Abdellatif Barakat

Bio: Abdellatif Barakat is an academic researcher from University of Montpellier. The author has contributed to research in topics: Lignocellulosic biomass & Anaerobic digestion. The author has an hindex of 35, co-authored 111 publications receiving 4615 citations. Previous affiliations of Abdellatif Barakat include SupAgro & Institut national de la recherche agronomique.

New opportunities for agricultural digestate valorization: current situation and perspectives

Abstract: In the agricultural sector of many European countries, biogas production through anaerobic digestion (AD) is becoming a very fast-growing market. AD is a simple and robust process that biologically converts an organic matrix into biogas and digestate, the latter corresponding to the anaerobically non-degraded fraction. So far, digestate has been mostly used at farm-scales for improving soils. However, its ever-increasing production induces problems related to transport costs, greenhouse-gas emissions during storage and high nitrogen content that constrains its use to land application only. Consequently, research on alternative valorisation routes to reduce its environmental impact and to improve the economical profitability of AD plants should draw increasing interest in the future. This review therefore focuses on the different alternatives of digestate valorisation, apart from land applications: (I) the use of the digestate liquor for replacing freshwater and nutrients in algae cultivation; (II) the use of solid digestate for energy production through biological (i.e. AD, bioethanol) or thermal processes (i.e. combustion, hydrothermal carbonization and pyrolysis); (III) the conversion of solid digestate into added-value products (char or activated carbons) through a pyrolysis process.

Lignocellulosic Materials Into Biohydrogen and Biomethane: Impact of Structural Features and Pretreatment

Abstract: Production of energy from lignocellulosic biomass or residues is receiving ever-increasing interest. Among the different processes, dark fermentation for producing biohydrogen and anaerobic digestion for producing biomethane present considerable advantages. However, they are limited by the accessibility of holocelluloses that are embedded in the lignin network. The authors propose a review of works on the conversion of biomass into biohydrogen and biomethane with the comprehensive description of (a) biomass composition and features that may impact on its anaerobic conversion and (b) the impact of different kinds of pretreatment on these features and on the performance of biohydrogen and methane production.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Catalytic Transformation of Lignin for the Production of Chemicals and Fuels

Abstract: and Fuels Changzhi Li,† Xiaochen Zhao,† Aiqin Wang,† George W. Huber,†,‡ and Tao Zhang*,† †State Key Laborotary of Catalysis, iChEM (Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials), Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China ‡Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of WisconsinMadison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States

Bright Side of Lignin Depolymerization: Toward New Platform Chemicals

Abstract: Lignin, a major component of lignocellulose, is the largest source of aromatic building blocks on the planet and harbors great potential to serve as starting material for the production of biobased products. Despite the initial challenges associated with the robust and irregular structure of lignin, the valorization of this intriguing aromatic biopolymer has come a long way: recently, many creative strategies emerged that deliver defined products via catalytic or biocatalytic depolymerization in good yields. The purpose of this review is to provide insight into these novel approaches and the potential application of such emerging new structures for the synthesis of biobased polymers or pharmacologically active molecules. Existing strategies for functionalization or defunctionalization of lignin-based compounds are also summarized. Following the whole value chain from raw lignocellulose through depolymerization to application whenever possible, specific lignin-based compounds emerge that could be in the fu...

Lignocellulosic biomass: a sustainable platform for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers

Abstract: The demand for petroleum dependent chemicals and materials has been increasing despite the dwindling of their fossil resources. As the dead-end of petroleum based industry has started to appear, today's modern society has to implement alternative energy and valuable chemical resources immediately. Owing to the importance of lignocellulosic biomass being the most abundant and bio-renewable biomass on earth, this critical review provides insights into the potential of lignocellulosic biomass as an alternative platform to fossil resources. In this context, over 200 value-added compounds, which can be derived from lignocellulosic biomass by various treatment methods, are presented with their references. Lignocellulosic biomass based polymers and their commercial importance are also reported mainly in the frame of these compounds. This review article aims to draw the map of lignocellulosic biomass derived chemicals and their synthetic polymers, and to reveal the scope of this map in today's modern chemical and polymer industry.