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Advanced Lignin Nanocomposites: Design, Development and Application

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Materials Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 3123

Special Issue Editors

Forest Products Lab, USDA Forest Service, Madison, WI 53726-2398, USA
Interests: bio-based composite; lignin-based carbon materials; cellulose nano-materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Ligwood LLC, Madison, WI 53705-2828, USA
Interests: lignin-based materials; biomass-derived carbon materials; nanomaterials; catalysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lignin is a natural biopolymer that composes 20%–30% of most woody resources and lignocellulosic biomass. Lignin structures contain the phenolic monomeric units, which are bonded together into 3-D huge molecules. Today, technical lignins from the pulping and biorefinery processes are largely underutilized, even though this phenolic biopolymer could be an interesting raw material for advanced applications for many daily goods. Production of the nanocomposites from the lignin has gained much research interest due to its attractive multi-functional properties and widely potential applications. Lignin-derived composites have demonstrated the potential applications in adhesives, resins, coatings, plasticizers, and flame retardants. Lignin nanocomposites are also used for foods, fiber modification for textiles to improve adhesion, hydrophobicity, antimicrobial, and anti-oxidative properties of the material. Moreover, lignin nanocomposites could be used as adsorbents in water purification, emulsifiers for colloids, carriers for enzymes, and controlled-release vectors for drugs and pesticides. With this in mind, the current Special Issue solicits the state-of-the-art work on synthesis and characterization of nanocomposites from lignin materials, and their potential applications.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Synthesis and characterization of the nanocomposites using technical lignins;
  • Nanocomposites and hybrid nanomaterials from lignin;
  • Functional lignin-based materials: hydrogels, nanocarriers, biosorbents, and nanoparticles;
  • Chemical modification of lignin to prepare tailored lignin nanostructured products;
  • Application of lignin nanocomposites in adhesives, resins, coatings, plasticizers, and flame retardants;
  • Lignin nanocomposites for application in water/wastewater treatment processes;
  • Lignin nanocomposites for medical implants and drug delivery;
  • Lignin-derived nanomaterials for renewable energy production and storage

Dr. Zhiyong Cai
Dr. Qiangu Yan
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • lignin
  • nanocomposites
  • hybrid nanomaterials
  • functionalization
  • adsorbents
  • adhesives
  • resins
  • coatings
  • cosmetics
  • medical implants
  • drug delivery

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

21 pages, 13664 KiB  
Article
Production of COx-Free Hydrogen and Few-Layer Graphene Nanoplatelets by Catalytic Decomposition of Methane over Ni-Lignin-Derived Nanoparticles
by Qiangu Yan, Timothy Ketelboeter and Zhiyong Cai
Molecules 2022, 27(2), 503; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27020503 - 14 Jan 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1491
Abstract
Nickel (Ni)-lignin nanocomposites were synthesized from nickel nitrate and kraft lignin then catalytically graphitized to few-layer graphene-encapsulated nickel nanoparticles (Ni@G). Ni@G nanoparticles were used for catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM) to produce COx-free hydrogen and graphene nanoplatelets. Ni@G showed high catalytic activity for [...] Read more.
Nickel (Ni)-lignin nanocomposites were synthesized from nickel nitrate and kraft lignin then catalytically graphitized to few-layer graphene-encapsulated nickel nanoparticles (Ni@G). Ni@G nanoparticles were used for catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM) to produce COx-free hydrogen and graphene nanoplatelets. Ni@G showed high catalytic activity for methane decomposition at temperatures of 800 to 900 °C and exhibited long-term stability of 600 min time-on-stream (TOS) without apparent deactivation. The catalytic stability may be attributed to the nickel dispersion in the Ni@G sample. During the CDM reaction process, graphene shells over Ni@G nanoparticles were cracked and peeled off the nickel cores at high temperature. Both the exposed nickel nanoparticles and the cracked graphene shells may participate the CDM reaction, making Ni@G samples highly active for CDM reaction. The vacancy defects and edges in the cracked graphene shells serve as the active sites for methane decomposition. The edges are continuously regenerated by methane molecules through CDM reaction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Lignin Nanocomposites: Design, Development and Application)
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21 pages, 9090 KiB  
Article
A Study of the Key Factors on Production of Graphene Materials from Fe-Lignin Nanocomposites through a Molecular Cracking and Welding (MCW) Method
by Qiangu Yan, Timothy Ketelboeter and Zhiyong Cai
Molecules 2022, 27(1), 154; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/molecules27010154 - 28 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1317
Abstract
In this work, few-layer graphene materials were produced from Fe-lignin nanocomposites through a molecular cracking and welding (MCW) method. MCW process is a low-cost, scalable technique to fabricate few-layer graphene materials. It involves preparing metal (M)-lignin nanocomposites from kraft lignin and a transition [...] Read more.
In this work, few-layer graphene materials were produced from Fe-lignin nanocomposites through a molecular cracking and welding (MCW) method. MCW process is a low-cost, scalable technique to fabricate few-layer graphene materials. It involves preparing metal (M)-lignin nanocomposites from kraft lignin and a transition metal catalyst, pretreating the M-lignin composites, and forming of the graphene-encapsulated metal structures by catalytic graphitization the M-lignin composites. Then, these graphene-encapsulated metal structures are opened by the molecule cracking reagents. The graphene shells are peeled off the metal core and simultaneously welded and reconstructed to graphene materials under a selected welding reagent. The critical parameters, including heating temperature, heating time, and particle sizes of the Fe-lignin composites, have been explored to understand the graphene formation mechanism and to obtain the optimized process parameters to improve the yield and selectivity of graphene materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Lignin Nanocomposites: Design, Development and Application)
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