Multifunctional lignin-reinforced cellulose foam for the simultaneous removal of oils, dyes, and metal ions from water.

Pollutants emitted by industry pose an emerging threat to ecosystems, human health and native species, which has attracted global attention. At present, most of the biomass-based water remediation materials suffer from the poor mechanical properties, complexity of the modification process, single function and low adsorption capacity. Therefore, a high-strength lignin/cellulose foam absorbent (LCMA) with super-hydrophilic surface was developed for wastewater treatment by using lignin as the skeleton to crosslink cellulose through sol-gel method.

Multifunctional Super-Hydrophilic MXene/Biomass Composite Aerogel Evaporator for Efficient Solar-Driven Desalination and Wastewater Treatment.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is recognized as a sustainable and effective strategy for desalination to mitigate the freshwater scarcity issue. Nevertheless, the challenges of oil contamination, salt accumulation, and poor long-term stability of the solar desalination process limit its applications. Herein, a 3D biomass-based multifunctional solar aerogel evaporator is developed for water production with fabricated chitosan/lignin (CSL) aerogel as the skeleton, encapsulated with carbonized lignin (CL) particles and TiCTi (MXene) nanosheets as light-absorbing materials.

"Rigid-Flexible" Anisotropic Biomass-Derived Aerogels with Superior Mechanical Properties for Oil Recovery and Thermal Insulation.

Aerogels with low density, high mechanical strength, and excellent elasticity have a wide potential for applications in wastewater treatment, thermal management, and sensors. However, the fabrication of such aerogels from biomass materials required complex preparation processes. Herein, a sustainable and facile strategy was reported to construct lignin/cellulose aerogels (LCMA) with three-dimensional interconnected structures by introducing homologous lignin with a polyphenyl propane structure as a structural enhancer through a top-down directional freezing approach, prompting a 2036% enhancement in compressive modulus and an 8-12-fold increase in oil absorption capacity.

pH-responsive magnetic FeO/carboxymethyl chitosan/aminated lignosulfonate nanoparticles with uniform size for targeted drug loading.

In order to improve the effect of anti-tumor drugs, a magnetic delivery system for targeted drug was reported. Firstly, aminated lignosulfonate (ALS) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) were used to fabricate nano FeO to obtain pH-responsive magnetic FeO /CMCS/ALS nanoparticles. Then the nanoparticles were loaded with doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), realizing the targeted delivery and controlled release of anti-tumor drugs.

Lignin: Excellent hydrogel swelling promoter used in cellulose aerogel for efficient oil/water separation.

Hypothesis: Super-hydrophilic/underwater super-oleophobic materials composed of biomass show great advantages for the treatment of oily wastewater due to their inherent fouling resistance. However, the development of three-dimensional materials from biomass for oil-water separation is still a challenge. It is universally acknowledged that constructing a rough structure on the surface of hydrophilic substrates would significantly improve the underwater oleophobicity and oil-water separation performance.

Facile synthesis and performance of pH/temperature dual-response hydrogel containing lignin-based carbon dots.

This study demonstrated a facile method to synthesize lignin-based carbon dots (L-CDs) first. Results indicated that the L-CDs had a diameter of 2-5 nm and a graphene-like crystalline structure. It was found that under the optimal synthesis conditions, the fluorescence lifetime of L-CDs was about 12 ns.

Kraft lignin grafted with isopentenol polyoxyethylene ether and the dispersion performance.

In order to develop a biomass-based superplasticizer, kraft lignin (KL) was grafted with isopentenol polyoxyethylene ether (TPEG) to prepare a novel macromonomer (KL-TPEG). It was shown that the retention ratio of the aliphatic CC bond increased from 81.07% to 90.

pH-responsive lignin-based magnetic nanoparticles for recovery of cellulase.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose to produce bioethanol by cellulase is an important method to alleviate the energy crisis. In this paper, in order to overcome the shortcomings of low efficiency, high cost and easy deactivation of cellulase in the process of bio-refinery, pH-responsive lignin-based magnetic nanoparticles (FeO/LSQA) were synthesized to immobilize and recover cellulase. It was shown that a high immobilization ratio of 55.

Amination of black liquor and the application in the ready-mixed wet mortar.

In order to extend the application of black liquor (BL), amino group was introduced in lignin through Mannich reaction. The structure of the aminated black liquor (ABL) was characterized with FT-IR, elemental analysis, the zeta potential and the inherent viscosity. The foam generated by ABL was more stable, for the surface tension was lower.

Synthesis and dissipative particle dynamics simulation of cross-linkable fluorinated diblock copolymers: self-assembly aggregation behavior in different solvents.

Developing microstructures, such as low molecular aggregates, spherical micelles and multi-compartment micelles, is an expanding area of research in Materials Science. By applying an atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) process to cross-linkable fluorinated diblock copolymers and analyzing the data we are able to demonstrate the potential for developing films with different micro-structures for additional biological research. Applying the Dissipative Particle Dynamic (DPD) Method, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) techniques to cross-linkable fluorinated diblock copolymers of (methyl methacrylate-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-butyl methacrylate)-b-2-(perfluoroalkyl)ethyl methacrylate (MMA-co-HEMA-co-BMA-b-FMA) we were able to analyze the structures and their relationships to the aggregation of various microstructure formations through the use of various solvents in the process.