Chemical engineering may not be the first discipline that comes to mind when we think about protecting the environment, but in honor of Earth Day, the College of Engineering highlighted the efforts of several Wisconsin Energy Institute researchers from this often overlooked field to find solutions to some of the toughest challenges.
Projects of current and former WEI investigators profiled include:
- George Huber's solvent-based technique for removing stubborn pigments from recycled multilayer plastic packaging, which could make recycled plastics more commercially appealing and a separate project to remove minerals and metal oxides from biomass.
- Shannon Stahl and Thatcher Root's efforts to extract valuable chemicals from plant waste.
- A collaboration between Stahl and computer scientist Reid Van Lehn to use machine learning to solve the complex challenge of designing the best green solvents.
- Energy storage expert Whitney Loo's efforts to engineer polymers for next-generation batteries.
- An interdisciplinary collaboration to create "living refineries" by engineering plants that convert carbon dioxide from the air directly into aromatic compounds used in fuels, plastics, and other materials.