Bin Yang Archives - 厙ぴ勛圖 /tag/bin-yang/ Washington State University | Tri-Cities Tue, 05 Feb 2019 21:24:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 厙ぴ勛圖 prof receives Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award /wsu-tri-cities-prof-receives-fulbright-distinguished-chair-award/ Mon, 07 Jan 2019 17:12:41 +0000 /?p=62991 The post 厙ぴ勛圖 prof receives Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award appeared first on 厙ぴ勛圖.

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By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

Bin Yang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering at Washington State University Tri-Cities, has been selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award the most prestigious appointment in the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Fulbright currently awards approximately 8,000 grants annually. Of those, 40 are selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair Award.marks the first professor in WSU history to be selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Energy and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources Award.

Beginning in August, he will serve for six months through the Fulbright program at, while on sabbatical leave from WSU. While in Finland, he will teach and conduct research. In addition, he will continue to manage his research team at WSU.

His research at Aalto University will focus on the development of novel lignin-based compounds that do not resemble an existing petroleum-derived compound in structure. Lignin is a material comprised in the cell wall of plants and is one of the largest waste products in the bioproducts industry because it is so hard to break down and process. Yang, however, aims to use the material to create a range of bioproducts.

Yang said he is elated to expand his research and to communicate the scientific achievements of WSUsBioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory(BSEL) in the bioproducts sector, learn more about bioproducts research achievements and processes in Europe, as well as learn about the Finlands educational structure, which is a world leader.

Im excited about the dialogue between our two universities and two countries, he said. I believe this outcome will allow me to work with professors and students at Aalto University in order to apply my expertise in bioproducts and biofuels technologies.I am grateful that both Aalto University and WSU are willing and able to accommodate this desire so graciously, and I believe it will work to everyones best interests.

Juming Tang, chair of the biological systems engineering department at WSU, said Yang is an outstanding contributor for the graduate program of biological systems engineering, which is ranked 14thin the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

Fulbright support will further increase the visibility of our department, BSEL and WSU, Tang said.

As a Fulbright chair, Yang will address two key challenges:

  • Developing breakthroughs in science and technologies for production of high-value bioproducts from biomass.
  • Fostering next-generation leaders on the opportunities, challenges and benefits of biofuels and bioproducts.

Yang has served as a faculty member at WSU since 2009. He has dedicated most of his career to the development of renewable energy technologies, with particular emphasis on production of biofuels and bioproducts from cellulosic biomass feedstocks and other sustainable resources. His major research interests include:

  • Understanding fundamental mechanisms of bioprocessing technologies for advanced biofuels.
  • Advancing cutting-edge technologies and facilitating the commercialization process.
  • Improving knowledge of emerging technologies to meet near- and long-term needs worldwide.

He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and has five patents. He is a recipient of the DARPA Young Faculty Award of 2011. He also serves as an advisory editor board member for many leading biorefinery journals.

Yangs research has been supported by the:

  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (U.S. Department of Defense).
  • U.S. Department of Energy.
  • National Science Foundation.
  • Sun Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
  • National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
  • Seattle-based Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation.

He has a joint appointment with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He also serves as a faculty senator and an entrepreneurial faculty ambassador at 厙ぴ勛圖.

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]]> New way to characterize cellulose, advance bioproducts /new-way-to-characterize-cellulose-advance-bioproducts/ Fri, 24 Mar 2017 18:53:31 +0000 /?p=39261 By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖 RICHLAND, Wash. Researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a new way to define the molecular structure of cellulose, which could lead to cheaper and more efficient ways to make a variety of...

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RICHLAND, Wash. Researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a new way to define the molecular structure of cellulose, which could lead to cheaper and more efficient ways to make a variety of crucial bioproducts.

For the first time, researchers revealed the differences between the surface layers and the crystalline core of cellulose by combining spectroscopy processes that use infrared and visible laser beams to analyze the structure of molecular components. The findings appear this month in Scientific Reports, an online open-access journal produced by the Nature Publishing Group ().

The spectroscopy processes are known as Total Internal Reflection Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy (TIR-SFG-VS) and conventional SFG-VS.

Making biofuels, bioproducts cost-competitive

Bin Yang, co-author and 厙ぴ勛圖 associate professor of biological systems engineering, said cellulose is one of the most abundant organic compounds on Earth. Understanding the cellulosic biomass recalcitrance, or resistance to degradation, at the molecular level is a key step toward overcoming the fundamental barrier to making cellulosic biofuels cost-competitive, he said.

Cellulose is commonly known as a product that is difficult to break down and convert into other useful products, said co-author Hongfei Wang, former chief scientist in the physical sciences division at PNNL and current professor of chemistry at Fudan University in Shanghai. Using our nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic technique, we can resolve some questions associated with the recalcitrance of cellulosic biomass and, in turn, more efficiently convert the product into a usable commodity.

Yang said that although plant cell walls are complex and dynamic, recent advances in analytical chemistry and genomics have substantially enhanced understanding of cellulosic biomass recalcitrance while simultaneously highlighting the remaining knowledge gaps.

Understanding structure opens industrial possibilities

This discovery is significant because it not only challenges the traditional understanding of cellulose materials, it provides further insight into the surface and bulk chemistry of cellulosic fibers, building on a novel spectroscopic tool to characterize such structural differences, said Arthur J. Ragauskas, Governors Chair in biorefining for Oak Ridge National Laboratory and at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is an expert on the subject, but not involved in the research.

He said the discovery of the nonuniformity and the structure of cellulose in the study can improve the efficiency of industrial application of cellulose.

The discovery may lead to modification of the current definitions of the different types of cellulose structures, he said. This discovery represents yet another instance of the importance of spectroscopic observations in transformative advances to understand the structure of the cellulosic biomass.

Libing Zhang

Libing Zhang

Libing Zhang, co-author and postdoctoral researcher at 厙ぴ勛圖, called it a privilege to participate in such a significant discovery while utilizing such advanced technology, especially knowing that it could have a profound impact on the advancement of bioproducts.

We can use the application of this technology to fundamentally understand the conversion process of nearly every cellulose-based product in the future, she said.

Researchers at WSU and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at PNNL collaborated on the study. Yangs Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award and the SFG capability and expertise at EMSL, an Office of Science user facility of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy, made the study possible. It is DOI:10.1038/srep44319.

Zhang, Yang, Li Fu, a William Wiley Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow formerly at EMSL, and Wang conducted the research.

 

News media contacts:
Bin Yang, 厙ぴ勛圖 biological systems engineering, 509-372-640, binyang@tricity.wsu.edu
John Nicksich, EMSL communications, 509-375-7398, john.nicksich@pnnl.gov
Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖 public relations, 509-372-333, maegan.murray@tricity.wsu.edu

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