Improved pretreatments and fractionation of soft and hardwoods to access feedstock chemicals

This PhD will appeal to candidates who are interested in combining skills in chemistry with a drive to develop the use of renewable resources. It is a very interdisciplinary PhD that will involve research in chemistry and the processing of biomass. Skills in range of analytical techniques will be developed to study the structure of the biomass being used.

The use of ALL the natural polymers present in softwoods remains difficult. For example, the separation of lignin from the sugar-based polymers (to enable efficient fermentation) is challenging, especially for softwoods. There are methods available to achieve this (eg the Kraft process) but they result in extensive modification of the lignin rendering it suitable only for burning. Whilst burning the lignin stream to return energy to a biorefinery is important, there are other potentially more lucrative uses for lignin. These include its depolymerisation to give feedstock aromatic chemicals and its use as a core unit in novel materials preparation.

To achieve this, high quality lignin is required and this is the first goal of this work. You will develop and optimise novel protocols for separating the polymers from wood and assess the quality of the lignin you produce. You will then devise cutting-edge methods to isolate small aromatic compounds from the lignin. You will also work on the sugar-containing components of the biomass.


The fully funded PhD will be highly interdisciplinary with the successful candidate having a background in either chemistry or biochemistry (1st class or 2.1 class degree at either BSc or Masters level), with a strong motivation to span the disciplines, and a willingness to learn new skills.

Informal enquiries are welcome to either Nick Westwood ([Email Address Removed]). Potential applicants are welcome to arrange to visit St Andrews at any time and we will start to interview as soon as suitable candidates apply.

Please see: http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/chemistry/prospective/pg/ for the application procedure or e-mail [Email Address Removed] for more information regarding PhD opportunities at St Andrews. We also encourage applications for the ESI-CAT Centre for Doctoral Training (http://www.criticat.co.uk) and from Chinese nationals through the St Andrews CSC Scheme (https://csc.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/).