Eco-friendly and strong lignin-containing microfibrillated cellulose films for high-performance separators of aqueous zinc batteries.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries have gained significant interest, offering several distinct advantages over conventional lithium-ion batteries owing to their compelling low cost, enhanced battery safety, and excellent environmental friendliness. Nevertheless, the unfortunate growth of zinc dendrites during cycling leads to poor electrochemical performance of zinc batteries, primarily attributed to the diminished wet mechanical properties and limited electrolyte uptake of existing commercial separators. Herein, a bio-based separator was developed from sustainable resources using natural polymers derived from wood pulp to replace fossil-based polyolefin separators.

Polymeric resins containing modified starch as environmentally friendly adsorbents for dyes and metal ions removal from wastewater.

Effective removal of organic and inorganic impurities by adsorption technique requires the preparation of new materials characterized by low production costs, significant sorption capacity, and reduced toxicity, derived from natural and renewable sources. To address these challenges, new adsorbents have been developed in the form of polymer microspheres based on ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and vinyl acetate (VA) (EGDMA/VA) containing starch (St) modified with boric acid (B) and dodecyl-S-thiuronium dodecylthioacetate (DiTDTA) for the removal of dyes: C.I.

Molecular understanding of the morphology and properties of lignin nanoparticles: unravelling the potential for tailored applications.

Studies have shown that the size of LNP depends on the molecular weight () of lignin. There is however need for deeper understanding on the role of molecular structure on LNP formation and its properties, in order to build a solid foundation on structure-property relationships. In this study, we show, for similar lignins, that the size and morphology of LNPs depends on the molecular structure of the lignin macromolecule.

Mechanochemical Defluorinative Arylation of Trifluoroacetamides: An Entry to Aromatic Amides.

The amide bond is prominent in natural and synthetic organic molecules endowed with activity in various fields. Among a wide array of amide synthetic methods, substitution on a pre-existing (O)C-N moiety is an underexplored strategy for the synthesis of amides. In this work, we disclose a new protocol for the defluorinative arylation of aliphatic and aromatic trifluoroacetamides yielding aromatic amides.

Surface chemistry and bioactivity of colloidal particles from industrial kraft lignins.

The morphology control of lignin through particle size reduction to nanoscale seems to be a suitable conversion technology to overcome the intrinsic limitations of its native form to develop a wide range of biomaterials with high performance. Colloidal lignin particles (CLPs) in the range of 150-200 nm were synthesised from hardwood and softwood kraft lignins by the solvent shifting method. The initial molecular features of kraft lignins were evaluated in terms of purity, molecular weight distribution, and chemical functionalities.