Zhang Lina (; 14 August 1940 – 17 October 2020) was a Chinese physical chemist. She graduated from

Wuhan University Wuhan University (WHU; ) is a public research university in Wuhan, Hubei. The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Education. Wuhan university was founded as one of the four elite universities in the early republican period of China and i ...

in 1963. She was a Chinese polymer physical chemist, a professor at the School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences of

. In 2011, she became the first female Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from Wuhan university. She was the editorial board member of Cellulose, ''Journal of Biobased Materials'' and ''Bioenergy'' and ''Acta Polymerica Sinica.''

Scientific career

Zhang Lina founded the Natural

Polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

and

Polymer Physics Polymer physics is the field of physics that studies polymers, their fluctuations, mechanical properties, as well as the kinetics of reactions involving degradation and polymerisation of polymers and monomers respectively.P. Flory, ''Principles of ...

Research Group in 1993 and has been committed to fundamental and applied research of biomass resources and natural macromolecular material science. She solved the problem of the poorest soluble biomass macromolecule. The

cellulose Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to many thousands of β(1→4) linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is an important structural component of the primary cell wall ...

is a rich renewable resource on the earth, but the use of traditional manufacturing technology can harm the sustainable development of the environment. Zhang broke through the traditional method of polymer dissolution by heating and successfully dissolved

and

chitin Chitin ( C8 H13 O5 N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is probably the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cellulose); an estimated 1 billion tons of chit ...

using NaOH /

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

solution at low temperature. Using Zhang's technology can reduce the generation of white pollution, and the materials generated using Zhang's technology can be completely degraded within a month. This technology makes the recycling of biomass wastes possible and renewable resources can be better utilized. Zhang pioneered new technology for low-temperature dissolution of polymers.

Achievements

On March 27 2011, Zhang Lina won 2011

Anselme Payen award The Anselme Payen Award is an annual prize named in honor of Anselme Payen, the French scientist who discovered cellulose, and was a pioneer in the chemistry of both cellulose and lignin. In 1838, he discovered that treating successively wood with ...

as a professor of

and the first Chinese won this award. Zhang has published 530 papers, authored 16 books, and been granted nearly 100 domestic and international patents. In 2006, Zhang wrote book ''Natural polymer modified materials and applications.'' In 2007, Zhang wrote book ''Natural Polymer Science and Materials.'' In 2011, Zhang wrote book ''Environmentally friendly materials based on biomass.'' In 2015, Zhang wrote book ''Cellulose Science and Materials.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Lina 1940 births 2020 deaths Chemists from Fujian Chinese women chemists Chinese physical chemists Educators from Fujian Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences People from Nanping Physicists from Fujian Wuhan University alumni Academic staff of Wuhan University 20th-century chemists 20th-century Chinese scientists 20th-century women scientists 21st-century chemists 21st-century Chinese scientists 21st-century women scientists