Graduate Seminar| Synthesizing a Circular Economy , by Professor Erin Leitao

Biography:

Erin Leitao joined the University of Auckland in late 2015 after a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Bristol (UK).  Her research group is interested in efficiently synthesizing safe-by-design functional inorganic molecules and polymers, ideally using catalysis. Where possible, renewable feedstocks are used, green chemistry principles are applied, and the degradation and fate of the materials are considered. Erin’s research projects include understanding catalytic mechanisms to improve the selectivity of forming of main-group/main-group bonds, polymer recycling (plastics, silicone), and the synthesis of replacements for PFAS, flame-retardants, pesticides as well as new materials to be used as sorbents.

The Leitao lab and collaborators are working to create safe-by-design materials that fall within modern standards of product stewardship and
circularity. Our team aims to take a Green Chemistry approach by using waste streams to replace and remediate chemicals of high concern as well as synthesize molecules and materials with their end of life in mind. Our research brings together interdisciplinary expertise from synthetic chemistry, engineering, as well as social and environmental sciences. In the seminar, recent results from our ongoing projects will be discussed, including our efforts to synthesize a new class of P-N polymers, to generate cross-linked polysulfide sorbents for remediation, and to repurpose plastic waste while installing biodegradability as a design feature.