Richard Venditti
Interim Associate Dean for Research and Elis Signe Olsson Professor
Elis-Signe Olsson Professor of Pulp and Paper Science and Technology
Department of Forest Biomaterials
Biltmore Hall (Robertson Wing) NA
Area(s) of Expertise
Processing and utilization of natural polymers in new products and fuels, biodegradation of biopolymers, microfibers from laundering, the fundamentals of separation science in fiber processing, paper and cotton recycling, and the environmental life cycle analysis
Dr. Richard Venditti’s is the Elis-Signe Olsson Professor of Pulp and Paper Science and Engineering in the Forest Biomaterials Department at NCSU. He has 26 years of experience in research in the areas of pulp/paper, bioeconomy, recycling, and environmental LCA. His research and teaching is involved in developing effective systems to transform renewable plant based resources into sustainable products. Venditti uses environmental life cycle analysis to guide and analyze research in bioproducts. He is currently heading a multi-organization research project to understand the fate of microparticles from laundering in the environment. He also is the principal investigator of a four year, $2.75 million United States Department of Agriculture program, entitled, Preparing Diverse and Rural Students and Teachers to Meet the Challenges of the Bioproducts and Bioenergy Industry. Venditti teaches Unit Operations of Pulp and Paper, Process Control, Environmental LCA, and Introduction to the Bioeconomy classes at NC State.
Additionally, Dr. Venditti is the director of the Pulp and Paper Workshop at NC State, co-sponsored by the Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industries (TAPPI). He teaches the paper recycling portions of the course. He received a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University, was named a TAPPI Fellow in 2012, and was named a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Environmental Science in 2009. He has over 150 peer reviewed publications and three patents. The Venditti-Gillham Equation was derived by Venditti to predict the glass transition temperature as a function of chemical conversion in polymeric systems and is often cited by name, with over 120 citations. His technology was the catalyst of a start-up company, Tethis, that produces renewable products such as superabsorbent polymers from carbohydrates.
Publications
- Aerobic biodegradation in freshwater and marine environments of textile microfibers generated in clothes laundering: Effects of cellulose and for polyester-based microfibers on the microbiome (2020)
- Carboxymethylation of hemicellulose isolated from poplar (Populus grandidentata) and its potential in water-soluble oxygen barrier films (2020)
- Fiber fractionation to understand the effect of mechanical refining on fiber structure and resulting enzymatic digestibility of biomass (2020)
- Hydrothermal Carbonization of Nanofibrillated Cellulose: A Pioneering Model Study Demonstrating the Effect of Size on Final Material Qualities (2020)
- Bi-component Carbohydrate and Lignin Nanoparticle Production from Bio-refinery Lignin: A Rapid and Green Method (2019)
- Cellulose Transparent and Flexible Films Prepared from DMAc/LiCl Solutions (2019)
- Cellulose nanocrystal supported palladium as a novel recyclable catalyst for Ullmann coupling reactions (2019)
- Comparison of Wood and Non-Wood Market Pulps for Tissue Paper Application (2019)
- Effect of Pulp Properties, Drying Technology, and Sustainability on Bath Tissue Performance and Shelf Price (2019)
- Evaluation of Paper Straws versus Plastic Straws: Development of a Methodology for Testing and Understanding Challenges for Paper Straws (2019)