Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Green infusion creates new future for chemistry
Professor Milton Hearn and his team at the Centre for Green Chemistry have developed a new process to extract natural resveratrol from grape waste, rather than manufacturing it from a petro-chemical base. Resveratrol is a natural phenol found in the skin of red grapes and in an increasing number of processed foods, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. It is sought for its potential anti-ageing and health promoting effects.
Milton says the new extraction process adds value to what is otherwise agricultural waste. Chemically, it uses a biological process to replace a less efficient synthetic process that produces significant waste of its own. The result of the research is more resveratrol to go around and better environmental outcomes.
The new process uses recyclable polymers to attract and capture the resveratrol from grape skin residues, and waste from the process itself is minimal. It has the potential to generate commercial quantities of resveratrol, making it more readily available for research, and for incorporation into new products. The process can also be adapted to extract other biological phenols, and this is the aim of ongoing research at the Centre.
Milton says all these elements are an important part of the philosophy underpinning the green chemistry approach, which aims to be 'benign by design'.
When he first became director of the Centre for Green Chemistry in 2002 the term 'green chemistry' related largely to synthetic organic chemistry. Since then he has been instrumental in expanding the concept at both a national and international level, to incorporate what he calls 'bio-inspired chemistry'.
As a biochemist, Milton believes taking advantage of existing biological processes often proves a smarter and more cost-effective approach than synthetically reproducing naturally produced chemicals.
He says green chemistry will have an essential role in reducing the environmental and social impacts of the chemical industry. Of the 80,000 or so industrial chemicals used commercially, more than 90 per cent are produced from fossil fuels. In a carbon-aware economy this will have to change. The extraction of biologically produced resveratrol as an alternative to the synthesised product is a small beginning.
Numerous chemical manufacturing processes also generate significant quantities of waste, some of it toxic. In some cases up to 1000 times more waste is generated than usable product. Milton says this is also no longer socially acceptable and that many leading chemical manufacturers are undertaking whole life cycle assessments of their production processes and chemical use. Breaking down their production processes allows these businesses to identify areas where green chemistry can make a difference.
Projects are conducted using flexible, multi-disciplinary teams in much the same way that industry research teams operate. Milton says being able to understand chemistry within a context wider than just the chemistry itself is an essential part of the green approach.
The Centre's Australian Research Council funding is soon to end, but Milton is confident its next incarnation will provide even stronger links with industry. Monash and the Federal Government are funding a new $78 million purpose-built research centre at Clayton as part of the Green Chemical Futures initiative Milton leads. The new facility will create new opportunities for research, training and collaboration and will improve the capacity of the Australian chemical industry to respond to the challenges of the future.
Milton insists that the Centre's research is undertaken with practical outcomes in mind.
'Not all our projects are driven by meeting industry needs. But in my view progress in science is only achieved when you can identify the real benefits.'
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Network
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ARC Training Centre for Green Chemistry in Manufacturing
Patti, A., Junkers, T., Raston, C. L., Barrow, C. J., Hapgood, K., Gates, W. P., Adcock, J. L., Sutti, A., Rajkhowa, R., Saito, K., Tabor, R., Hearn, M., Tanksale, A., Garnier, G., Franco, C., Tang, Y., Zhang, W., Heimann, K., Crawford, S., Height, M., Cock, B., Warner, J. C., Buckingham, E., King, B., Jayaratne, V., Scott, J., Bury, P., Chan, P. W. H., Robinson, A., Semple, J., Smullen, R., Ciampi, S., Sun, G., Chong, J., Miltenoff, J., Moreno , C., Innes, L., Aldrich, C., Lovelady, C., James, I., Phillips, D., Pham, H., Sacher, M., Woods, R., Francis, P., Pas, E., Wood, B. & Sun, B.
Infineum International Limited (United Kingdom), Phytovision Pty Ltd, Green Eco Technologies (Australia) PTY LTD , The Trustee for Steven Mantzaris Family Trust, CSL Behring (Australia), Bioworks Australia Pty Ltd (trading as Bioworks Australia), Australian Research Council (ARC), Phoslock Environmental Technologies Limited, Beyond Benign
15/12/20 → 14/12/24
Project: Research
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ARC Discovery 2002 (Tasmania)-Prof Hearn
Australian Research Council (ARC)
1/01/04 → …
Project: Research
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Adsorption of a Humanized Monoclonal Antibody onto Thermoresponsive Copolymer-Grafted Sepharose Fast Flow Sorbents
Tan, S., Saito, K. & Hearn, M. T. W., 15 Jan 2021, In: Langmuir. 37, 3, p. 1054–1061 8 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
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Dynamic adsorption/desorption of proteins with thermo-responsive polymer grafted sepharose fast flow sorbents
Tan, S., Boysen, R. I., Saito, K. & Hearn, M. T. W., 15 Mar 2021, In: Separation and Purification Technology. 259, 8 p., 118173.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
5 Citations (Scopus) -
Isothermal modelling of protein adsorption to thermo-responsive polymer grafted Sepharose Fast Flow sorbents
Tan, S., Saito, K. & Hearn, M. T. W., May 2021, In: Journal of Separation Science. 44, 9, p. 1884-1892 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
The role of microbial infection in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease and the opportunity for protection by anti-microbial peptides
Li, F., Hearn, M. & Bennett, L. E., 8 Feb 2021, In: Critical Reviews in Microbiology. 47, 2, p. 240-253 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review Article › Research › peer-review
4 Citations (Scopus) -
Batch binding studies with thermo-responsive polymer grafted sepharose 6 fast flow sorbents under different temperature and protein loading conditions
Tan, S., Campi, E. M., Boysen, R. I., Saito, K. & Hearn, M. T. W., 16 Aug 2020, In: Journal of Chromatography A. 1625, 12 p., 461298.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
5 Citations (Scopus)
Prizes
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Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Award
Hearn, Milton (Recipient), 1984
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis
Hearn, Milton (Recipient), 1994
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Centennial Medal of the Commonwealth of Australia
Hearn, Milton (Recipient), 2001
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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MONASH UNIVERSITY (Organisational unit)
Milton Hearn (Inventor), Steven Langford (Inventor), Kellie Tuck (Inventor), Simon Harris (Inventor), Reinhard Ingemar Boysen (Inventor), Victoria Tamara Perchyonok (Inventor), Basil Danylec (Inventor), Lachlan Schwarz (Inventor) & Jamil Chowdhury (Inventor)
18 Jun 2020Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Patents › Patent
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MONASH UNIVERSITY (Organisational unit)
Milton Hearn (Inventor), Steven Langford (Inventor), Kellie Tuck (Inventor), Simon Harris (Inventor), Reinhard Ingemar Boysen (Inventor), Victoria Tamara Perchyonok (Inventor), Basil Danylec (Inventor), Lachlan Schwarz (Inventor) & Jamil Chowdhury (Inventor)
31 Jan 2014Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Patents › Patent
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Distinguished Research Professorial Fellow
Milton Hearn (Visitor)
1 Jun 2013Activity: External Academic Engagement › External research organisation, centre or institute
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CSIRO Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Australia) (External organisation)
Brad William Woonton (Inventor), Milton Hearn (Inventor), Pankaj Maharjan (Inventor), Kirthi De Silva (Inventor) & Roy Jackson (Inventor)
25 Mar 2010Activity: Industry, Government and Philanthropy Engagement and Partnerships › Patents › Patent
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Fellow
Milton Hearn (Visitor)
1 Oct 2010Activity: External Academic Engagement › External research organisation, centre or institute