Biorefining of Agricultural Biomass into Sustainable Functional Materials

Date: Tuesday, 2nd June 2026, 13:30-14:30

Location: This seminar is in person only in D01-201, School of Chemical Engineering, Ocean and Life Sciences.

Main Speaker:

Dr Zhanying Zhang is a Professor of Bioprocess Engineering at the School of Mechanical, Medical and Process Engineering (MMPE) and the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy (CAB) at QUT. He is currently an ARC Mid-Career Industry Fellow and was previously an Advance Queensland Mid-Career Industry Research Fellow. 

He and his research group at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) have previously developed biomass pretreatment and biorefinery technologies for converting agricultural biomass into fermentable cellulosic sugars to produce biofuels and biochemicals. In recent years, the group has focused on the production of sustainable functional materials for high-value applications. In this presentation, Professor Zhang will highlight the research progress of his group in (1) the development of biomass-derived nanomaterials, including nanocellulose, lignin nanoparticles and silica nanoparticles for targeted pesticide delivery, advanced composites, and the formation and application of Pickering emulsions; and (2) the synthesis of lignin-derived carbon materials for applications in supercapacitors and sodium-ion batteries.