Research Interests
Ashutosh Mittal received an M.S. in 2004 and a Ph.D. in 2007 in environmental resource engineering, both from the Department of Paper and Bioprocess Engineering at the State University College of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). His dissertation work was focused on studying the kinetics of hemicellulose (sugars) extraction from hardwoods (sugar maple and aspen) during hot water extraction (autohydrolysis). At NREL, he is actively involved in research on biomass pretreatment and conversion of biomass-derived sugars to fuels and chemicals.
Research Interests
Investigating/developing alternative pretreatment technologies such as alkaline peroxide and ammonia pretreatment for efficient fractionation of biomass components
Base-catalyzed depolymerization of lignin
Conversion of xylose (biomass derived 5-carbon sugar) to furfural for the production of green chemicals
Areas of Expertise
Pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass
Chemical kinetics and reaction mechanisms in biomass processing
Biomass structural analysis and processing
Analytical chemistry
Education
Ph.D., Environmental Resource Engineering, SUNY, ESF, Syracuse
M.S., Environmental Resource Engineering, SUNY, ESF, Syracuse
Professional Experience
Research Scientist IV, NREL (2014–present)
Research Scientist III, NREL (2008–2014)
Staff Scientist, Logen Corporation (2007–2008)
Featured Work
Alkaline Peroxide Delignification of Corn Stover, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2017)
Production of Furfural From Process-Relevant Biomass-Derived Pentoses in a Biphasic Reaction System, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2017)
Ammonia Pretreatment of Corn Stover Enables Facile Lignin Extraction, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2017)
Base-Catalyzed Depolymerization of Biorefinery Lignins, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2016)
Influence of Crystal Allomorph and Crystallinity on the Products and Behavior of Cellulose During Fast Pyrolysis, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2016)
New Perspective on Glycoside Hydrolase Binding to Lignin From Pretreated Corn Stover, Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts (2015)
Parameter Determination and Validation for a Mechanistic Model of the Enzymatic Saccharification of Cellulose-Iβ, Biotechnology Progress (2015)
Alkaline Pretreatment of Switchgrass, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2015)
A Thermodynamic Investigation of the Cellulose Allomorphs: Cellulose(am), Cellulose Iβ(cr), Cellulose II(cr), and Cellulose III(cr), The Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics (2015)
Investigation of the Role of Lignin in Biphasic Xylan Hydrolysis During Dilute Acid and Organosolv Pretreatment of Corn Stover, Green Chemistry (2015)
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