Title of the invited presentation:
« Advances in Ionic Liquids for Cellulose Processing »
Bio:
Alistair is a Docent at the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, University of Helsinki. He earned his B.Sc. Hons and Ph.D. from The Queen’s University of Belfast. Since then he has spent several years working in custom synthesis, drug development and wood chemistry.
His current interests are in the design and application of novel solvents for biomass processing and analytics. Key applications of focus are in the regeneration of cellulose fibres, surface modification of cellulosics (nanocellulose, fibres & films) and biomass fractionation in general.
Recently Alistair and his collaborators, at the University of Helsinki and nearby Aalto University, were awarded the ‘Hennes & Mauritz Global Change Award’, presented to them by Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. This was awarded for the joint development of the IONCELL-F process, a lyocell-type fibre-spinning process using ionic liquids as direct dissolution solvents for cellulose.
Recently they have also launched a spin-off company related to the development and scale-up of key ionic liquids useful for cellulose processing.
