Sep 5, 2023 – Tze's research group welcomes the joining of BBE undergraduate student Kyle Wist. Kyle is funded by the UMN Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) to work on lignin-based adhesive for wood bonding.
Mar 26, 2023 – Nihar presented (virtually) a poster on a nano-filled, compatibilizer-enabled biodegradable polymer [poly(butylene succinate)] at the American Chemical Society Spring Conference.
Sep 8, 2022 – Nihar Sakhadeo joined Tze's Lab as a PhD student working on lignin-based nanocomposites. Nihar came from the Nordic Master's Program in Polymer Technology jointly offered by KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and Alto University (Finland). Welcome, Nihar!
Feb 24, 2022 – The Tze group welcomes undergraduate chemistry student Suna Jo. Suna's research will be on biobased heat storage materials.
Jan 18, 2022 – BBE undergraduate student Lauren Mecum joined the Tze group to work on lignin-toughened polymeric nanocomposites. She is funded by the UMN Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Welcome, Lauren!
Aug 18, 2021 – The Tze group published a paper on making "binderless films from lignin-rich residues of enzymatic saccharification", with contributions from university colleagues and a researcher from Seoul National University.
May 17, 2021 – The Tze group welcomes undergraduate research assistant Claire Mikkelson. Clare will be researching micro-nanofiber boards and other related products.
Apr 5, 2021 – Hsin-Chen presented (virtually) a poster on resin-free nano-fiberboard at the American Chemical Society Spring Conference.
Dec 2, 2020 – Dr. Tze presented (virtually) an invited talk about wood solid waste utilization to the Wood Science and Engineering Graduate Seminar, Oregon State University.
Sep 16, 2020 – The Tze group welcomes the joining of Hsin-Chen Chen, who brings with her the experience of nanocellulose composite research from National Taiwan University. She will work on resin-free bonding of wood microfiber. Welcome aboard, Hsin-Chen!
Apr 30, 2020 – Dr. Tze co-authored a paper with researchers from the Laboratory of Biocomposite Materials Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, on using nanocellulose to enhance properties of a polymeric material used in artwork conservation.
Jul 9, 2019 – Dr. Tze presented a poster in the 6th Global Conference on Polymer and Composite Materials, Bangkok about enhancing wet stength property of water-soluble polymer using microfibrillated wood.
Jun 4, 2019 – Dr. Tze presented his research on "crosslinking and carbonization of electrospun lignosulfonate fiber" in the 2019 International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials in Chiba, Japan. This research was in collaboration with National Taiwan University's Laboratry of Biocomposite Materials Science and Technology.
Mar 23, 2019 – The Tze lab published an article on the morphological and rheological behaviors of micro-nanofibrillated wood in Cellulose.
Oct 18, 2018 – Dr. Tze presented a talk in Taiwan's 107th Forest Resource Sustainability Development on the subject of utilizing saccharification waste for wood adhesive.
Feb 6, 2018 – Hafez successfully defended his dissertaion on the conversion and utilization of the hardwood solid waste stream of bio-alcohol (fermentable sugars) production for wood adhesive applications. Congratulations, Dr. Hafez!
Oct 30, Nov 2, 2017 – Hafez presented a poster on conductive polymer composites and a talk on biobased adhesives in the 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting
Jun 12, 2017 – Research of Dr. Tze's group was highlighted on the front cover page of the Journal of Applied Polymer Science, volume 134, issue 35 (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/app.v134.35/issuetoc).
Apr 20, 2017 – Fletcher presented a poster on “Crosslinking of chitosan-xylan films" at the 2017 UMN Undergraduate Symposium.
Sep 6, 2016 – BBE undergraduate student Fletcher Gilbertson joined the Tze group to work on chitosan-xylan bioplastic. He is funded by the UMN Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Welcome, Fletcher!
Oct 29-31, 2015 – Dr. Tze presented a talk on “Thermosetting adhesive precursor as a coproduct in enzymatic saccharification of woody biomass” at the 2015 USDA-NIFA AFRI Sustainable Bioenergy Annual Project Director Meeting.
Oct 5, 2015 – Dr. Tze hosted the research visit of Professor Guanben Du, Vice President of Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China.
Jun 22-25, 2015 – Dr. Tze presented at the 2015 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials with a poster titled: “Dye adsorption behavior of nanofibrillated cellulose materials”.
Jun 10-12, 2015 – Dr. Yang presented at the 69th Forest Products Society International Convention. He gave a talk on “Ultra-fine friction grinding of wood saccharification residues: Effects of energy input on the structural characteristics of the resulted nanofibers” from his research, and a poster on “Cure monitoring of fully biobased adhesive from saccharification residues” from group research of Tze’s lab.
Mar 22-26, 2015 – Hafez delivered a talk on “Curing behavior and bond performance of wood adhesive from enzymatic hydrolysis residues of lignocellulosic biomass” at the 249th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition.
Jan 20, 2015 – The Tze group welcome BBE undergraduate student Katrina Hanson funded by the UMN Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Katrina will be working on nanocellulose-soybean oil composites.
Nov 16-21, 2014 – Dr. Yang delivered an oral presentation at the 2014 AIChE Annual Meeting on “Ductility improvement of film products made of nanofibrillated saccharification residues of wood”.
Oct 29-31, 2014 – Dr. Tze presented research output titled: “Thermosetting adhesives as coproducts of fermentable sugar from woody biomass” at the 2014 USDA-NIFA AFRI Sustainable Bioenergy Annual Project Director Meeting.
Jun 23-26, 2014 – Dr. Tze presented a research summary of Tze’s group on “Nanofibrillation of lignocellulosic biomass and their reinforcing potentials” at the 2014 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials.
Jun 16-18, 2014 – Dr. Branciforti and Hafez presented at the Nanotech 2014 Conference and Expo on their respective papers titled, “Characterization of lignocellulose nanomaterials to discern morphology development during mechanical nanofibrillation” (poster) and “Applications of enzymatic saccharification residues as a fully biobased adhesive” (oral).
Jun 1, 2014 – BBE undergraduate student Derek Nelson joined our research group for a summer project on “Celluose nanofiber/polymer composites by filtration approach” funded by the UMN Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Welcome Derek!
Mar 10, 2014 – Dr. Tze hosted the research visit of Dr. Sumire Kawamoto of the Department of Wood Improvement, Forestry and Forest Products Institute, Tsukuba, Japan.
Nov 4-5, 2013 – Dr. Tze hosted the research visit and BBE Seminar presentation of Professor Douglas Gardner of the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine.
Oct 14, 2013 – Dr. Tze delivered an oral presentation on “Binderless films as coproducts of biomass saccharification” in the 25th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Industrial Crops.
Sep 3, 2013 – Jonathon Langkammer joined our research group. He is funded by the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) for the fall semester. He will be working on imparting electrical conductivity to cellulose nanofibers. Welcome, Jon!
Aug 1, 2013 – Dr. Márcia Branciforti, a faculty member from the Materials Engineering Department of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, joined us for her visiting scholar research. Her expertize is on polymers and applications, with special interests in, among others, nanobiocomposites, morphology, and molecular orientation. She will be working on the nanofibrillation of woody biomass and exploring its value-adding potentials. Welcome, Dr. Branciforti!
Jul 8-9, 2013 – Dr. Tze hosted the research visit of Professor Hyun-Joong Kim, leader of the Lignocellulosic Biomass-based Advanced Eco-Materials Technology Team, Seoul National University, South Korea
Jun 9, 2013 – Dr. Yang and Hafez attended the 67th Forest Products Society International Convention and they respectively presented a poster on “Mechanical properties of sheet products made of nano-fibrillated woody biomass” and “Electrically conductive nanofibers coated with PEDOT:PSS”. They also presented their research findings in the concurrent Society of Wood Science and Technology Convention, with Dr. Yang’s poster entitled: “Saccharification residues for bioproducts: Reactivity and accessibility characterization“ and Hafez’s poster on “Binderless films by enzymatic activation of wood nanofibers”.
May 28, 2013 – Evelyn McLaughlin, an undergraduate student of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering (BBE) major, joined our group for summer research. She will be working on surface oxidation of cellulose fibers and testing of cellulose nanocomposites. Welcome aboard, Evelyn!
Jan 28, 2013 – Islam Hafez joined our research team as a graduate research assistant. Hafez recently completed his MS study in Forest Products at Mississippi State University, and he will pursue his PhD study at the University of Minnesota. Welcome, Hafez!
Dec 4, 2012 – Dr. Tze presented in the “NIFA Sustainable Bioenergy & Bioproducts Meeting” on “Nanocomposites from biomass saccharification residues: Estimation of crystalline reinforcement”.
Nov 28, 2012 – Ava Schrenk was awarded funding for spring 2013 under the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). Ava will be working on the “Impact of adding nanoparticles to a wood thermosetting adhesive”. Congratulations, Ava!
Oct 25, 2012 – Dr. Yang presented a poster in the “Fall 2012 BBE Advisory Council Meeting” on “Effects of enzymatic saccharification on the crystallinity, porosity, and reactivity of woody biomass”.
Oct 15 2012 – Sangki Hong, a senior Chemistry student, joined our research team to work on his (one-year) directed research. Welcome, Sangki!
Sep 10, 2012 – Ava Schrenk, a senior student of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering (BBE) major, joined our research team as an Undergraduate Research Assistant. Welcome, Ava!
Aug 28, 2012 – Dr. Yang’s paper entitled: “Mechanical Properties of Cellulose Nanofibril-Filled Polypropylene Composites” won the George G. Marra Award (third place) for excellence in writing and research. His paper was selected from scientific papers published in the Wood and Fiber Science Journal in 2012. Congratulations, Dr. Yang!
Jun 4, 2012 – Dr. Tze presented at the “International Nanofiber Symposium / N3M – Nanofibers for the 3rd Millennium 2012 (Nanofibers2012)” on “Nanofibers from Biomass Saccharification Residues: Inferences from Chemical and Crystallinity Studies”.
Mar 28, 2012 – Dr. Tze presented a poster entitled: “Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analysis and Raman Spectroscopy of Cellulose Nanocomposites” at the USA’ International Conference on Surfaces, Coatings and Nanostructured Materials (NANOSMAT-USA) held in Tampa, Florida
Nov 23, 2011 – Dr. Tze presented an invited lecture entitled: “Nano-cellulose: Tapping its reinforcement benefits and understanding load transfer in its composites” to the Dept. Biosystems & Biomaterials Science & Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Oct 27, 2011 – Dr. Yang presented a poster in the “Fall 2011 BBE Advisory Council Meeting” on “Co-products of bioenergy system: Characterization of saccharification residuals”.
Oct 24-26, 2011 – Dr. Tze presented in the “NIFA Sustainable Bioenergy & Bioproducts Meeting” on “Characterization of solid residues from enzymatic saccharification of woody biomass”.
Oct 16-21, 2011 – Dr. Yang presented a paper on “Co-products of bioenergy system: Characterization of saccharification residuals” in the “2011 AICHE Annual Meeting”.
Jun 16, 2011 – Dr. Tze delivered an invited talk entitled: “Tapping the reinforcement benefits of nanocrystalline cellulose” to Andersen Corporation, Bayport, Minnesota.
Jun 6-8, 2011 – Dr. Tze attended the “2011 TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials” to present a paper on “A Raman/tensile study of load transfer in microfibrillated cellulose/poly(lactic acid) composites”.
Mar 1, 2011 – Dr. Han-Seung Yang joined our research group as a Research Associate. Before joining us, he worked at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center of the University of Maine. Dr. Yang graduated from Seoul National University, and his expertise (.pdf) is in lignocellulose- and nanocellulose-plastic composites. Welcome, Dr. Yang!
Feb 2011 – A special issue was published in the Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology on “Adhesion Aspects in the Paper Indurtsy” in which Dr. Tze served as a guest co-editor with Dr. Steve Severtson.
Dec 15, 2010 – Lili Zhou successfully defended her M.S. thesis.
Jul 16, 2010 – Jesse Lund successfully defended his M.S. thesis.
Jul 15, 2010 – Jin Yao successfully defended his M.S. thesis.
Jul 4-10, 2010 – Dr. Tze attended the “5th 18th Annual International Conference on Composites/Nano Engineering” to orally present a paper on “Raman spectroscopic studies of load transfer in nano-cellulose-filled poly(lactic acid) composites”.Website.
Jun 20-22, 2010 – Dr. Tze attended the “5th Forest Products Society 64th International Convention” to orally present a paper on “Cellulose self-reinforced composites from partial dissolution”.Website.
Jun 20-22, 2010 – Dr. Tze attended the “5th Forest Products Society 64th International Convention” to present a poster on “Characterization of bio-based nanomaterial reinforcement of polymer: Isolating effects of adhesion from dispersion”.Website.
Jun 20-22, 2010 – Jin Yao attended the “5th Forest Products Society 64th International Convention” to present a poster on “Nano-cellulose/PLA adhesion: Evaluation using a micro-Raman tensile technique”.Website.
Nov 17, 2009 – Jesse Lund attended the “5th Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology Conference” to present a poster on “Preparation of nanocomposites by polymer infusion for investigating adhesion effects on the nanocrystalline cellulose reinforcement of polymer”.Website.
Nov 17, 2009 – Jin Yao attended the “5th Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology Conference” to present a poster on “Effect of nano-cellulose on the stress relaxation behavior of PLA”.Website.
Jun 24, 2009 – Dr. Tze attended the “2009 International Conference on Nanotechnology for the Forest Products Industry” in Edmonton, Canada, to present a poster on “Nano-cellulose/PLA composites using Raman spectroscopy – Spectral analysis”.Website.
Mar 3-4, 2009 – Dr. Tze hosted the visit and invited lecture (title: Frontiers of Nanotechnology in Bio-based Materials)of Professor John Simonsen from Oregon State University at the BBE Centennial Seminar.Website.
Nov 26, 2008 – Dr. Tze gave an invited presentation entitle:“Characterization of Interphase in Cellulosic Composites” in Japan for the Kyoto University/National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology join-research team on nanofiber nanocomposites.
Nov 11, 2008 – Jesse Lund attended the “4th Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology Conference” to present a poster on “Nanomaterials from cellulosic biomass – characterization of their reinforcement effects in polymeric composites.” Website.
Nov 06, 2008 – Laura Moya successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation.
Aug 17, 2008 – Jin Yao joined the Tze Research Group as a new Graduate Research Assistant.
Jun 25, 2008 – Dr. Tze attended the “2008 International Conference on Nanotechnology for the Forest Products Industry” in St. Louis, MO to present a poster on “Effects of compatibilizers on the mechanical properties of cellulose nanocrystal-reinforced polystyrene composites“. Website.
Jun 23, 2008 – Dr. Tze received the 2008 L. J. Markwardt Wood Engineering Award from the Forest Products Society for the most outstanding research paper (WFS 39:184-195, 2007) published in the last two years (2006 & 2007) in either the Forest Products Journal (FPJ) or Wood and Fiber Science (WFS) on the basic research of wood as an engineering material. Website.
May 14, 2008 – Dr. Tze received the 2008 Richard C. Newman Art of Teaching Award for passion and excellence in the teaching of natural resource sciences and for positive impacts on students.
Jan 01, 2008 – Lili Zhou joined the Tze Research Group as a new Graduate Research Assistant.
Nov 13, 2007 – Jesse Lund attended the “3rd Annual Minnesota Nanotechnology Conference to present a poster on “Cellulose nanocrystal reinforced composites through preparation in organic phases.” Website.
Oct 18, 2007 – Jesse Lund presented a poster on “Single-step extraction of cellulose into organic media” for the BBE Advisory Council Meeting.
Jun 13, 2007 – Dr. Tze attended the “International Conference on Nanotechnology for the Forest Products Industry” in Knoxville, TN to present a poster on “Sorption behaviors of cellulose nanocrystal-filled polymer composites“. Website.
Jun 11, 2007 – Laura Moya attended the “Forest Products Society 61st International Convention” in Knoxville, TN to present a talk on “Using fire-impacted trees for oriented strand boards“.