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25 August 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Stephen Collett
Prof Elizabeth Erasmus
Prof Elizabeth Erasmus during her inaugural lecture, Molecules of Change: Chemistry for a Better Tomorrow, on 20 August, highlighting how innovative chemistry can turn waste into value and promote sustainable solutions.

With climate change, resource scarcity, and environmental pollution among the most pressing challenges of our time, Prof Elizabeth (Lizette) Erasmus used her inaugural lecture on Wednesday, 20 August to show how chemistry can provide powerful, practical answers. In her lecture, Molecules of Change: Chemistry for a Better Tomorrow, she traced her journey from fundamental research to pioneering innovations that turn waste into value, protect ecosystems, and improve food security.

During her talk, Prof Erasmus – Researcher in the Department of Chemistry – recalled a moment in 2018 that reshaped her career trajectory. While preparing a Sasol research grant on copper oxide nanoparticles, an entrepreneur assisting with the proposal posed a deceptively simple challenge: “So what?” “Although upsetting at first, those two words completely reshaped my outlook,” she explained. “They inspired my journey from purely academic chemistry towards more applied, impactful research – with the mission of not only advancing science, but of also improving society and the environment.”

 

From fundamental science to global solutions

Prof Erasmus began her career in organometallic chemistry, preparing and characterising complex molecules to understand their reactivity and physical properties. Later, her focus shifted to heterogeneous catalysis, where she explored nanomaterials and surface chemistry.

Her research has since evolved towards developing sustainable technologies that address urgent global challenges. One example is agricultural innovation: using green solvents to extract cellulose from wattle tree bark to create biodegradable superabsorbent polymers. “Unlike the polyacrylates in baby diapers, these SAPs degrade into nutrients for soil microbes and plants,” she explained. “By loading them with fertiliser, we develop slow-release, water-retaining materials that improve agricultural sustainability.”

Other projects include producing biochar to restore degraded soils, creating natural growth enhancers such as wood vinegar, and designing an ‘ultimate fertiliser’ that combines these products for long-term soil health. Her group also works on environmental remediation, developing hydrophobic sponges to absorb oil spills, repurposing building waste to clean polluted water, and using innovative chemistry to convert carbon dioxide into valuable products.

“We are even looking at one of the fastest-growing waste streams: e-waste,” Prof Erasmus noted. “With more gold per ton than natural ore, e-waste represents both a challenge and an opportunity. By developing porous absorbent materials, we can selectively capture and reduce gold ions directly to metallic gold – recovering a precious resource from waste.”

She concluded by crediting her team and collaborators: “This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. The bulk of the work lies beneath the surface, carried out by dedicated students, collaborators, mentors, colleagues, friends, and family. I owe them my deepest gratitude, for they are the ones who truly sustain this journey of transforming chemistry into solutions for a better world.”

 

About Prof Erasmus

Prof Elizabeth (Lizette) Erasmus obtained all her degrees at the University of the Free State: a BSc (2001), BSc Honours in Chemistry (2002), MSc in Chemistry (2003), and a PhD in Chemistry (2005). She has published more than 80 research papers, holds an H-index of 21, and has extensive experience in supervising MSc and PhD students.

After serving as a senior researcher at the CSIR, she returned to academia at the UFS, where her international collaborations in the Netherlands and at UC Davis broadened her focus from organometallic chemistry to heterogeneous catalysis and nanochemistry. Her expertise spans organometallic chemistry, electrochemistry, surface characterisation, and nanomaterials.

News Archive

UFS departments receive recognition for quality work from MACE
2017-12-07


 Description: 2017 MACE winners Tags: 2017 MACE winners 

The team from the Department of Communication and Brand Management,
UFS Marketing and Institutional Advancement who received awards at the
2017 Annual National MACE Congress.
Photo: Supplied

The Departments of Communication and Brand Management, UFS Marketing, and Institutional Advancement collectively won 16 awards during the 2017 Excellence Awards presented by the National Association of Marketing, Advancement, and Communication in Education (MACE), which took place in Johannesburg on 30 November 2017.  

Shared experiences and best practices 
The awards ceremony is part of the MACE Annual National Congress, which took place from 29 November to 1 December 2017 at the Wits School of Governance. The MACE Congress is a platform on which experts from the fields of marketing, advancement, and communication share experiences and best practices. This year’s programme included speakers such Basetsana Kumalo, CEO of Basetsana Woman Investment Holdings and a former Miss South Africa (1994), and first runner-up in the Miss World Pageant, Saint-Francis Tohlang, independent trend analyst and writer, Emma Sadleir, founder of the Digital Law Co and Leanne Manas, multiple award-winning TV presenter. 

Celebrating successes
Lacea Loader, Director of the Department of Communication and Brand Management at the University of the Free State, received an Award of Excellence Gold for the UFS Graduations Ceremonies Communication Strategy and an Award of Excellence for the UFS Rector’s inauguration and welcoming ceremonies. 

Mamosa Makaya, Deputy Director: Integrated Communication received two Merit Awards for, respectively, the Dumela newsletter and the Visitor’s Guide. Jóhann Thormählen, former employee in the department’s Internal Communication Unit, received an Award of Merit for the Wayde van Niekerk Campaign and an Award of Excellence Gold for the Student Newsletter. Thabo Kessah, also from Internal Communication, on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, received an Award of Merit for the UFS Qwaqwa Campus Open Day video.  

"I am extremely proud of what we
have achieved this year and of
the quality and standard of the
work produced."

Martie Nortjé, Assistant Director of the Unit for Branding and Merchandise received an Award of Merit for KovsieGear Qwaqwa: Live the brand and set the trend. Leonie Bolleurs, Assistant Director of the Unit for Internal Communication received two Awards of Merit, for respectively, the UFS Schools Marketing Video and the UFS Corporate Profile and UFS Fingertips brochures. 

Ilze Bakkes from UFS Marketing received the Chairperson’s Award of Excellence for her entry, Top Achievers Early Bird Registration. The award is for the highest-scoring entry across all divisions. She also brought home the Award of Excellence Gold for Registration branding and communication – The Lighthouse Campaign, the Award of Excellence Gold for the Kick-Start Your “I-Want-To-B” Grade 9 Subject Choice Booklet and the Award of Excellence Gold for the Top Achievers Early Bird Registration project. Chantel Koller, also from UFS Marketing, received an Award of Merit for her Star of Stars Competition entry. 

The Institutional Advancement (IA): Alumni event planning committee received an Award of Excellence Gold for their entry: Chancellor’s Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner. The committee consisted of Helen Namponya, Ntokozo Nkabinde, Tertia de Bruin, Nhlanhla Modzanane, and Elmada Kemp.

IABC Africa Award
“This is the second year in a row that the department has received so many accolades from its peers at MACE. I am extremely proud of what we have achieved this year and of the quality and standard of the work produced. The fact that we were also again acknowledged by the Africa Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is also commendable,” said Loader. She is also the National Chairperson of MACE. 

Earlier this year, the Department of Communication and Brand Management received an IABC Africa Award of Excellence for the UFS 2017 Winter Graduation Ceremonies Communication Strategy from the International Association for Business Communicators (IABC). Loader collected the award during the Silver Quill Awards ceremony on 3 November 2017 in Cape Town.

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