Impact Factor: 3.426 (2019); 5-Year Impact Factor: 3.636 (2019)

方老师被任命为国际刊物《聚合物》（Polymers）编委。

《聚合物》（ISSN2073-4360）是一本国际性的、开放存取的聚合物科学杂志。

期刊排名：JCR-Q1（聚合物科学）/CiteScore-Q1（聚合物和塑料）

影响系数：3.426（2019）；5年影响系数：3.636（2019）

MOF-based functional catalytic materials for biodiesel production

Recently, PhD student Miss Wen-jie Cong supervised by Prof. Zhen Fang, collaborated with Profs. Hu Li at Guizhou Univ, JA Kozinski at Lakehead Univ and AK Dalai at U of Saskatchewan in Canada, published a review article in Green Chemistry about metal-organic framework-based functional catalytic materials for biodiesel production.

At present, the key point of the biodiesel industry is to find cheap and widely sourced feedstock to reduce production costs. High-efficiency heterogeneous catalyst can enhance biodiesel yield from low-quality feedstocks. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted extensive attention in the field of clean energy and chemicals due to their porous, controllable structure and good compatibility. However, the application of MOF materials on biodiesel production is still in its infancy but their usage is on the rise year by year. There is no relevant review article to summarize and point out the work and defects in this field. This review focuses on MOF-based functional catalytic materials for biodiesel production. Catalytic performance of MOF-based catalysts, synthesis method and catalytic loading strategy are described in detail. This review also analyzes the mechanism of functionalized MOFs classified via enzyme, base, acid, and bifunctional catalysts and summarizes technologies employing MOF-based catalysts for biodiesel production. Additionally, technical perspectives on the feasible reaction mechanisms are discussed, and the realistic necessity of MOF-based nanocatalysts is provided. The MOF-based functional catalytic materials show great potential in biodiesel production and other relevant biorefineries.

Porous MOF-based nanocatalysts prepared by assembly of organic ligands and metal ions functionalized with acid/ base/ enzyme used for biodiesel production （酸/碱/酶功能化金属离子与有机配体组装制备多孔MOF基纳米催化剂用于生物柴油生产）

Related results were accepted in Green Chemistry:

Wen-Jie Cong, Sonil Nanda, Hu Li, Zhen Fang*, Ajay K. Dalai, Janusz A. Kozinski. Metal-organic framework-based functional catalytic materials for biodiesel production: A review. Green Chemistry, 23, 2595–2618, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC00233C.

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Diamond Anvil Cell System

Prof. Zhen Fang studied quantitative (visual and microscopic) assessment of the behavior of biomass and plastics in supercritical water (SCW) and designed unique diamond anvil cell (DAC) system in Canada (McGill), leading to the invention of “fast hydrolysis process”.

Prof. Zhen Fang further studied one-pot and low-temperature synthesis of liquid biofuels and chemicals from carbohydrates (Nat Commun; 2 PCT, 2 patents). This unique process almost completely converts lignocelluloses, after hydrolysis and decomposition, to imides and liquid fuels (2,5-dimethylfuran, methyl levulinate, gamma valerolactone, methylfuran).