On Saturday, October 5, 2019, CALPACS will hold its annual Fall Luncheon and general meeting at the Firestone Barrelworks in Buellton, CA. Professor Mahdi Abu-Omar of UCSB will discuss his progress in applying transition metal catalysis to sustainable materials.
Immediately following the technical talk, the Executive Committee will hold this year’s General meeting where we report our progress to the membership at large and listen to your input. We look forward to seeing you. Please use the form at the bottom of this page to make your reservations.
Speaker: Professor Mahdi Abu-Omar, Mellichamp Chair of Green Chemistry, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Department of Chemical Engineering, UCSB
Title: Smart Materials from Lignin to Enable the Circular Economy
Date: Saturday, October 5, 2018
Time: 11:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Location: Firestone Barrelworks, Buellton (620 McMurray Rd., Buellton, CA 93427 (805) 350-7385
Cost: $30 regular members, $15 student members. Please use the form at the end of this page to make your reservation along with your meal choice. A description of the menu follows the reservation form.
Abstract
Transition metal catalysts have been an integral part of the success story of the petrochemical industry in the past century. For this century and the future, we must advance developments in renewable materials and the utilization of sustainable resources. Approximately 1.4 billion tons of lignocellulosic biomass is an annually renewable source of chemicals in the U.S. alone. The major components of biomass are cellulose, xylan, and lignin- all polymeric and contain high percentage of oxygen. Current biomass processing underutilizes lignin. We have developed selective reaction chemistries that convert lignin selectively into phenolic molecules/synthons. We have coined this process chemistry CDL for Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin. Spectroscopic data coupled with mechanistic investigations revealed the roles of solvent and catalyst in this unique reactive-separation, which provides selective molecules from lignin. Renewable bio-phenol motifs have been synthesized and converted to polymers with advanced thermo-mechanical properties that rival those from petroleum. A fully biobased thermoset networks have been created with tunable mechanical properties and glass transition temperature. The implication and use of lignin synthons to make renewable, recyclable, and self-healing thermoset polymers will be discussed.
Mahdi Abu-Omar is the Suzanne and Duncan Mellichamp Professor of Green Chemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Mahdi is the Founder of Spero Renewables, a chemistry technology company that provides cost-effective and renewables substitutes to petrochemicals. From 2009 through 2018, Dr. Abu-Omar served as the associate director of the Center for Catalytic Conversion of Biomass to Biofuels (C3Bio), an Energy Frontiers Research Center funded by the US Department of Energy. He has authored more than 200 original research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals. His research interest is in the areas of sustainability and green chemistry through the development and understanding of inorganic catalysts. Mahdi is a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 2012 and was a Senior Fulbright Fellow at Weismann Institute in 2008. He chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms in 2013. Dr. Abu-Omar completed his Ph.D. from Iowa State University and postdoc from Caltech.
Starter
805 HOUSE SALAD
Entrees
DBA BBQ RIBS
Tender baby back ribs, Nitro Merlin BBQ sauce, grilled corn, 805 beans
STUFFED BELL PEPPER
Roasted red bell pepper stuffed with quinoa, seasonal veggies
PAN SEARED SALMON
Seared Alaskan salmon, wilted spinach, fingerling potatoes, grilled lemon
CHEF’S BURGER
Chef’s signature rotating burgers
*Beyond Meat plant-based vegetarian patty available upon request.
CRISPY CITRUS GLAZED HALF CHICKEN
Oven roasted, chili citrus glazed Jidori chicken, garlic thyme fingerlings, citrus slaw
Dessert
LEMON CHEESECAKE
Freshly baked lemon cheesecake, graham cracker crust, lemon curd drizzle