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

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.

The continuous increase in the generation of waste plastics together with the need for developing more sustainable waste management policies have promoted a great research effort dealing with their valorization routes. In this review, the main thermochemical routes are analyzed for the valorization of waste polyolefins to produce chemicals and fuels. Amongst the different strategies, pyrolysis has received greater attention, but most studies are of preliminary character. Likewise, the studies pursuing the incorporation of waste plastics into refinery units (mainly fluid catalytic cracking and hydrocracking) have been carried out in batch laboratory-scale units. Other promising alternative to which great attention is being paid is the process based on two steps: pyrolysis and in-line intensification for olefin production by means of catalytic cracking or thermal cracking at high temperatures.

Thermochemical routes for the valorization of waste polyolefinic plastics to produce fuels and chemicals. A review

Waste biomass adsorbents for copper removal from industrial wastewater--a review.

The current review provides an assessment of the main waste plastics valorization routes to produce syngas and H2, thus covering different gasification strategies and other novel alternative processes, such as pyrolysis and in-line catalytic steam reforming The studies dealing with plastics gasification are in general scarce However, due to the knowledge acquired on biomass and coal gasification, the state of development of plastic gasification technologies is considerable and, in fact, several gasification studies have been performed at pilot scale units Air gasification is the most studied and developed strategy and pursues the production of a syngas for energy purposes In spite of the higher H2 content and heating value of the gas produced by steam gasification, this alternative faces significant challenges, such as the energy requirements of the process and the tar content in the syngas Moreover, the co-gasification of plastics with coal and biomass appears to be a promising valorization route due to the positive impact on process performance and greater process flexibility Other promising alternative is the pyrolysis and in-line reforming, which allows producing a syngas with high hydrogen content and totally free of tar

Recent advances in the gasification of waste plastics. A critical overview

With the impending fossil fuel crisis, the search for and development of alternative chemical/material substitutes is pivotal in reducing mankind's dependency on fossil resources. One of the potential substitute candidates is polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA). PHA is a carbon-neutral and valuable polymer that could be produced from many renewable carbon sources by microorganisms, making it a sustainable and environmental-friendly material. At present, PHA is not cost competitive compared to fossil-derived products. Encouraging and intensifying research work on PHA is anticipated to enhance its economic viability in the future. The development of various biomolecular and chemical techniques for PHA analysis has led to the identification of many PHA-producing microbial strains, some of which are deposited in culture collections. Research work on PHA could be rapidly initiated with these ready-to-use techniques and microbial strains. This review aims to facilitate the start-up of PHA research by providing a summary of commercially available PHA-accumulating microbial cultures, PHA biosynthetic pathways, and methods for PHA detection, extraction and analysis.

https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/10220/18908/1/2014_start a research on biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (pha)_a review.pdf

Start a research on biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) : a review

Enhanced styrene recovery from waste polystyrene pyrolysis using response surface methodology coupled with Box-Behnken design.

https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/bitstream/10356/102050/1/Manuscript.pdf

Enhanced gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates analysis

Pyrolysis is one important way to treat polystyrene waste and upcycle it into useful materials. A comparative pyrolysis study of virgin polystyrene (VPS) and two types of commonly used polystyrene products, expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polystyrene container (CPS) was carried out. Various values were found in the thermodynamic study and kinetic study of VPS, EPS, and CPS pyrolysis, suggesting distinct thermal degradation characteristics of these materials. The energy barrier order of the pyrolysis processes was EPS, CPS, VPS, showing activation energy of 230, 219, and 145 kJ mol−1, respectively. The order of amount of heat absorbed was EPS, CPS, VPS, with enthalpy of 224, 213, and 139 kJ mol−1, respectively. The reaction favorability order was EPS, CPS, and VPS with Gibbs free energy of 118, 132, and 210 kJ mol−1, respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis indicated the use of high heating rate would increase the reaction rate and shorten the reaction time. Product evolution profiles showed that VPS and CPS pyrolysis produced mainly aromatics, while EPS pyrolysis produced aromatics at the initial phase of the reaction and aliphatic hydrocarbon at the latter phase. The diverse pyrolysis behaviors of VPS, EPS, and CPS demonstrated that an examination on different polystyrene materials was desired to optimize the pyrolysis conditions and product distribution, and thus benefit the process of valuable materials recovery.

Yu Mo

Papers

Start a research on biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) : a review

Enhanced styrene recovery from waste polystyrene pyrolysis using response surface methodology coupled with Box-Behnken design.

Enhanced gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates analysis

Comparative pyrolysis upcycling of polystyrene waste: thermodynamics, kinetics, and product evolution profile

Quantifying moderate resolution remote sensing phenology of Louisiana coastal marshes