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Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Macromolecules".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 January 2024) | Viewed by 13715

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Haisong Wang

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Guest Editor
Liaoning Key Lab of Lignocellulose Chemistry and BioMaterials, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center for Lignocellulosic Biorefinery, College of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian 116034, China
Interests: biobased materials; paper materials; bioplastic; biorefinery; lignocellulolytic biomass; biomass pretreatment; cellulose; hemicellulose
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Qiang Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering, Western Michigan University, A-220 Floyd Hall, Kalamazoo, MI 49008, USA
Interests: biobased materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ling-Ping Xiao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Liaoning Key Lab of Lignocellulose Chemistry and BioMaterials, Liaoning Collaborative Innovation Center for Lignocellulosic Biorefinery, College of Light Industry and Chemical Engineering, Dalian Polytechnic University, Dalian, China
Interests: biomass valorization; biorefinery; lignin chemistry; biopolymers; heterogeneous catalysis; hydrogenolysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plastic pollution has caused irreversible damage to the soil and water environment. In order to solve this problem, many countries have begun to implement the plan of "banning the use of non-degradable plastics". It is of great significance to use renewable biomass (e.g., cereals, legumes, straw, bamboo, and wood flour) as raw material to obtain biopolymer materials or monomers through biological or chemical transformation, and then to further polymerize them to form degradable bio-based materials that can replace plastics. In particular, with a reduction in fossilized petroleum energy and the increased need for carbon emission reduction and carbon neutrality, it is necessary to use cheap and renewable lignocellulosic biomass as raw materials for biorefinery instead of petroleum refining. Through chemical or biological conversion methods, natural lignocellulose macromolecules can be degraded into some small molecule platform compounds, such as syngas, sugars, lignin, acetic acid, etc., which are then processed biologically or chemically into energy, materials, or chemicals that can be re-substituted for petroleum sources.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to solicit innovative technologies and methods for the efficient conversion of green and renewable starch, chitosan, and lignocellulosic biomass into renewable energy, materials, and chemicals through the biorefinery process, with a specific focus on industrial applications. The Special Issue aims to attract academics, researchers, students, post-graduate students, and professional engineers dealing with, but not limited to, biobased materials and polymers, as well as biorefinery technology.

Prof. Dr. Haisong Wang
Dr. Qiang Yang
Dr. Ling-Ping Xiao
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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

  • biobased materials
  • biobased polymers
  • paper materials
  • bioplastic
  • biorefinery
  • lignocellulolytic biomass
  • biomass pretreatment
  • cellulose
  • hemicellulose
  • lignin

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 6686 KiB  
Article
Catalytic Conversion of Carbohydrates into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural by Phosphotungstic Acid Encapsulated in MIL-101 (Cr, Sn) Catalyst in Deep Eutectic Solvents
by Wei Mao, Jiawen Hao, Lingyu Zeng, Hao Wang, Hao Xu and Jinghong Zhou
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(14), 11480; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241411480 - 14 Jul 2023
Viewed by 1092
Abstract
Herein, we report the synthesis of bimetal–organic frameworks (BMOFs) with both Brønsted and Lewis acidities, in which phosphotungstic acid (PTA) was encapsulated in BMOFs. It is efficient in converting starch to 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) in deep eutectic solvents (DESs) such as choline chloride and [...] Read more.
Herein, we report the synthesis of bimetal–organic frameworks (BMOFs) with both Brønsted and Lewis acidities, in which phosphotungstic acid (PTA) was encapsulated in BMOFs. It is efficient in converting starch to 5-hydroxymethyl-furfural (HMF) in deep eutectic solvents (DESs) such as choline chloride and formic acid. The highest yield of HMF (37.94%) was obtained using P0.5/BMOFs1.0 to catalyze starch in a mixed solvent system comprising DESs and ethyl acetate (EAC) (v/v; 2:3) at 180 °C and a reaction time of 10 min. Employing a DES as a cocatalyst and solvent reduced the use of organic solvents. The catalyst showed adequate reusability, and the HMF yield only decreased by 2.88% after six cycles of reuse compared with that of the initial catalyst. This study demonstrates the application potential of BMOFs in the conversion of biomass to useful molecules with commercial and/or research value. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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15 pages, 1619 KiB  
Article
Production and Characterization of Cellulose Nanocrystals from Eucalyptus Dissolving Pulp Using Endoglucanases from Myceliophthora thermophila
by Pratima Waghmare, Nuo Xu, Pankajkumar Waghmare, Guodong Liu, Yinbo Qu, Xuezhi Li and Jian Zhao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(13), 10676; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241310676 - 26 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1431
Abstract
Endoglucanase (EG) is a key enzyme during enzymatic preparation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Myceliophthora thermophila is a thermophilic fungus that has thermal properties and a high secretion of endoglucanases (EGs), and could serve as potential sources of EGs for the preparation of CNCs. [...] Read more.
Endoglucanase (EG) is a key enzyme during enzymatic preparation of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Myceliophthora thermophila is a thermophilic fungus that has thermal properties and a high secretion of endoglucanases (EGs), and could serve as potential sources of EGs for the preparation of CNCs. In this work, four different GH families (GH5, GH7, GH12, and GH45) of EGs from M. thermophila were expressed and purified, and their enzymatic characteristics and feasibility of application in CNC preparation were investigated. It was shown that the MtEG5A from M. thermophila has good potential in the enzymatic preparation of CNCs using eucalyptus dissolving pulp as feedstock. It was also observed that there was a synergistic effect between the MtEG5A and other MtEGs in the preparation of CNCs, which improved the yield and properties of CNCs obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis. This study provides a reference for understanding the enzymatic characteristics of different families of EGs from M. thermophile and their potential application in nanocellulose production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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16 pages, 3009 KiB  
Article
Unraveling the Lignin Structural Variation in Different Bamboo Species
by Ling-Ping Xiao, Yi-Hui Lv, Yue-Qin Yang, Shuang-Lin Zou, Zheng-Jun Shi and Run-Cang Sun
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(12), 10304; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241210304 - 18 Jun 2023
Viewed by 1740
Abstract
The structure of cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) prepared from three bamboo species (Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa lapidea, and Dendrocalamus brandisii) has been characterized by different analytical methods. The chemical composition analysis revealed a higher lignin content, up to 32.6% of [...] Read more.
The structure of cellulolytic enzyme lignin (CEL) prepared from three bamboo species (Neosinocalamus affinis, Bambusa lapidea, and Dendrocalamus brandisii) has been characterized by different analytical methods. The chemical composition analysis revealed a higher lignin content, up to 32.6% of B. lapidea as compared to that of N. affinis (20.7%) and D. brandisii (23.8%). The results indicated that bamboo lignin was a p-hydroxyphenyl-guaiacyl-syringyl (H-G-S) lignin associated with p-coumarates and ferulates. Advanced NMR analyses displayed that the isolated CELs were extensively acylated at the γ-carbon of the lignin side chain (with either acetate and/or p-coumarate groups). Moreover, a predominance of S over G lignin moieties was found in CELs of N. affinis and B. lapidea, with the lowest S/G ratio observed in D. brandisii lignin. Catalytic hydrogenolysis of lignin demonstrated that 4-propyl-substituted syringol/guaiacol and propanol guaiacol/syringol derived from β-O-4′ moieties, and methyl coumarate/ferulate derived from hydroxycinnamic units were identified as the six major monomeric products. We anticipate that the insights of this work could shed light on the sufficient understanding of lignin, which could open a new avenue to facilitate the efficient utilization of bamboo. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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17 pages, 2568 KiB  
Article
High-Strength, High-Water-Retention Hemicellulose-Based Hydrogel and Its Application in Urea Slow Release
by Yajun Hou, Baojuan Deng, Shanshan Wang, Yun Ma, Xing Long, Fei Wang, Chengrong Qin, Chen Liang and Shuangquan Yao
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(11), 9208; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119208 - 24 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1593
Abstract
The use of fertilizer is closely related to crop growth and environmental protection in agricultural production. It is of great significance to develop environmentally friendly and biodegradable bio-based slow-release fertilizers. In this work, porous hemicellulose-based hydrogels were created, which had excellent mechanical properties, [...] Read more.
The use of fertilizer is closely related to crop growth and environmental protection in agricultural production. It is of great significance to develop environmentally friendly and biodegradable bio-based slow-release fertilizers. In this work, porous hemicellulose-based hydrogels were created, which had excellent mechanical properties, water retention properties (the water retention ratio in soil was 93.8% after 5 d), antioxidant properties (76.76%), and UV resistance (92.2%). This improves the efficiency and potential of its application in soil. In addition, electrostatic interaction and coating with sodium alginate produced a stable core–shell structure. The slow release of urea was realized. The cumulative release ratio of urea after 12 h was 27.42% and 11.38%, and the release kinetic constants were 0.0973 and 0.0288, in aqueous solution and soil, respectively. The sustained release results demonstrated that urea diffusion in aqueous solution followed the Korsmeyer–Peppas model, indicating the Fick diffusion mechanism, whereas diffusion in soil adhered to the Higuchi model. The outcomes show that urea release ratio may be successfully slowed down by hemicellulose hydrogels with high water retention ability. This provides a new method for the application of lignocellulosic biomass in agricultural slow-release fertilizer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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17 pages, 4434 KiB  
Review
Structural Characteristics–Reactivity Relationships for Catalytic Depolymerization of Lignin into Aromatic Compounds: A Review
by Xin Wang, Wenbiao Xu, Dan Zhang, Xiangyu Li and Junyou Shi
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 8330; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24098330 - 5 May 2023
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2076
Abstract
Developing renewable biomass resources is an urgent task to reduce climate change. Lignin, the only renewable aromatic feedstock present in nature, has attracted considerable global interest in its transformation and utilization. However, the complexity of lignin’s structure, uncertain linkages, stability of side chain [...] Read more.
Developing renewable biomass resources is an urgent task to reduce climate change. Lignin, the only renewable aromatic feedstock present in nature, has attracted considerable global interest in its transformation and utilization. However, the complexity of lignin’s structure, uncertain linkages, stability of side chain connection, and inevitable recondensation of reaction fragments make lignin depolymerization into biofuels or platform chemicals a daunting challenge. Therefore, understanding the structural characteristics and reactivity relationships is crucial for achieving high-value utilization of lignin. In this review, we summarize the key achievements in the field of lignin conversion with a focus on the effects of the β-O-4 content, S/G ratio, lignin sources, and an “ideal” lignin—catechyl lignin. We discuss how these characteristics influence the formation of lignin monomer products and provide an outlook on the future direction of lignin depolymerization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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23 pages, 7019 KiB  
Review
Advances in Application of Cellulose—MOF Composites in Aquatic Environmental Treatment: Remediation and Regeneration
by Yehan Tao, Jian Du, Yi Cheng, Jie Lu, Douyong Min and Haisong Wang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(9), 7744; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24097744 - 24 Apr 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2822
Abstract
Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained remarkable interest in water treatment due to their fascinating characteristics, such as tunable functionality, large specific surface area, customizable pore size and porosity, and good chemical and thermal stability. However, MOF particles tend to easily agglomerate in [...] Read more.
Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained remarkable interest in water treatment due to their fascinating characteristics, such as tunable functionality, large specific surface area, customizable pore size and porosity, and good chemical and thermal stability. However, MOF particles tend to easily agglomerate in nanoscale, thus decreasing their activity and processing convenience. It is necessary to shape MOF nanocrystals into maneuverable structures. The in situ growth or ex situ incorporation of MOFs into inexpensive and abundant cellulose-family materials can be effective strategies for the stabilization of these MOF species, and therefore can make available a range of enhanced properties that expand the industrial application possibilities of cellulose and MOFs. This paper provides a review of studies on recent advances in the application of multi-dimensional MOF–cellulose composites (e.g., aerogels, membranes, and bulk materials) in wastewater remediation (e.g., metals, dyes, drugs, antibiotics, pesticides, and oils) and water regeneration by adsorption, photo- or chemocatalysis, and membrane separation strategies. The advantages brought about by combining MOFs and cellulose are described, and the performance of MOF–cellulose is described and compared to its counterparts. The mechanisms of relative MOF–cellulose materials in processing aquatic pollutants are included. Existing challenges and perspectives for future research are proposed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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12 pages, 2062 KiB  
Review
Biomass-Based Hydrothermal Carbons for the Contaminants Removal of Wastewater: A Mini-Review
by Yuanyuan Wang, Yuan Xu, Xintian Lu, Kefeng Liu, Fengfeng Li, Bing Wang, Qiang Wang, Xv Zhang, Guihua Yang and Jiachuan Chen
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(2), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24021769 - 16 Jan 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2207
Abstract
The preparation of adsorbents with eco-friendly and high-efficiency characteristics is an important approach for pollutant removal, and can relieve the pressure of water shortage and environmental pollution. In recent studies, much attention has been paid to the potential of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) from [...] Read more.
The preparation of adsorbents with eco-friendly and high-efficiency characteristics is an important approach for pollutant removal, and can relieve the pressure of water shortage and environmental pollution. In recent studies, much attention has been paid to the potential of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) from biomass, such as cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and agricultural waste for the preparation of adsorbents. Hereby, this paper summarizes the state of research on carbon adsorbents developed from various sources with HTC. The reaction mechanism of HTC, the different products, the modification of hydrochar to obtain activated carbon, and the treatment of heavy metal pollution and organic dyes from wastewater are reviewed. The maximum adsorption capacity of carbon from different biomass sources was also evaluated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bio-Polymer Materials and Bio-Refinery 2.0)
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