September 23, 2024 Root is part of a project turning plants into plastics Written By: Staff Departments: Chemical & Biological Engineering Categories: Research A team of researchers with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center led by Thatcher Root, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and chemistry professor Shannon Stahl, have developed a new process that could help make plant-based plastics and alternatives to fossil fuels more economically viable. Thatcher Root The researchers developed a method using oxygen to break down a tough form of plant fiber called lignin into chemicals that resemble the building blocks of many plastics and textiles currently made from petroleum. Now, the team is developing new methods to scale up those advances from the lab to the industrial scale. The findings, detailed in the journal Joule, represent an important step in creating a more sustainable chemical industry. Featured Image: Research scientist Dillon Hofsommer at the Wisconsin Energy Institute. Credit: Chelsea Mamott/Wisconsin Energy Institute Read more about this project at the Wisconsin Energy Institute.