Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is the most abundantly available bioresource amounting to about a global yield of up to 1.3 billion tons per year. The hydrolysis of LCB results in the release of various reducing sugars which are highly valued in the production of biofuels such as bioethanol and biogas, various organic acids, phenols, and aldehydes. The majority of LCB is composed of biological polymers such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, which are strongly associated with each other by covalent and hydrogen bonds thus forming a highly recalcitrant structure. The presence of lignin renders the bio-polymeric structure highly resistant to solubilization thereby inhibiting the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose which presents a significant challenge for the isolation of the respective bio-polymeric components. This has led to extensive research in the development of various pretreatment techniques utilizing various physical, chemical, physicochemical and biological approaches which are specifically tailored towards the source biomaterial and its application. The objective of this review is to discuss the various pretreatment strategies currently in use and provide an overview of their utilization for the isolation of high-value bio-polymeric components. The article further discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the various pretreatment methodologies as well as addresses the role of various key factors that are likely to have a significant impact on the pretreatment and digestibility of LCB.

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Recent Trends in the Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for Value-Added Products

https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/files/84146282/Activated_lignin_chitosan.pdf

Activated lignin-chitosan extruded blends for efficient adsorption of methylene blue

Lignin is the most abundant aromatic polymer in nature. Due to its high amount of phenolic compounds storage, lignin is considered as an alternative source for various polymers and biomaterials production. Except for the native lignin in lignocellulose, a massive amount of technical lignin is being produced daily all over the world. However, the complex structure and low reactivity of lignin limit its further applications and currently, most of the lignin is burned for generating energy. Therefore, the depolymerization of lignin is considered one of the important challenges in lignin utilization. Methods for lignin depolymerization can be divided into thermochemical treatment, mechanical treatment, chemical catalysis, and biological treatment. Different methods for lignin depolymerization, their characteristics and products are extensively discussed in this review.

Lignin utilization: A review of lignin depolymerization from various aspects

Over the past few years, nanocellulose (NC), cellulose in the form of nanostructures, has been proved to be one of the most prominent green materials of modern times. NC materials have gained growing interests owing to their attractive and excellent characteristics such as abundance, high aspect ratio, better mechanical properties, renewability, and biocompatibility. The abundant hydroxyl functional groups allow a wide range of functionalizations via chemical reactions, leading to developing various materials with tunable features. In this review, recent advances in the preparation, modification, and emerging application of nanocellulose, especially cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), are described and discussed based on the analysis of the latest investigations (particularly for the reports of the past 3 years). We start with a concise background of cellulose, its structural organization as well as the nomenclature of cellulose nanomaterials for beginners in this field. Then, different experimental procedures for the production of nanocelluloses, their properties, and functionalization approaches were elaborated. Furthermore, a number of recent and emerging uses of nanocellulose in nanocomposites, Pickering emulsifiers, wood adhesives, wastewater treatment, as well as in new evolving biomedical applications are presented. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of NC-based emerging materials are discussed.

/pdf/nanocellulose-from-fundamentals-to-advanced-applications-ecdehj4ngu.pdf

Nanocellulose: From Fundamentals to Advanced Applications

https://arrow.tudublin.ie/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1167&context=schfsehart

A Comprehensive Review on Pre-treatment Strategy for Lignocellulosic Food Industry Waste: Challenges and Opportunities

Study on the thermal degradation behaviors and kinetics of alkali lignin for production of phenolic-rich bio-oil using TGA–FTIR and Py–GC/MS

Application of hydrogen peroxide presoaking prior to ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment of energy crops

Comparison of the thermal degradation behaviors and kinetics of palm oil waste under nitrogen and air atmosphere in TGA-FTIR with a complementary use of model-free and model-fitting approaches

Physical and chemical characterizations of corn stalk resulting from hydrogen peroxide presoaking prior to ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment.

The hydrogen peroxide presoaking prior to ammonia fiber expansion (H-AFEX) pretreatment is an effective and promising method for agricultural residues to decrease biomass recalcitrance and enhance ...

Chao Zhao

Papers

Study on the thermal degradation behaviors and kinetics of alkali lignin for production of phenolic-rich bio-oil using TGA–FTIR and Py–GC/MS

Application of hydrogen peroxide presoaking prior to ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment of energy crops

Comparison of the thermal degradation behaviors and kinetics of palm oil waste under nitrogen and air atmosphere in TGA-FTIR with a complementary use of model-free and model-fitting approaches

Physical and chemical characterizations of corn stalk resulting from hydrogen peroxide presoaking prior to ammonia fiber expansion pretreatment.

Structural Characterization of Corn Stover Lignin after Hydrogen Peroxide Presoaking Prior to Ammonia Fiber Expansion Pretreatment