Director's Message

This research team has been initiated by Dr. Jianzhong Sun in 2009 and further to be announced as Biofuels Institute of Jiangsu University in 2010. It has been recognized as a top level of the innovative research team in bioenergy area in 2011 by local provincial government due to the qualified and competitive research work in the world. There are a total of 17 faculty members in this team that consists of 4 full professors, 2 associate professors, as well as other 11 professionals (including 4 graduate faculty for PhD students and 9 graduate faculty for MS students). This team has also employed 13 adjunct faculty professors who are very famous in the area of bioenergy from China and USA. The team leader is professor, Dr. Jianzhong Sun

1. Nature-inspired Technology for Biomass Conversion

Interested in biomimetic/nature-inspired technologies from wood-feeding animals (e.g. termites, cow) or other biological conversion systems for efficient biomass conversion towards high value-added biorefinery products; exploring valuable extremophile bacteria and gut symbionts identified from wood-feeding animals for efficient biomass conversion, novel biomass pretreatment technology, and the breakthrough technology in bioreactor designs with biomimetic processing.

2. Grassy Energy Crops and Cultivation Technology

Interested in cultivar development (cross breeding/polyploidy breeding) for energy crops, such as Miscanthus, Pennisetum Purpureum and hybrid Pennisetum; Genetic transformation of grassy energy plants with exogenous thermophilic lignocellulosic enzyme genes; Key techniques of high-value added products from agricultural residues; Development of salt-resistant grassy energy crops and their resistance mechanism; Plant endophytes and their industrial applications as microbial fertilizers.

3. Gene Engineering/Enzymatic Engineering

Interested in screening novel gene sequences for biomass degradation; Cloning and sequence optimization of thermophiliclignocellulose enzyme genes and their high-efficiency expression; Non-rational design and in situ directed evolution technology and its applications in high-throughput screening of mutant genes; Refining pHsh-heat shock expression system and its application; Developing biological safety high-density fermentation technology for high enzymes production.

4. Environmental Bioelectrochemistry

Interested in the mechanism of extracellular electron transfer and its manipulation, microbial fuel cell and its energy harvesting technology from organic pollutants, and biodegradation of emerging new pollutants, bio-sensing environmental monitoring.

5. Bio-based Materials and Fiber Composites

Interested in developing advanced functional bio-based materials, including eco-friendly lignocellulose/polymer composites, thermal insulation lignocellulose composite foams, cellulose-based materials for energy storage, anti-bacteria, and adsorption, lignocellulose hydrogels, functional nano-lignocellulose particles, 3D printing materials developed from biomass and other advanced bio-based materials.

Contact:  E-mail: jzsun1002@ujs.edu.cn; Tel: +86-511-8879-6122