Lucian A. Lucia

Lucian A. Lucia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Wood & Paper Science at North Carolina State University who has studied a wide variety of fundamental chemistry and material engineering questions surrounding renewables (principally wood)-based polymers over the last 12 years.  He received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Florida in 1996 on work that helped to elucidate and model the energy-storage events occurring in plant photosynthesis through the use of novel Rhenium (II)-based organometallic assemblies.

He began his professional career as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Paper Science and Technology at the Georgia Institute of Technology examining singlet oxygen’s basic interaction with lignin and cellulose as one part of a broad array of wood pulp oxidation studies.

A large part of his recent work has been focused on understanding the chemistry of wood pulping processes, specifically on hydrosulfide chemistry.  He is currently working on a major US Department of Energy-sponsored pulp & paper mill trial to retrofit a Kamyr continuous digester to accommodate a high sulfidity impregnation phase. 

He teaches WPS 595D (principal, Forest Biomaterials Chemistry), 595O (co-principal, Wood Anatomy & Chemistry), NR 595J/WPS 595B (principal, Forest Ecosystems Services), and WPS 595B (co-principal, Biomaterials Characterization).

He has co-founded and co-edits an open-access international research journal, BioResources, that is dedicated to original research articles, reviews, and editorials on advanced applications of lignocellulosics. He has co-edited a special issue of Cellulose (December 2007) on biopolymer nanotechnology and is co-editing two books in this area with Wiley & Sons (The Nanoscience and Technology of Renewable Biomaterials and Polysaccharide-based Biomaterials), is the lead author on a soon-to-be published Chem. Rev. (later this year, 2009) article covering cellulose nanocrystals, is designing new biomaterial courses at NCSU under the auspices of BioSUCCEED, coordinating and attending conferences & symposia on material science aspects of lignocellulosics, and working to promote the concept of biomass as a viable replacement for petroleum through his articles, presentations, and work.

Website: http://www4.ncsu.edu/~lalucia
Phone: 919.515.7707 (Work), 919.889.7059 (Mobile)
Fax: 919.515.6302
Email: lucian dot lucia [at] NCSU dot edu
Office: 3108 Biltmore Hall

Mailing Address:
Lucian A. Lucia
Department of Wood & Paper Science
NC State University
Campus Box 8005
3108 Biltmore Hall
Raleigh, NC 27695-8005

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