Biorefining of rice husks for functional biosilica
This project aims to produce sustainable high performance silica from rice husks for rubber and polymer composite applications. A biorefinery approach will be developed to fractionate rice husks into fermentable sugars, reactive lignin and functional silica. Sugars and lignin can be further upgraded to valuable biofuels, biochemicals and/biopolymers using chemical and/or biological approaches. Silica will be used as sustainable silica fillers for manufacturing rubber and polymer composites with properties comparable or superior to those containing commercial silica fillers derived from non-renewable quartz sand.
Chief Investigators
Other Team Members
- Cheng Yan (CI)
- Steven Pratt (UQ CI)
- Peter Smart
- Shaik Muhammadu Muneer
Partners
