Dr. sc. ing. Prans Brazdausks

Scientific interests and competences

Lignocellulosic biomass valorisation:

• Developing methods to convert hemicellulose into valuable chemicals (e.g., furfural, xylose, acetic acid)
• Developing methods to convert cellulose into valuable chemicals (e.g., glucose, ethanol, lactic acid)

Pretreatment and fermentation technologies:

• Exploring various pretreatment methods (e.g., physical, chemical, biological) to improve biomass digestibility
• Investigating the effects of different pretreatment conditions on biomass structure and enzyme accessibility
• Optimising conditions for the enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation of C6 sugars to improve target product yields

Analytical chemistry:

• Determination of the chemical composition of lignocellulosic biomass according to TAPPI, ASTM, NREL and other standards
• Developing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) techniques for chemical compound detection and quantification in the complex mixture.