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Turning waste into value through chemistry

25 August 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Stephen Collett

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 welcomes Prof Francis Petersen as new Vice-Chancellor and Rector

2017-04-02

Prof Francis Petersen takes up office as the 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State today.

“On behalf of the UFS Council and the university community, I would like to welcome Prof Petersen to the university. He brings to the UFS a distinguished academic record, confident leadership, innovative thinking, and an understanding of the extent of the challenges being experienced by universities in the broader South African context,” says Mr Willem Louw, Chairperson of the UFS Council.

“I am excited to join the UFS and look forward to meeting the university community, to get to know the three campuses, and to engage with staff and students. In a way, it was a natural progression for me to be appointed in this position, having been Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and then Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Institutional Innovation at the same university. On the other hand, I believe that universities in South Africa need strong and innovative leadership. I would like to make a contribution to the higher-education system in this regard. Moreover, I regard the UFS as a very good university, and see my challenge in taking the UFS to the next level,” says Prof Petersen.

“Challenges and making a difference motivate me – whether complex or simplistic, the opportunity to be able to provide solutions and taking people with me while developing these solutions, is what ultimately motivates me.”

“It is important that different viewpoints are respected. The UFS must be a place where everyone feels welcome. There must be a strong sense of belonging; staff and students must feel they are making a contribution to the university,” he says.

According to Prof Petersen, the major challenge for the university is its institutional climate. “My focus would be to strive towards creating an institutional climate of inclusivity, respect for one another, valuing diversity in all its forms, and to make the university a welcoming place. The UFS is in the process of developing an Integrated Transformation Plan (ITP) that will serve as the road map to address the institutional climate challenge, but will also assist (if implemented effectively) in excelling the UFS in areas of teaching and learning, research and innovation, and community engagement through scholarship,” says Prof Petersen.

“I am a good listener, I am outcome-based, and my vision for the university includes diversity, inclusivity, and academic excellence,” he says.

Prof Petersen was born in Oudtshoorn and grew up in Malmesbury in the Western Cape, where he also matriculated. He graduated from Stellenbosch University with a BEng (Chem Eng), MEng (Metal Eng), and PhD (Eng) degrees and completed a short course on Financial Skills for Executive Management. He is a recipient of the Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Award for research excellence, and was visiting professor at the Cape Technikon and extraordinary professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stellenbosch University. He is a regular reviewer of journals, and member of a range of editorial boards for international journals. He is also a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and a Fellow of both the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the South African Academy of Engineers.

He brings to the position of Vice-Chancellor and Rector his extensive experience of management in both the industry and academic sectors. He has been the executive head of strategy at Anglo American Platinum and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Cape Technikon (now Cape Peninsula University of Technology). Among others, he previously served as member on the Board of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the National Advisory Council on Innovation, and the Council of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Prof Petersen is married and has two sons. He was appointed by the UFS Council at the end of 2016 after Prof Jonathan Jansen stepped down as Vice-Chancellor and Rector on 31 August 2016, serving in this position since July 2009. Prof Nicky Morgan, Vice-Rector: Operations at the UFS, has been acting Vice-Chancellor and Rector since 1 September 2016.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Brand Management)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

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