Haley Nicole McKeown
Chemical engineering
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2024
Additional details: Transfer student
MORE | Spring 2024
Leveraging the Power of Ligninolytic Enzymes to Valorize Lignin to Polyvinyl Phenol
Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable carbon-rich resource from plants and has attracted focus as an alternative source to fossil fuels. This study valorized p-coumaric acid, a major constituent component in lignin, using engineered bacterium to convert into the substituted phenol, 4-vinylphenol. Then, using ligninolytic enzymes, 4-vinylphenol was polymerized into polyvinyl phenol, a biopolymer. 13C pathway analysis was conducted to determine metabolic utilization of the p-coumaric acid, and in situ experiments were conducted to polymerize the monomer phenols. The resulting polymer was characterized using NMR and SEC (GPC) analysis.
Mentor: Arul Varman
It’s hip to be square.
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Sponsored project | Spring 2024
Haley McKeown’s MORE project is sponsored by W. L. Gore & Associates.
W. L. Gore & Associates is a uniquely creative, product leadership enterprise that has served a variety of global markets for more than 60 years, and provides innovative solutions that its associates stand behind. Gore established funds to support undergraduate students in the Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative program and graduate students in the Master’s Opportunity for Research in Engineering program, and values student-driven research and developing relationships with students in the programs.