John Dorgan
Inaugural David L. and Denise M. Lamp Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Expert in polymeric materials and composites (emphasis on wind turbine composite materials)
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Biography
I believe in balancing experimental work with theoretical and modeling studies. Theoretical models provide the framework for interpreting experimental results available from rheology, ellipsometry, microscopy, and spectroscopy experiments. I am working to advance the science and technology of biobased polymers, polymer membranes, and the computer simulation of polymeric materials.
Ecological concerns are a predominant theme for the 21st century; humanity must develop sustainable systems for materials and fuels. Biologically derived and inspired materials offer hope for achieving this important goal. Also, nanotechnology is rapidly expanding and its convergence with both biology and ecology is now being recognized. Ecobionanocomposites are a new class of green materials that exploit this triple convergence of technologies and are an active area of investigation within my group. In this technical area, we work to maximize the renewable content of these next-generation plastics materials under the guidelines of the principles of green chemistry.
The long-term transition away from fossil fuels towards a sustainable system of providing fuels and materials is the greatest technical challenge facing humanity. Our efforts are aimed at improving the efficiency of present systems while working to develop new technologies that are inherently more environmentally benign and sustainable. A clear example is our work to improve the materials used to make wind turbines as part of IACMI (iacmi.org). Clearly, this is an important and exciting area in which to work and there is much to be done!
Industry Expertise (2)
Mining and Metals
Education/Learning
Areas of Expertise (3)
Fiber Reinforced Plastics
Polymers from Renewable Resources
Soft Materials
Accomplishments (2)
Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award (professional)
1996
NSF CAREER Award (professional)
1995
Education (3)
Max Planck Institut für Polymerforschung: Post-Doctoral Study
University of California, Berkeley: Ph.D.
University of Massachusetts: B.S.
Links (3)
News (2)
The right chemistry to power our future
MSU Today online
2017-07-03
John R. Dorgan, one of the newest endowed chair holders on campus, is an expert in polymeric materials and a nationally recognized leader in developing composite materials for manufacturing.
Dorgan named lamp endowed chair in chemical engineering at MSU
MSU Today online
2017-04-13
An expert in polymeric materials and composites from the Colorado School of Mines has been appointed as the inaugural David L. and Denise M. Lamp Endowed Chair in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University.
Journal Articles (3)
Kinetics and temperature evolution during the bulk polymerization of methyl methacrylate for vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding
Composites Part A: Applied Science and ManufacturingYasuhito Suzuki, Dylan Cousins, Jerred Wassgren, Branden B Kappes, John Dorgan, Aaron P Stebner
2018 Curing reactions of methyl methacrylate (MMA) comprise an induction time of gradual temperature change over tens of minutes, followed by a sudden temperature rise within tens of seconds because of auto-acceleration known as the Trommsdorff effect. These curing effects were investigated as initial initiator and polymer concentrations were varied. A mathematical model combining the reaction kinetics with heat transfer was developed and verified in its ability to simulate the processing kinetics and temperature evolutions throughout thick MMA-based parts. It was further demonstrated that the processing conditions at specific points within a part during manufacture could be actively controlled via the Trommsdorff effect by locally varying the initial concentration of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) solution. Together, these advancements provide an enhanced ability to design and optimize the manufacture of thick, large-scale PMMA materials by taking advantage of auto-acceleration instead of avoiding it.
Propionic acid production from corn stover hydrolysate by Propionibacterium acidipropionici
Biotechnology for BiofuelsXiaoqing Wang, Davinia Salvachúa, Violeta Sànchez i Nogué, William E Michener, Adam D Bratis, John R Dorgan, Gregg T Beckham
2017 The production of value-added chemicals alongside biofuels from lignocellulosic hydrolysates is critical for developing economically viable biorefineries. Here, the production of propionic acid (PA), a potential building block for C3-based chemicals, from corn stover hydrolysate is investigated using the native PA-producing bacterium Propionibacterium acidipropionici.
Integrated Biorefining: Coproduction of Renewable Resol Biopolymer for Aqueous Stream Valorization
ACS Sustainable Chemistry & EngineeringA Nolan Wilson, Mariel J Price, Calvin Mukarakate, Rui Katahira, Michael B Griffin, John R Dorgan, Jessica Olstad, Kimberly A Magrini, Mark R Nimlos
2017 Phenol-formaldehyde resins are major material classes that are used in a range of applications including composites, adhesives, foams, electronics, and insulation. While efforts have been made to produce renewable resins, there has yet to be an approach that offers potential for economic viability and meets all critical quality metrics. This failure can be attributed largely to the use of phenol and cresol homologues and to high separation costs. In this work, the use of phenol, cresol, and alkyl phenols derived from the aqueous phase generated from catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass to produce a high-quality biobased resin is demonstrated. Production, through catalytic fast pyrolysis (CFP), separation, through distillation and adsorption unit operations, and synthesis, through typical resol chemistry, produced a resin with properties, such as curing kinetics and molecular weight, competitive with petroleum-derived resin. This work explores a pathway to value-added coproducts from a CFP waste stream, which has the potential to improve the economic viability of biofuels production.
