Continuing the trip of exploration cooperation with India our team leader, Juan Carlos Colmenares, was invited for a second lecture — this time in Karnataka at National Institute of Technology. 

Professor gave a talk on team’s research work to an audience of graduate students and faculties from the Department of Chemical Engineering as well as other Departments. Leacture was titled:

• Light and sound energy combined with flow heterogeneous catalysis: a breakthrough method for sustainable valorization of lignocellulosic biomass and protection of the natural environment

Insights

Research group’s extensive experience in sonophotocatalysis gives us irrefutable tools through the successful use of homemade batch and flow sono-photoreactors, demonstrating that ultrasound can act as a process intensification tool for the partial photo-oxidation of a biomass-derived model compound, such as benzyl alcohol. Sonication also plays a role in the continuous removal of products and impurities from the catalyst surface, which provides easier access to active sites compared to catalysts in a conventional catalytic process. Besides, the sonophotochemical reactor can be used at high catalyst concentrations, maximizing the number of catalytically active sites per unit volume of the reactor.