Combining green chemistry, biotechnologies and downstream process to upscale biomass and byproducts
Presenter: Prof. Florent Allais, Professor and Director of URD ABI – AgroParisTech
When: Wednesday 25th May 2022 – 11.30am to 12.30pm
Where: BioPRIA Lecture Room G03, 15 Alliance Lane Monash University Clayton Campus
Bio
Florent Allais completed his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Florida in 2004 and postdoctoral studies in the group of Prof. Janine Cossy (ESPCI, Paris, France) and Dr. Jean Boivin (ICSN-CNRS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France). In 2012, he became a Full Professor at AgroParisTech and was tasked to build ex nihilo a brand-new laboratory, Chaire ABI (Industrial Agro-biotechnologies) (now URD ABI, 22 permanent scientist/engineers/technicians), at Pomacle, France. Since 2019, Florent Allais is also Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash University (Clayton, Australia) and Courtesy Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Florida (Gainesville, USA). His research is dedicated to the combined use of white biotechnologies, green chemistry and downstream processing for the development and optimization of sustainable industrial processes and high value-added products from biomass. More precisely, URD ABI aims at the development of platform molecules that will be used to create valuable sustainable chemicals (e.g., chiral fine chemicals), functional bio-based additives (e.g., anti-UVs, antimicrobials, antiradicals/antioxidants, flavors or surfactants), and polymers/materials. Florent Allais has published more than 130 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 4 book chapters, granted/filed 19 patents, served as reviewer of various journals and as Associate Editor of Frontiers in Chemistry (Frontiers®, Green & Sustainable Chemistry Section), Frontiers in Chemical Engineering (Frontiers®), Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews (Taylor and Francis®), Sustainable Chemistry (MDPI®) as well as Industrial Biotechnology (Mary Ann Liebert Inc.). Finally, since December 2019, Florent Allais is Associate Member of the ICGCSD (Interdivisional Committee of Green Chemistry for Sustainable Development) at IUPAC.
Abstract
Located in the CEBB (European Center of Biotechnology and Bioeconomy, co-funded by the ERDF, the Grand Est Region, the Marne department and the Urban Community of Grand Reims) at the heart of the Pomacle-Bazancourt biorefinery, the URD ABI is interested in the valorization of biomass. Thanks to its expertise in chemistry, polymers/materials, microbiology/biochemistry/molecular biology, chemical engineering and separation process engineering as well as in analytical chemistry, the URD ABI is able to carry out multi- and transdisciplinary fundamental and applied research projects with the ambition of developing and optimizing sustainable industrial processes and high value-added products from agro-resources and industrial by-products. This talk will provide some illustrative examples on how lignocellulosic biomass can be efficiently transformed into flavors, antioxidants, UV filters, monomers, polymers etc… by combining biotechnologies, green chemistry and process engineering.