Lignin materials for adsorption: Current trend, perspectives and opportunities

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 272; pp. 570 - 581
• Main Authors: Supanchaiyamat, Nontipa, Jetsrisuparb, Kaewta, Knijnenburg, Jesper T.N., Tsang, Daniel C.W., Hunt, Andrew J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2019
• Subjects: activated carbon; adsorbents; Adsorption; air pollutants; air pollution; biomass; Biorefinery; cadmium; Carbon; Carbon - chemistry; carbon dioxide; Coloring Agents - isolation & purification; copper; Dye; feedstocks; fuels; Gas; gold; green chemistry; Heavy metal; heavy metals; hydrogen sulfide; lead; lignin; Lignin - chemistry; Metals, Heavy - isolation & purification; methylene blue; palladium; phenols; platinum; sulfur dioxide; zinc; Gas; Dye; Biorefinery; Carbon; Heavy metal
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.09.139

[Display omitted] •Lignin is an under exploited resource that can be utilized for adsorbent production.•Lignin can be an effective adsorbent of organic, metal and gaseous pollutants.•Carbonization of lignin through pyrolysis can improve adsorption selectivity.•Modification of lignin with hetero-atoms can strongly influence metal binding ability. Lignin is a highly aromatic low value biomass residue, which can be utilized for chemicals, fuels and materials production. In recent years significant attention has focused on adsorbent materials from lignin. However, only 5% of available lignin is exploited worldwide, thus significant opportunities still exist for materials development. This review summarizes recent research advances in lignin-based adsorbents, with a particular emphasis on lignin, its modification and carbon materials derived from this abundant feedstock. Lignin derived activated carbons have been utilized for air pollutant adsorption (e.g. CO2, SO2 and H2S), while modified lignin materials have been developed for the removal of organic dyes and organics (like methylene blue, Procion Blue MX-R and phenols), heavy metals (such as Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd), or recovery of noble metals (e.g., Pd, Au and Pt). Future perspectives highlight how green chemistry approaches for developing lignin adsorbents can generate added value processes.