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Jeffri NI, Mohammad Rawi NF, Mohamad Kassim MH, Abdullah CK. Unlocking the potential: Evolving role of technical lignin in diverse applications and overcoming challenges. Int J Biol Macromol 2024; 274:133506. [PMID: 38944064 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.133506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/26/2024] [Indexed: 07/01/2024]
Abstract
Recent advancements have transformed lignin from a byproduct into a valuable raw material for polymers, dyes, adhesives, and fertilizers. However, its structural heterogeneity, variable reactive group content, impurities, and high extraction costs pose challenges to industrial-scale adoption. Efficient separation technologies and selective bond cleavage are crucial. Advanced pretreatment methods have enhanced lignin purity and reduced contamination, while novel catalytic techniques have improved depolymerization efficiency and selectivity. This review compares catalytic depolymerization methodologies, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages, and noting challenges in comparing yield values due to variations in isolation methods and lignin sources. Recognizing "technical lignin" from pulping processes, the review emphasizes its diverse applications and the necessity of understanding its structural characteristics. Emerging trends focus on bio-based functional additives and nanostructured lignin materials, promising enhanced properties and functionalities. Innovations open possibilities in sustainable agriculture, high-performance foams and composites, and advanced medical applications like drug delivery and wound healing. Leveraging lignin's biocompatibility, abundance, and potential for high-value applications, it can significantly contribute to sustainable material development across various industries. Continuous research in bio-based additives and nanostructured materials underscores lignin's potential to revolutionize material science and promote environmentally friendly industrial applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noorfarisya Izma Jeffri
- Division of Bioresource Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
| | - Nurul Fazita Mohammad Rawi
- Division of Bioresource Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia; Green Biopolymer, Coatings and Packaging Cluster, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800, Malaysia.
| | - Mohamad Haafiz Mohamad Kassim
- Division of Bioresource Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia; Green Biopolymer, Coatings and Packaging Cluster, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Minden, 11800, Malaysia
| | - Che Ku Abdullah
- Division of Bioresource Technology, School of Industrial Technology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Gelugor 11800, Malaysia
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Kim HJ, Jin X, Choi JW. Investigation of bio-based rigid polyurethane foams synthesized with lignin and castor oil. Sci Rep 2024; 14:13490. [PMID: 38866939 PMCID: PMC11169680 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-64318-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2024] [Accepted: 06/07/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024] Open
Abstract
In this study, polyurethane (PU) foams were manufactured using kraft lignin and castor oil as bio-based polyols by replacing 5-20 wt% and 10-100 wt% of conventional polyol, respectively. To investigate the effects of unmodified bio-based polyols on PU foam production, reactivity and morphology within PU composites was analyzed as well as mechanical and thermal properties of the resulting foams. Bio-based PU foam production was carried out after characterizing the reagents used in the foaming process (including hydroxyl group content, molecular weight distribution, and viscosity). To compare the resulting bio-based PU foams, control foam were produced without any bio-based polyol under the same experimental conditions. For lignin-incorporated PU foams, two types, LPU and lpu, were manufactured with index ratio of 1.01 and 1.3, respectively. The compressive strength of LPU foams increased with lignin content from 5 wt% (LPU5: 147 kPa) to 20 wt% (LPU20: 207 kPa), although it remained lower than that of the control foam (PU0: 326 kPa). Similarly, the compressive strength of lpu foams was lower than that of the control foam (pu0: 441 kPa), with values of 164 kPa (lpu5), 163 kPa (lpu10), 167 kPa (lpu15), and 147 kPa (lpu20). At 10 wt% lignin content, both foams (LPU10 and lpu10) exhibited the smallest and most homogenous pore sizes and structures. For castor oil-incorporated PU foams with an index of 1.01, denoted as CPU, increasing castor oil content resulted in larger cell sizes and void fractions, transitioning to an open-cell structure and decreasing the compressive strength of the foams from 284 kPa (CPU10) to 23 kPa (CPU100). Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) results indicated the formation of characteristic urethane linkages in PU foams and confirmed that bio-based polyols were less reactive with isocyanate compared to traditional polyol. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that incorporating lignin and castor oil affected the thermal decomposition behavior. The thermal stability of lignin-incorporated PU foams improved as the lignin content increased with char yields increasing from 11.5 wt% (LPU5) to 15.8 wt% (LPU20) and from 12.4 wt% (lpu5) to 17.5 wt% (lpu20). Conversely, the addition of castor oil resulted in decreased thermal stability, with char yields decreasing from 10.6 wt% (CPU10) to 4.2 wt% (CPU100). This research provides a comprehensive understanding of PU foams incorporating unmodified biomass-derived polyols (lignin and castor oil), suggesting their potential for value-added utilization as bio-based products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeon Jeong Kim
- Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, 25354, Republic of Korea
| | - Xuanjun Jin
- Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, 25354, Republic of Korea
| | - Joon Weon Choi
- Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, 25354, Republic of Korea.
- Institute of Green-Bio Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang, 25354, Republic of Korea.
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Zhou M, Zhong L, Hu L, Zhou Y, Yang X. Synthesis of a reactive lignin-based flame retardant and its application in phenolic foam. ENVIRONMENTAL TECHNOLOGY 2024; 45:2506-2518. [PMID: 36751900 DOI: 10.1080/09593330.2023.2176792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
To improve the flame retardancy of phenolic foam from the perspective of sustainable development, it is a feasible way to add bio-based flame retardants into phenolic foam. Lignin has a similar structure to phenol, which provides a possibility to replace part of phenol. In this paper, we prepared a kind of reactive bio-based flame retardant based on enzymatic hydrolyzed lignin, in which side chain was chemically grafted with phosphorus and nitrogen and benzene ring would participate in the phenolic condensation reaction. According to elemental analysis and ICP-OES data, the content of nitrogen and phosphorus in modified lignin (NP-L) increased to 2.95% and 3.55% respectively. Compared with original lignin, the carbon residue rate of NP-L increased from 3.25% to 12.13% because of the presence of flame retardant elements N and P. Then lignin-based flame retardant was used to replace phenol for modifying phenolic foams (NPLPFX). The limited oxygen index (LOI) and compressive strength of phenolic foam were improved effectively by adding modified lignin when the substitution rate was less than 25%. The LOI and compressive strength of the modified phenolic foam with 5% replacement amount (NPLPF5) are 55.6% and 0.24 MPa, which increased by 88% and 60% compared with pure phenolic foam. The cone calorimetric data also showed that NPLPF5 had good flame retardancy, and the peak heat release rate and total heat release were significantly lower than PF. This work suggests a novel green strategy for improving the flame retardancy performance of phenolic foam and promoting the utilization of lignin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Minghao Zhou
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Zhong
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, People's Republic of China
| | - Lihong Hu
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF; Key Lab. of Biomass Energy and Material, Jiangsu Province; National Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Processing and Utilization of Forest Biomass; Key Lab. of Chemical Engineering of Forest Products, National Forestry and Grassland Administration; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
| | - Yonghong Zhou
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF; Key Lab. of Biomass Energy and Material, Jiangsu Province; National Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Processing and Utilization of Forest Biomass; Key Lab. of Chemical Engineering of Forest Products, National Forestry and Grassland Administration; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiaohui Yang
- Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, CAF; Key Lab. of Biomass Energy and Material, Jiangsu Province; National Engineering Research Center of Low-Carbon Processing and Utilization of Forest Biomass; Key Lab. of Chemical Engineering of Forest Products, National Forestry and Grassland Administration; Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing, People's Republic of China
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Melro E, Duarte H, Antunes FE, Valente AJM, Romano A, Norgren M, Medronho B. Engineering novel phenolic foams with lignin extracted from pine wood residues via a new levulinic-acid assisted process. Int J Biol Macromol 2023; 248:125947. [PMID: 37482163 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.125947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2023] [Revised: 06/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Phenolic foams are typically produced from phenolic resins, using phenol and formaldehyde precursors. Therefore, common phenolic foams are non-sustainable, comprising growing environmental, health, and economic concerns. In this work, lignin extracted from pine wood residues using a "green" levulinic acid-based solvent, was used to partially substitute non-sustainable phenol. The novel engineered foams were systematically compared to foams composed of different types of commercially available technical lignins. Different features were analyzed, such as foam density, microstructure (electron microscopy), surface hydrophilicity (contact angle), chemical grafting (infrared spectroscopy) and mechanical and thermal features. Overall, it was observed that up to 30 wt% of phenol can be substituted by the new type of lignin, without compromising the foam properties. This work provides a new insights on the development of novel lignin-based foams as a very promising sustainable and renewable alternative to petrol-based counterparts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elodie Melro
- University of Coimbra, CQC, Department of Chemistry, Rua Larga, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal; Science 351 - Disruptive & Sustainable R&D Innovations, Instituto Pedro Nunes, Ed. C, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal.
| | - Hugo Duarte
- MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade do Algarve, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Campus de Gambelas, Ed. 8, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | - Filipe E Antunes
- University of Coimbra, CQC, Department of Chemistry, Rua Larga, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal; Science 351 - Disruptive & Sustainable R&D Innovations, Instituto Pedro Nunes, Ed. C, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Artur J M Valente
- University of Coimbra, CQC, Department of Chemistry, Rua Larga, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Anabela Romano
- MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade do Algarve, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Campus de Gambelas, Ed. 8, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | - Magnus Norgren
- FSCN Research Center, Surface and Colloid Engineering, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden
| | - Bruno Medronho
- MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade do Algarve, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Campus de Gambelas, Ed. 8, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal; FSCN Research Center, Surface and Colloid Engineering, Mid Sweden University, SE-851 70 Sundsvall, Sweden
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Zhao S, Chen X, Fan Z, Ni R, Liu X, Tian Y, Zhou B. Using lignin degraded to synthesize phenolic foams with excellent flame retardant property. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2023.131373] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
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On the Development of Phenol-Formaldehyde Resins Using a New Type of Lignin Extracted from Pine Wood with a Levulinic-Acid Based Solvent. Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27092825. [PMID: 35566176 PMCID: PMC9105709 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27092825] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Resole resins have many applications, especially for foam production. However, the use of phenol, a key ingredient in resoles, has serious environmental and economic disadvantages. In this work, lignin extracted from pine wood using a "green" solvent, levulinic acid, was used to partially replace the non-sustainable phenol. The physicochemical properties of this novel resin were compared with resins composed of different types of commercial lignins. All resins were optimized to keep their free formaldehyde content below 1 wt%, by carefully adjusting the pH of the mixture. Substitution of phenol with lignin generally increases the viscosity of the resins, which is further increased with the lignin mass fraction. The addition of lignin decreases the kinetics of gelification of the resin. The type and amount of lignin also affect the thermal stability of the resins. It was possible to obtain resins with higher thermal stability than the standard phenol-formaldehyde resins without lignin. This work provides new insights regarding the development of lignin-based resoles as a very promising sustainable alternative to petrol-based resins.
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Lignin-Based Phenolic Foam Reinforced by Poplar Fiber and Isocyanate-Terminated Polyurethane Prepolymer. Polymers (Basel) 2021; 13:polym13071068. [PMID: 33800645 PMCID: PMC8036971 DOI: 10.3390/polym13071068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Phenolic foams (PFs) are lightweight (<200 kg/m3), high-quality, and inexpensive thermal insulation materials whose heat and fire resistance are much better than those of foam plastics such as polyurethane and polystyrene. They are especially suitable for use as insulation in chemical, petroleum, construction, and other fields that are prone to fires. However, PFs have poor mechanical properties, poor abrasion resistance, and easy pulverization. In this paper, a polyurethane prepolymer was treated with an isocyanate, and then the isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymer and poplar powder were used to prepare modified lignin-based phenolic foams (PUPFs), which improved the abrasion resistance and decreased the pulverization of the foam. The foam composites were comprehensively evaluated by characterizing their chemical structures, surface morphologies, mechanical properties, thermal conductivities, and flame-retardant properties. The pulverization ratio was reduced by 43.5%, and the thermal insulation performance and flame-retardancy (LOI) were improved. Compared with other methods to obtain lignin-based phenolic foam composites with anti-pulverization and flame-retardant properties, the hybrid reinforcement of foam composites with an isocyanate-terminated polyurethane prepolymer and poplar powder offers a novel strategy for an environmentally friendly alternative to the use of woody fibers.
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