Harnessing 'waste' biomass to make modified cellulose with valuable rheological properties

This project targets the EPSRC's growing Research Area of Chemical Biology and Biological Chemistry. It comprises novel research that is both of fundamental interest and has industrial applicability in creating new materials from Nature - specifically from 'waste' pulp biomass. By developing new, non-polluting procedures, the aim is to generate high-value materials with sought-after physical properties, especially a controllable viscosity. Starting with cheap, cellulose-rich materials available downstream of agri-food industries (e.g. pulp from sugar-beet and carrots after extraction of the sugar- and vitamin-rich juices), the aim is to make valuable non-natural materials - an example of synthetic biology applied to a novel and exciting physicochemical science research programme for the benefit of agricultural technologies.