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Bifunctional
Heterogeneous Enzyme-Mimetic Catalysts for Biofuel
Refining--Lynntech, Inc., 7607 Eastmark Drive, Suite 102, College Station, TX 77840; 979-693-0017; www.lynntech.com
Dr. Ulf Drechsler,
Principal Investigator, ulf.drechsler@lynntech.com
Dr. G. Duncan Hitchens,
Business Official, duncan.hitchens@lynntech.com
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-07ER84796
Amount: $100,000
The increased
utilization of abundant domestic and renewable biofeedstocks
as fuels would contribute substantially to reducing the need for imported
oil. Renewable fuels have emerged as
attractive alternatives to their petroleum based counterparts, offering several
environmental benefits. Despite these
benefits, the high cost of biofuels – as a result of
several energy intensive production steps – remains a major hurdle for their
widespread use and commercialization. In
order to address this problem, advanced cost- and energy-effective technologies
are required to facilitate the conversion of biological feedstock materials
into fuels. Therefore, this project will
develop bifunctional, enzyme-mimetic heterogeneous
catalysts for the transformation of biological feedstocks
into high-performance fuels. Phase I
will demonstrate that these catalysts offer high efficiency, low-cost, and
environmentally sound conversion performance for a wide range of unrefined
feedstock materials.
Commercial
Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: In
addition to providing cost-efficient biofuel
production, bifunctional catalysts should be
applicable to a wide array of chemical transformations in the pharmaceutical
and chemical industries.