Professor of Biological Systems Engineering
College of Agricultural & Life Sciences
Xuejun (Jun) Pan works to develop innovative technologies to produce fuels, chemicals, fibers, and other materials from lignocellulosic biomass. Specifically, Pan works on the following areas: (1) pretreatment and fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass; (2) enzymatic and chemical saccharification of lignocellulose; (3) chemical and biological conversion of lignocellulose to chemicals and liquid fuels; (4) high-value utilization of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin; (5) fundamental understanding of physical and chemical changes of plant cell walls during biorefining.
Research Interests
- Biomass pretreatment for bioconversion
- Lignocellulose saccharification to fermentable sugars
- Conversion of lignocellulose to chemicals and liquid fuels
- Production of value-added products from cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose
- Plant cell wall changes during biorefining