Sustainable Chemistry for A Sustainable Future

Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) Embark Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2006;

2009 EPA Doctoral Scholarship.

Bioethanol is a renewable transport fuel with the potential to solve problems related to climate change, energy security and declining farm incomes. For bioproduction of ethanol, biomass, principally cellulose, may ultimately be hydrolyzed to glucose for fermentation. Ionic liquids, a new class of cellulose and lignocellulose-dissolving solvents, and novel reaction media for biocatalysis are potential solvents for in situ enzymatic saccharification of cellulose to glucose. We have previously reported the design of biodegradable and low toxicity ionic liquids for chemical synthesis and herein describe their application in biomass conversion. We proposed to develop an economic and environmentally friendly technology of enzymatic conversion of cellulose and ultimately lignocellulosic materials into glucose in biodegradable  ionic liquids for future bioethanol production.

DCU Career Start Programme, 2009. (PI);

This programme  is aim to invite Dr. Dimitris Argyropoulos to visit DCU, which will definitely help us to build an internationally recognized new research activity in DCU, even in Ireland, which will put DCU in a stronger competitive position in the field of emerging sustainable energy and technologies.