Characterization of Biomaterials Overview This course is one of the six on-line courses developed under the BIOSCCEED project sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture. Objectives To describe the principles and the instruments suited for testing and examining the molecular and macroscopic structural features of naturally occurring biomaterials with emphasis on the with emphasis on forest-based biomaterials. To provide examples of the application of the testing methods for the characterization of the biomaterials. Outcomes The students will demonstrate the knowledge of the fundamentals operating behind the testing methods and analytical techniques by correctly explaining the working principle of any of these techniques. The students will demonstrate the understanding of the way the testing methods are applied toward addressing chemical, physical and other macroscopic properties of biomaterials by selecting the pertinent technique to fulfill a particular characterization objective. The students will demonstrate the knowledge of the limitations of each of the testing methods by interpreting the test results correctly.

Some or all of the material in the course that follows this slide originated as part of the BioSUCCEED project. This project was undertaken during 2006 through 2008 by the partner institutions North Carolina State University, University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University. The sponsor was the USDA, through Higher Education Challenge Grant. Our goal has been to develop a foundation of instructional material that can be used and modified without fee by faculty members from accredited institutions. Our vision is that this hand off of instructional material, when combined with the separate efforts of individual faculty members to update, expand, and enliven the material, may help to accelerate the pace of scholarship and research progress related to the utilization of biomass. Welcome message from the team that developed basic content for the present course:

Characterization of Biomaterials List of Lectures Part I: Carbohydrates/Lignin & Organic Spectroscopy 1. Wet methods of carbohydrate analyses 2. Lignin Isolation & Acidolysis 3. Permanganate Oxidation and Nitrobenzene Oxidation 4. Thioacidolysis and Derivatization Followed by Reductive Cleavage 5. UV Vis Spectroscopy 6. FT-IR and Raman Spectroscopy 7. NMR 8. GC/MS 9. MALDI/TOF Part II: Microcopy and Solid State 10. AFM 11. Other Microscopy 12. Mechanical Properties Part III: Advanced Spectroscopic Methods /Thermal Analysis and Polymer Chemistry 13. ToF-SIMS 14. X-ray Fluorescence Microscopy 15. Differential Scanning Calorimetry/Thermogravimetric Analysis 16. Laser Induced Plasma Emission Spectroscopy (LIPS) 17. Light Scattering/Viscometry Part IV: Surface Characterization: 18. Chemical: XPS 19. Physicochemical: Surface Energies 20. Adsorption Phenomena 21. QCM and Ellipsometry 22. Reflectometry and SPR