You are cordially invited to attend the seminar organized by the Department of Chemistry.
Title: Waste-to-Value: Renewable N-containing chemicals from biomass and plastic.
Speaker: Gökalp Gözaydın
Date: 21/04/2026, Tuesday
Time: 12:30 (Turkiye Time)
This is an online seminar. To request event details please send a message to department.
Waste-to-Value: Renewable N-containing chemicals from biomass and plastic.
Recognizing the environmental and energy limitations of conventional organonitrogen synthesis via the Haber–Bosch process, the development of integrated “waste-to-value” strategies plays a vital role in advancing a circular carbon economy. In this context, the utilization of nitrogen-rich feedstocks such as crustacean shells (chitin) offers a unique and sustainable pathway for nitrogen-containing chemical production.
This seminar will be centred around several key advancements. First, an environmentally benign fractionation approach is developed using hot water deproteinization and pressurized CO₂ demineralization, achieving high protein removal efficiency alongside recyclable mineral recovery. Second, a greener chitin hydrolysis system based on acidified molten salt hydrates (AMSHs) is introduced, significantly reducing mineral acid consumption while elucidating the critical role of Li⁺ ions in disrupting hydrogen-bonding network. Furthermore, a catalytic system combining zeolites with molten salt hydrates enables efficient one-pot hydrolysis of untreated chitin.
In addition, plastic upcycling is demonstrated through the catalytic amination of poly(p-phenylene oxide) (PPO) into substituted anilines using bimetallic Pd–Ru/CNT catalysts, providing mechanistic insights into hydrogenolysis and amination pathways. These sustainable approaches highlight the strong potential of converting waste biomass and plastics into value-added organonitrogen chemicals, contributing to the development of a circular economy and greener chemical manufacturing.
Short Biography:
Gökalp Gözaydın received his BSc and MSc degrees in Chemical Engineering from Izmir Institute of Technology. He subsequently joined National University of Singapore (NUS) as a TEV-SINGA PhD fellow, where he conducted his doctoral research under the supervision of Prof. Ning Yan. His PhD research focused on the design of novel chemocatalytic technologies for the fractionation and valorization of marine biomass into N-containing chemicals. Following his PhD, he continued his studies at NUS as a Research Fellow, working on the catalytic upcycling of plastic waste. Since April 2024, he has been an Industrial Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute for Catalysis (iCAT), Hokkaido University under the supervision of Prof. Kiyotaka Nakajima, targeting the conversion of sugars and the hydrogenation of bio-based ester compounds.