Julia Shamshina, Ph.D.

Background

After gaining relevant experience during her doctoral (2008, PhD in Organic Synthesis) and postdoctoral studies (2010, Analytical Chemistry) at The University of Alabama, Dr. Shamshina joined Streamline Automation, LLC (Huntsville, AL), a small business where she worked on the development and commercialization of advanced technologies for aerospace and defense markets. This research was supported by the US Air Force, Army, and NASA. She is a recipient of the NASA Tech Brief Award for her work on the replacement of hydrazine fuel with energetic ionic liquids (2011).

In 2012, Dr. Shamshina joined the start-up company 525 Solutions, Inc. as a Research Chemist and later promoted to Chief Scientific Officer (SCO). She gained extensive experience in developing the company’s technological backbone ‘from the ground up’, providing technical leadership, and ensuring the implementation and commercialization of many technological solutions. Among other areas, Dr. Shamshina conducted development of new processes for high-quality bio-based functional materials from a wide range of natural feedstocks. Many of these technologies are based on ionic liquids and have wide-reaching applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and materials industries.

In 2016 — 2017, Dr. Shamshina moved to Canada (McGill University, Department of Chemistry) to work as an Academic Associate in Green Chemistry where she was responsible for the projects related to the design and development of new products from renewable polymers, — from testing various feedstocks, to biopolymers isolation, to the production of biomaterials with specific characteristics. The nature of her assignment at McGill was to bridge the academic and industrial environments, to help commercialize academic innovation. During her engagements at McGill, she continued to be involved with 525 Solutions, and when the joint venture, Mari Signum Mid-Atlantic, LLC was formed to build a chitin extraction plant in the USA, based on sustainable zero waste shrimp farming, Dr. Shamshina accepted its management position, as a CSO.

At Mari Signum Mid-Atlantic, LLC, Dr. Shamshina oversaw of the development of marketable, patentable concepts involving chitin to generate intellectual property, and thus revenue, for the company. Dr. Shamshina is a recipient of the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Challenge Award Focus Area 2, Greener Reaction Conditions for “A Practical Way to Mass Production of Chitin: The Only Facility in the U. S. to Use Ionic Liquid-Based Isolation Process”.

In 2021, she joined Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute (FBRI) at Texas Tech University as a Research Assistant Professor. To date, Dr. Shamshina has published 70 papers, 11 book chapters, and is a named inventor on multiple patents and patent applications. Two technologies she is an inventor of have been licensed.

Research Interests

Dr. Shamshina's research primarily focuses on leveraging biopolymers to create innovative, high-value products, chemicals, and fuels, and promoting their environmental and economic benefits. Achieving success in this area requires advancements in material performance, scalability, and disruptive technologies to overcome economics, life-cycle, and supply chain challenges. Major thrusts include

Biotechnology–Materials for medical applications;

Functional Materials–Advanced composites from bio-renewables and bio-wastes; and

Separations–Novel strategies for refining value-added products from biomass.

Related Links

• Curriculum vitae
• Personal website

Recent Publications

• Shkuratov, A. S.; Panackal Shibu, R.; Therasme, O.; Berton, P.; Shamshina, J. L. Sustainable Production of Chitin Nanowhiskers from Crustacean Biomass Using Cost-Effective Ionic Liquids: Strategies to Avoid Byproduct Formation.  Sustainable Chem. 2024, 5(2), 130-148. https://doi.org/10.3390/suschem5020010. 
• Basak. T.; Shamshina, J. L. Design of Chitin Cell Culture Matrices for 3D Tissue Engineering: Importance of Chitin Types, Solvents, Cross-linkers, and Fabrication Techniques. Pharmaceutics  2024, 16(6), 777. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics16060777.
• Wysocki, M.; Stachowiak, W.; Smolibowski, M.; Olejniczak, A.; Niemczak, M.; Shamshina, J. L.  Rethinking the Esterquats: Synthesis, Stability, Ecotoxicity and Applications of Esterquats Incorporating Analogs of Betaine or Choline as the Cation in Their Structure.   Int. J. Mol. Sci.  2024, 25(11), 5761. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25115761.
• Liao, J.; Shamshina, J. L.; Wang, Y.; Sun, D.; Shen, X.; Zhao, D.; Sun, Q. Emerging Cellulosic Materials for Sustainable Mechanosensing and Energy Harvesting Devices: Advances and Prospect.   Nano Today   2024, 56, 102232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2024.102232.
• Shamshina, J. L.; Berton, P. Ionic Liquids as Designed, Multi-Functional Plasticizers for Biodegradable Polymeric Materials: A Mini-Review.   Int. J. Mol. Sci.   2024, 25, 1720. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25031720.
• Meng, Q.; Ye, Z.; Wang, Y.; Liu, C.; Sun, Q.; Shamshina, J. L.; Shen, X. Self-micropatterned wood hydrophone for underwater detection. Adv. Funct. Mater.   2023,  2304104. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202304104.
• Wang, Y.; Liao, J.; Liu, C.; Sun, Q.; Shamshina, J. L.; Shen, X. A cilia-inspired micropatterned sensor with a high-permittivity dielectric hydrogel for ultrasensitive mechanoreception both in air and underwater.   J. Mater. Chem. A   2023,  11, 26562 – 26572. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3TA05884K.
• Shamshina, J. L.; Rogers, R. D. Ionic Liquids: New Forms of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients with Unique, Tunable Properties. Chem. Rev.2023, 123(20), 11894 – 11953. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.3c00384.
• Hoque, E.; Tran, P.; Jacobo, U.; Bergfeld, N.; Acharya, S.; Shamshina, J. L.; Reid, T. W.; Abidi, N. Antimicrobial Coatings for Medical Textiles via Reactive Organo-selenium Compounds.   Molecules   2023, 28(17), 6381. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28176381.
• Shamshina, J.L.; Berton, P. Renewable Biopolymers Combined with Ionic Liquids for the Next Generation of Supercapacitor Materials.   Int. J. Mol. Sci.   2023, 24, 7866. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097866.
• Berton, P.; Shamshina, J. L. Ionic Liquids as Tools to Incorporate Pharmaceutical Ingredients into Biopolymer-Based Drug Delivery Systems.  Pharmaceuticals  2023, 16(2), 272. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16020272.
• Shen, X.; Zhao, D.; Xie, Y.; Wang, Q.; Shamshina, J. L.; Rogers, R. D.; Sun, Q. Cellulose Gel Mechanoreceptors – Principles, Applications and Prospects. Adv. Funct. Mater.2023, 2214317. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202214317.
• (Invited Personal Perspective to the Special Issue: Modern Aspects of Ionic Liquids.) Shamshina, J. L.; Rogers, R. D. Commercialization of Ionic Liquids in Pursuit of Green Chemistry: Must We Each Become an Entrepreneur?  The Chemical Record 2023, 23(8), e202200256. https://doi.org/10.1002/tcr.202200256.
• Hoque, E.; Acharya, S.; Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Review of Foam Application to Cotton Textiles.  Textile Res. J.  2023, 93(1-2), 486 – 501. https://doi.org/10.1177/00405175221107400.
• Abidi, N.; Shamshina, J. L. Preparation of Chitin Nanocrystals and Nanowhiskers from Crustacean Biomass Using Ionic Liquid. PCT/US2022/045177, filed September 29, 2022.
• (This article belongs to the Special Issue: Special Issue: Spectroscopic Analysis and Molecular Modification of Nanomaterials): Rumi, S. S.; Liyanage, S.; Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Effect of Microwave Plasma Pre-treatment on Cotton Cellulose Dissolution.  Molecules   2022, 27(20), 7007. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27207007.
• (This article belongs to the Special Issue: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Robin D. Rogers - "A Scientific Journey within Green Chemistry") Rachiero, G. P.; Berton, P.; Shamshina, J. L. Deep Eutectic Solvents: Alternative Solvents for Biomass-Based Waste Valorization.  Molecules   2022, 27(19), 6606.  https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27196606.  Also announced as an entry on "Deep Eutectic Solvents for Biomass-Based Waste Valorization" in MDPI Encyclopedia: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/29071.
• Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Isolation of Chitin Nano-whiskers Directly from Crustacean Biomass Waste in a Single Step with Acidic Ionic Liquid.  ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng.   2022, 10(36), 11846–11855.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.2c02461.
• (This article belongs to the Special Issue: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Robin D. Rogers - "A Scientific Journey within Green Chemistry") Lyon, D. R.; Smith, B. R.; Abidi, N.; Shamshina, J. L. Deproteinization of Chitin Extracted with the Help of Ionic Liquids.  Molecules   2022, 27, 3983. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27133983.
• Hoque, E.; Acharya, S.; Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Review of Foam Application to Cotton Textiles.  Textile Research Journal   2022,936(1-2), 486 - 501.  https://doi.org/10.1177/00405175221107400  
• Berton, P.; Abidi, N.; Shamshina, J. L. Ionic liquids: Implementing Objectives of Sustainability for the Next Generation Chemical Processes and Industrial Applications.  Curr. Opin. Green Sustain. Chem.  2022, 100625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsc.2022.100625. 
• Shamshina, J. L.; Acharya, S.; Rumi, S. S.; Liyanage, S.; Parajuli, P.; Abidi, N. Cryogenic Grinding of Cotton Fiber Cellulose: the Effect on Physicochemical Properties.  Carbohydrate Polym. 2022,  119408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2022.119408.
• Acharya, S.; Liyanage, S.; Parajuli, P.; Rumi, S. S. Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Utilization of Cellulose to its Full Potential: A Review on Cellulose Dissolution, Regeneration, and Applications.  Polymers (Basel)  2021, 13(24), 4344. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13244344.
• (Invited for a Special Issue on bio-product extraction.) Achinivu, A. C.; Shamshina, J. L.; Rogers, R. D. Chitin Extracted from Various Biomass Sources: It’s Not the Same.  Fluid Phase Equilibria 2022, 552, 113286.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2021.113286.
• Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N. Choosing the Right Strategy: Cryogrinding vs Ball Milling – Comparing Apples to Apples, for the Marine based green chemistry themed collection of Green Chem. 2021, 9646 - 9657, https://doi.org/10.1039/d1gc03128g.
• Liyanage, S.; Acharya, S.; Parajuli, P.; Shamshina, J. L. Production and Surface Modification of Cellulose Bioproducts.  Polymers (Basel)  2021, 13(19), 3433. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13193433.
• Shamshina, L.; Abidi, N. Cellulose Nanocrystals from Ionic Liquids: A Critical Review.  Green. Chem.  2021, 23, 6205 - 6222, https://doi.org/10.1039/D1GC02507D.
• (Invited for a Special Issue “Frontiers of Ionic Liquids”) Shamshina, J. L.; Qin, Y.; Belmore, K.; Daly, D. T.; Rogers, R. D. Switchable Carbamate Coagulants to Improve Recycling Ionic Liquid from Biomass Solutions. GreenChE   2021, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gce.2021.07.001.
• Parajuli, P.; Acharya, S.; Shamshina, J. L.; Abidi, N.  Tuning the Morphological Properties of Cellulose Aerogels: An Investigation of Salt-Mediated Preparation.  Cellulose   2021, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-021-04028-w.
• Berton, P.; Shamshina, J. L. Chapter 3: Ionic Liquids for Topical and Transdermal Drug Delivery, In: Application of Ionic Liquids in Drug Delivery. Goto, M.; Moniruzzaman, M. (Eds.); Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd, 2021, pp 35-50.
• Shamshina, J. L.; Rogers, R. D. Chapter 5: 3D printing of Cellulose and Chitin from Ionic Liquids for Drug Delivery: a Mini-Review, In: Application of Ionic Liquids in Drug Delivery. Goto, M.; Moniruzzaman, M. (Eds.); Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd, 2021, pp 71-90.