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Faculty Spotlight: Nathan Tice

Faculty Spotlight:  Nathan Tice

Dr. Nathan Tice is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Eastern Kentucky University and a key member of the research team at the Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (CRAFT). Dr. Tice’s research at CRAFT focuses on the utilization of furans, co-products from biomass used in the refinery processes of biofuels, as high value feedstocks and building blocks for material applications such as plastics, polymers and advanced electronics that would normally be produced from non-renewable sources.

“CRAFT represented an exciting prospect to work with colleagues within the Chemistry Department and throughout the University on renewable fuels and feedstocks. The problem of energy independence and security is such a large one that you really need a diverse set of individuals working on solutions together,” says Tice.

While much attention has been given to the development of new biofuels as an alternative to petro-based fuels in an effort to provide environmental and security benefits, the replacement of petro-based materials such as plastics have become a field of critical importance. Research has shown that furans have the potential to act as renewable “building blocks” for high valued materials typically produced from petroleum making the production of biofuels more financially appealing.

“During the process of biomass to fuel, co-products are generated. The furan research that Dr. Tice is conducting will help increase the value of these co-products to make the entire process more economically viable,” says Dr. Bruce Pratt, CRAFT Director.

Dr. Tice gained his B.A. in Chemistry in 2003 from Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana and his Master’s at the University of Kentucky where he focused on organometallic heterocycles for advanced electronic applications. Upon receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2006, Dr. Tice took a post-doctoral research position at the University of Tennessee’s Center for Renewable Carbon in biomass chemistry where he studied homogeneous catalysis modeling of carbohydrates and nanoscale self-assembled materials from renewable feedstocks. In the fall of 2008, Dr. Tice accepted an Assistant Professor position at Eastern Kentucky University in the Department of Chemistry, where he now teaches General, Organic, and Materials Chemistry courses. His research interests involve synthetic materials for next generation electronics, "Green" chemistry for renewable energy applications, and high value chemicals and feedstocks for the emerging biorefinery sector. Dr. Tice became part of the CRAFT research team in January of 2010.

“I think the emphasis upon collaboration from multiple departments and between academia and industry is really the ideal path towards long term solutions in energy and economic security in this country. CRAFT represents a catalyst for brining all of these different groups within different specialty areas together to help overcome the obstacles facing technical limitations of biofuel production,” says Tice.

 * Dr. Nathan Tice has recently accepted a position at Butler University. CRAFT would like to thank Dr. Tice for his time and dedication to the Center, his students and to Eastern Kentucky University.

Contact Information

Brad Barnett
brad.barnett@eku.edu
622-7316

Published on July 21, 2011

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