Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen

Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Pronouns
She/Her
College
Francis College of Engineering
Department
Plastics Engineering
Phone
978-934-5371
Office
Ball Hall - 207A
Email
Gracewanting_Chen@uml.edu
Links

Expertise

Plastics Recycling, Bioplastics, Microplastics, Safer Solvents and Chemicals, Biomass Conversion

Research Interests

  • Plastic recycling, Biodegradable Polymers, Microplastics, Safer Solvent and Chemical, Biomass conversion, Lifecycle Assessment.
  • Chemical and biological recycling of plastics; Plastic degradation; Microplastics/Biofilm Interfacial Interactions; Microplastics Analysis; Renewable fuels, plastics and additives synthesis; Safer solvent and chemical formulations; Lifecycle assessment and techno-economic analyses of plastics recycling.

Education

  • Postdoc: Chemical Engineering, (2018), Purdue University
    Supporting Area: Plastic Recycling
    Dissertation/Thesis Title:Conversion of Plastic Waste into Pristine Polymers, Clean Fuels and Monores for a Sustainable Future
  • Ph.D.: Agricultural & Biological Engineering, (2017), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Supporting Area: Biomass Conversion
  • MS: Agricultural & Biological Engineering, (2013), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    Supporting Area: Biomass Conversion
  • BS: Chemical Engineering, (2011), National Taiwan University

Biosketch

Wan-Ting (Grace) Chen, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Plastics Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where she directs the Plastics & Environment Research Laboratory. Her research group has extensive experience in the sustainability area, working with stakeholders including federal and state agencies, industries, and non-profit organizations. To date, her research group has been funded by the REMADE Institute, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Defense Logistics Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center, the United Soybean Board, and several companies.

Prof. Chen’s current research focuses on four topics:

  1. Advanced recycling of plastic and municipal waste into fuels, polymers, and chemicals
  2. Biodegradable and biobased polymeric materials,
  3. Interfacial phenomena between microplastics and biofilms, and
  4. Safer and renewable solvent and chemical design.

The overarching goal of the Chen Group is to develop cost-effective plastic recycling technologies, promote the use of environmentally friendly products, and educate future generations about sustainable technology. The lab is equipped with reactors for hydrothermal processing of plastic waste and biomass, as well as various characterization tools for analyzing fuels, polymers, thin films, and microplastics. Prof. Chen is affiliated with American Institute of Chemical Engineers and American Chemical Society. To date, she has published 45+ peer-reviewed articles with a total citation of 3800+ and an H-index of 28.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • 2022 Department Teaching Excellence Award
  • 2017 Purdue Postdoctoral Association (PPDA) Travel Grant Award
  • 2017 Outstanding Student Research Award, Chinese American Chemical Society
  • 2016-2017 Dissertation Completion Fellowship, UIUC
  • 2017-2017 Mavis Future Faculty Fellowship (MF3 Fellowship), UIUC
  • 2016 AIChE’s Women’s Initiatives Committee (WIC) Travel Award
  • 2016 Selected participants of AIChE Education Division's Future Faculty Program
  • 2016 Selected participants of Purdue Prospective Faculty Workshop (Invited workshop)
  • 2016 First place of Collegiate Technical Poster Competition in SWE Region H Conference
  • 2015 Ben & Georgeann Jones Graduate Student Teaching Scholarship, ABE, UIUC
  • 2014 First place of Collegiate Technical Poster Competition in SWE14 Annual Conference
  • 2014 Scholarship Awarded by Phi Tau Phi Scholastic Honor Society of America
  • 2014 Second place of Boyd-Scott Graduate Research Award (MS category), ASABE
  • 2014 Second prize of Research Presentation, Chinese American Chemical Society
  • 2013-2015 Studying Abroad Scholarship Awarded by Ministry of Education, Taiwan
  • 2012-2016 ACES’ Office of Research Travel Grants, UIUC
  • 2013 ERM Foundation Sustainable Fellowship

Selected Publications

  • David Trung Nguyen, Evan Yu, Carol Barry, and Wan-Ting Chen, “A Review and Perspective on Advancing Life Cycle Assessment to Injection Molding,” Journal of Cleaner Production, 142229, 2023.
  • Kerry Candlen, Gregory Reimonn, Md. Akiful Haque, Olivia Hosterman, and Wan-Ting Chen, “Biofilm-influenced Weathering of Polypropylene in Various Aqueous Environments,” Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, 12 (2), 112284, 2024.
  • Shawn Martey, Mansoureh Jamalzadeh, Wan-Ting Chen, and Margaret Sobkowicz* “The role of nanoclay in processing immiscible polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate) waste blends using twin screw extrusion,” Composites Part B: Engineering, 276, 111320, 2024.
  • Md. Akiful Haque, Kerry Candlen, Danielle Froio-Blumsack, Amy Peterson, Jo Ann Ratto, and Wan-Ting Chen, “Degradation Behavior of Multilayer Pouches Containing Liquid and Powder Hot Sauce for Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) Rations,” Food Packaging and Shelf Life, 40, 101209, 2023.
  • Taofeng Lu and Wan-Ting Chen, “Material Recycling of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) from Toy Waste Using Density Separation and Safer Solvents,” Resource, Conversation, & Recycling, 197, 107090, 2023.
  • Md. Akiful Haque, Kerry Candlen, Amy Peterson, Jo Ann Ratto, and Wan-Ting Chen, “Degradation of Multilayer Food Packaging in the Presence of Highly Acidic Food,” Journal of Food Engineering, 340, 111318, 2022.
  • Taofeng Lu, Kalsoom Jan, and Wan-Ting Chen, “Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Pretreated Polyethylene-Based Ocean-Bound Plastic Waste in Supercritical Water,” Journal of Energy Institute, 105, 282-292, 2022.
  • Ren-Xuan Yang, Kalsoom Jan, Ching-Tien Chen, Wan-Ting Chen, and Kevin C.-W. Wu, “Catalytic Thermochemical Conversion of Plastic Waste into Fuels, Chemicals, and Value-Added Materials: A Critical Review and Outlooks,” ChemSusChem, 2022, 15 (11), e202200171.
  • Kerry Candlen, Md. Akiful Haque, Nicholas Farfaras, Shawn Martey, Peter Perez, Jo Ann Ratto, Ron Pulis, Robina Hogan, Wan-Ting Chen, “Biodegradable Mulch Films Produced from Soy-Filled Polymer Resins,” Materials Today Communications, 31, 103331, 2022.
  • Wan-Ting Chen, Md. Akiful Haque, Taofeng Lu, Aersi Aierzhati, and Gregory Reimonn, “Hydrothermal Processing of Biosolids,” Current opinion in Environmental Science & Health, 14: 63-73, 2020 (Invited).

Selected Presentations

  • Exploring Microplastics: Impacts, Solutions, and Policy Perspectives, Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center Microplastics Symposium, Virtual, Apr 2024
  • Exploring Interactions of Mild Acids with Multilayer Packaging: From Degradation to Chemical Recycling, Adhesion CoP Seminar Series, Dow, Virtual, Mar 2024
  • Advanced Recycling of Plastic Waste in Medical Industries, Spotlight Medical Extrusion & Secondary Operations Conference, Lowell, MA, Sep 2023.
  • Hydrothermal liquefaction of polyethylene with different molecular weights in supercritical water, 27th ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, Long Beach, CA, Jun 2023.
  • Upcycling Plastic Waste for a Circular Economy, National Central University (Taiwan), Graduate Institute of Network Learning Technology, Virtual Seminar, Apr 2023.
  • Upcycling Food Waste into Useful Products, ACS Zero Hunger Summit, Virtual Seminar, December 2022.
  • Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Pretreated Polyethylene-based Ocean-Bound Plastic Waste in Supercritical Water, Taipei International Conference on Catalysis, Virtual Seminar, July 2022.
  • Weathering and Degradation of Polymeric Films in Acidic Food and Aqueous Environments: Focus on Surface Effects, U.S. Army Research Lab Environmental Films Workshop, Virtual Workshop, May 2022.
  • Investigation of Multilayer Film Structures and their Performance Properties for Meal-Ready-to-Eat Hot Sauce Packaging, Research & Development Associates for Military Food & Packaging Systems (R&DA) Spring Meeting, Hershey, PA, March 2022.
  • Chemical Recycling of Plastic Waste: Current State-of-the-art and Industrial Applications, Texas A&M University Society of Plastic Engineers Student Chapter, Virtual Seminar, February 2022.
  • Chemical Recycling of Plastic Waste: Current State-of-the-art and Industrial Applications, University of Oxford Materials Colloquium Talk, Virtual Seminar, May 2021.
  • Material Attributes of MSW that Impact the Quality for Hydrothermal Processes (HTP), Environment-Enhancing Energy Workshop, Virtual Workshop, January 2021.
  • Plastic Waste Valorization for a Circular Economy: Perspective on Chemical Recycling and Industrial Applications, Braskem USA, Virtual Seminar, August 2020.
  • Chemical Recycling of Plastic Waste: Current State-of-the-art and Industrial Applications, REMADE Institute Short Course Series, Recorded Seminar, June 2020.
  • Fundamental material attributes of MSW that impact the quality necessary for various conversion pathways and feedstock end-uses, U.S. DOE BETO Municipal Solid Waste Workshop, Arlington, VA, February 2020.

Selected Intellectual Property

  1. Wan-Ting Chen, Nien-Hwa Linda Wang, and Jin Kai, "Methods of Converting Plastic Waste into Useful Stock," US 2019/0322832 A1, Oct.24, 2019.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “The Effect of Pretreatment on Hydrothermal Processes of Polyolefins,” Braskem USA
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Chemical Recycling of Bio-pharmaceutical Multilayer Film Waste,” EDM Millipore
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Chemical Recycling of ABS from Toy Waste Using a Solvent-based Process,” Hasbro Inc.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI) and Meg SobkowiczKline “Aramid Copolymers as Reinforcing Compatibilizers for Mixed Plastics Recycling,” Department of Energy SBIR Phase I/Luna Innovations.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), Amy Peterson, and Jo Ann Ratto Ross, “Identification of Critical Performance Properties for Barrier Materials in Hot Sauce Packaging for Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) Rations,” Defense Logistics Agency.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI) and Joey Mead “Melt Processing Ocean Plastics Using the Compatibilizer,” Department of Energy SBIR Phase I/Luna Innovations.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI) and Joey Mead “Mulch Films from Soy Waste,” United Soybean Board/FIICZA Inc.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Chemical Recycling of Mixed Plastics and Precious Metals in the Electronic Wastes Using Solvent-based Processing,” REMADE Institute.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Co-Hydrothermal Conversion of Microplastic Pollutants and Harmful Algal Bloom into Biocrude Oil,” Massachusetts Water Resources Research Center/United States Geological Survey (USGS).

Research Currently in Progress

  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), Amy Peterson, and Jo Ann Ratto Ross, “Investigation of Performance Metrics for Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) Ration Packaging with Sustainable Packaging Options,” Defense Logistics Agency.
  • Hsi-Wu Wong, Wan-Ting Chen (co-PI), and Juan Pablo Trelles, “Integrated Chemolytic Delamination and Plasma Carbonization for the Upcycling of Single-Use Multi-layer Plastic Films,” Department of Energy AMO Office.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Continuous Aspirations in Turning Abundant Landfill-destined Substances to Treasure (CATALiST),” 2024 OTCV Technology Development Fund.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI), “Valorizing Military Plastic Waste through Integrated Chemolytical Transformation to Optimize Reusable Fuel and Chemical Yield (VICTORY)” HEROES US Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center ASPIRE-II cooperative agreement
  • Meg SobkowiczKline, David Kazmer, and Wan-Ting Chen (co-PI), “Packaging with Aqueous Dissolution and Enzymatic Disposal (PADED)” HEROES US Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center ASPIRE-II cooperative agreement.
  • Ramaswamy Nagarajan, Jayant Kumar, Michael Ciuchta, and Wan-Ting Chen (co-PI), “Durable Flame Retardant, Multifunctional Coatings for Nyco Fabric” HEROES US Army Natick Soldier RD&E Center SLIMMER Project.
  • Wan-Ting Chen (PI) and Daniel Lachos-Perez, “Formulating "pumpable" waste plastics and biomass feedstocks for a continuous hydrothermal processing” UML NSF I-Corps program.