Jiaxin Ren from China is the DC4 Doctoral Candidate (Molecular scale) in the UPCYCLE MSCA Doctoral Network.
With a background in Chemical kinetic modeling, Jiaxin is pursuing a PhD at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta” at Politecnico di Milano under the supervision of Matteo Pelucchi and Alberto Cuoci.
His research focuses on the development of detailed chemistry models for the pyrolysis/gasification of hard-to-recycle biogenic waste streams, with particular attention to the catalytic effects of metal ions for the waste pyrolysis, like sodium and potassium ions. Through model optimization, validation, and pyrolysis experiments, he will explore the main catalytic effects of inorganic compounds on biomass pyrolysis.
As part of the UPCYCLE training programme, Jiaxin will collaborate with international partners through secondments at TU Darmstadt (Germany) under the supervision of Christian Hasse, where he will work on reactor-scale modeling and simulation, and at Indaver (Belgium) under the supervision of Sara Melis, gaining insight into the process of recycling and reusing biomass waste.
His work contributes to advancing the circular bioeconomy and biomass waste recovery, supporting the development of transforming biomass waste into high-value chemicals.
We’re excited to follow Jiaxin’s research journey and look forward to the insights his work will bring. 🚀