BPI Seminar by Dr. Seong H. Kim

Seeing Three-Dimensional Structure of Cellulose Inside Plant Cell Walls Using Vibrational Spectroscopy

Location: CHBE #202, 2360 East Mall Vancouver BC V6T 1Z4

Agenda

• 2:30 PM Intro by Dr. Orlando Rojas
• 2:35 PM Presentation by Dr. Seong H. Kim, Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering, Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University
• 3:15 PM Q&A

Abstract

Plants have the remarkable ability to convert glucose, which is fully soluble in water, into cellulose, a substance that is completely insoluble in water and most organic solvents. Additionally, plants integrate cellulose microfibrils with other polysaccharides to form a composite material known as the cell wall. This cell wall performs specific biological and mechanical functions.

Mimicking this natural process could unlock unprecedented opportunities in materials synthesis and engineering. The key to achieving this lies in understanding the exact three-dimensional structure of cellulose within plant cell walls. Although various experimental techniques have been developed for this purpose, most rely on destructive sample preparations or provide only surface information.

In this talk, I will present the use of a laser-based nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy technique called sum frequency generation (SFG). This technique allows for nano-to-mesoscale structural characterization of cellulose microfibrils in plant cell walls with micron-scale spatial resolution. I will also discuss several applications of this technique to synthetic composite materials made with cellulose nanocrystals.

Registration