The research of the ‘Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing’ is aimed at environmentally benign and highly productive biotransformations by combining biotechnology, chemistry and reaction engineering in a multi-disciplinary platform. Our focus is the optimization of enzymatic conversions by (i) substrate-, (ii) biocatalyst-, (iii) medium-, and (iv) reaction engineering. Therefore, alternative reaction routes, especially meant for substrate engineering, are explored to reduce the environmental impact compared to established biotransformations. What medium engineering concerns, the evaluation of e.g. the use of two-liquid phase systems, neat organic solvents or solvent-free systems, and deep-eutectic-solvents (DES) is one of our targets to enhance the productivity of the biocatalytic reactions. Furthermore, to meet the needs of practical- and economical biotransformations, biocatalyst engineering, e.g. enzyme immobilization and modification, are explored to establish robust biocatalysts in an industrially relevant environment i.e. high substrate and product loadings, and the use of organic solvents. The optimized reaction conditions, including all above given aspects, will be combined with reaction engineering, leading to the development of improved reactor concepts running in batch-, fed-batch-, or in continuous mode.
Our research group offers challenging and novel projects for Bachelor and Master students aiming for a career in research fields such as:
For more detailed information regarding the B.Sc. and M.Sc. thesis projects, please contact the group (email: biobio.eng@list.au.dk).
