Tina Jeoh, Ph.D

Research

Research in support of commercialization of cellulosic biofuels and bioproducts

Cellulosic biomass is a promising feedstock for the production of advanced biofuels mandated by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. Cellulose, a structural component in energy crop, agricultural residues and municipal solid wastes is highly abundant and shown to reduce net carbon dioxide emission from fuel production by more than 50 % as compared to the production of gasoline. Commercial-scale production of cellulosic biofuels, however, is limited, with a projected global production of up to 85 million gallons/year by the end of 2014, meeting less than 1% of the Renewable Fuels Standard goal of 36 billion gallons in 2022. The bottleneck for commercialization of cellulosic biofuels is still the high cost of saccharifying cellulosic biomass to fermentable sugars, a process that requires thermal chemical pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis. Dr. Jeoh’s research is motivated by the unaswered questions hindering commercialization of the bioconversion of cellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals.

Ion-Mediated Cross-Linked Spray-Dry Microencapsulation

Encapsulation of bioactive compounds in cross-linked matrices such as alginate matrices cross-linked by calcium ions is a common and effective means to confer long term protection of the compounds and control targeted delivery of the compounds in the gastrointestinal tract. Current encapsulation methods, however, are multi-step processes that are expensive to scale-up. Dr. Jeoh and members of her lab have developed a new technology to allow direct cross-linking of alginates during spray-drying, thus allowing industrial-scale encapsulation of bioproducts (proteins, cells, probiotics, neutraceuticals etc). http://techtransfer.universityofcalifornia.edu/NCD/20956.html

Selected Publications

See Google Scholar citation profile for a complete list

Strobel, S. A., Scher, H. B., Nitin, N., & Jeoh, T. (2019). Control of physicochemical and cargo release properties of cross-linked alginate microcapsules formed by spray-drying. Journal of Drug Delivery Science and Technology, 49, 440–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jddst.2018.12.011

Nill, J., Karuna, N., & Jeoh, T. (2018). The impact of kinetic parameters on cellulose hydrolysis rates. Process Biochemistry, 74(June), 108–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2018.07.006

Strobel, S. A., Allen, K., Roberts, C., Jimenez, D., Scher, H. B., and Jeoh, T. (2018). Industrially-Scalable Microencapsulation of Plant Beneficial Bacteria in Cross-Linked Alginate Matrix. Industrial Biotechnology, 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2017.0032

Jeoh, T., N. Karuna, N. D. Weiss and L. G. Thygesen (2017). Two-Dimensional 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxometry for Understanding Biomass Recalcitrance. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b01588.

Jeoh, T., Cardona, M. J., Karuna, N., Mudinoor, A. R., and Nill, J. E. (2017). The Mechanisms of Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Cellulose – A Review. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. DOI: 10.1002/bit.26277.

Karuna, N. and Jeoh, T. (2017). The Productive Cellulase Binding Capacity of Cellulosic Substrates. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 114, 533 – 542. DOI: 10.1002/bit.26193.

Strobel, S. A., Scher, H. B., Nitin, N., & Jeoh, T. (2016). In situ cross-linking of alginate during spray-drying to microencapsulate lipids in powder. Food Hydrocolloids, 58, 141-149.

Cardona, M. J., Tozzi, E. J., Karuna, N., Jeoh, T., Powell, R. L., & McCarthy, M. J. (2015). A process for energy-efficient high-solids fed-batch enzymatic liquefaction of cellulosic biomass. Bioresource Technology, 198, 488-496. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2015.09.042

O’Dell, P. J., A. R. Mudinoor, S. J. Parikh and T. Jeoh (2015). “The Effect of Fibril Length and Architecture on the Accessibility of Reducing Ends of Cellulose Iα to Trichoderma reesei Cel7A.” Cellulose. DOI 10.1007/s10570-015-0618-y.

Karuna, N., L. Zhang, J. H. Walton, M. Couturier, M. H. Oztop, E. Master, M. J. McCarthy and T. Jeoh (2014). ” The Impact of Alkali Pretreatment and Post-Pretreatment Conditioning on the Surface Properties of Rice Straw Affecting Cellulase Accessibility to Cellulose.” Bioresource Technology 167: 232 – 240.

Skovgaard, P. A., L. G. Thygesen, H. Jørgensen, M. Cardona, E. Tozzi, M. McCarthy, M. Siika-Aho and T. Jeoh (2014). “The role of endoglucanase and endoxylanase in liquefaction of hydrothermally pretreated wheat straw.” Biotechnology Progress 30(4): 923-931.

Tozzi, E. J., M. J. McCarthy, D. M. Lavenson, M. Cardona, Powell, L. Robert, N. Karuna and T. Jeoh (2014). “Effect of fiber structure on yield stress during enzymatic conversion of cellulose.” AIChE Journal 60(5): 1582-1590.

Jeoh, T., M. C. Santa-Maria and P. J. O’Dell (2013). “Assessing cellulose microfibrillar structure changes due to cellulase action.” Carbohydrate Polymers 97(2): 581-586.

Jung, J., A. Sethi, T. Gaiotto, J. J. Han, T. Jeoh, S. Gnanakaran and P. M. Goodwin (2013). “Binding and movement of individual Cel7A cellobiohydrolases on crystalline cellulose surfaces revealed by single-molecule fluorescence imaging.” Journal of Biological Chemistry 288(33): 24164-24172.

Santa-Maria, M., A. A. Ruiz-Colorado, G. Cruz and T. Jeoh (2013). “Assessing the Feasibility of Biofuel Production from Lignocellulosic Banana Waste in Rural Agricultural Communities in Peru and Colombia.” Bioenergy Research 6(3): 1000-1011.

Santa-Maria, M., H. Scher and T. Jeoh (2012). “Microencapsulation of Bioactives in Cross-Linked Alginate Matrices by Spray-Drying.” Journal of Microencapsulation 29(3): 286-295.

Lavenson, D. M., E. J. Tozzi, N. Karuna, T. Jeoh, R. L. Powell and M. J. McCarthy (2012). “The effect of mixing on the liquefaction and saccharification of cellulosic fibers.” Bioresource Technology 111(0): 240-247.

Lavenson, D. M., E. J. Tozzi, M. J. McCarthy, R. L. Powell and T. Jeoh (2011). “Investigating Adsorption of Bovine Serum Albumin on Various Cellulosic Substrates Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging.” Cellulose 18(6): 1543 – 1554.

Roberts, K. M., D. M. Lavenson, E. J. Tozzi, M. J. McCarthy and T. Jeoh (2011). “The Effects of Water Interactions in Cellulose Suspensions on Mass Transfer and Saccharification Efficiency at High Loadings.” Cellulose 18(3): 759-773.

Santa-Maria, M. and T. Jeoh (2010). “Molecular-scale investigations of cellulose microstructure during enzymatic hydrolysis.” Biomacromolecules 11(8): 2000 – 2007.