IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v4y2021i7d10.1038_s41893-021-00702-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A strong, biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulosic bioplastic

Author

Listed:
  • Qinqin Xia

    (University of Maryland)

  • Chaoji Chen

    (University of Maryland)

  • Yonggang Yao

    (University of Maryland)

  • Jianguo Li

    (University of Maryland)

  • Shuaiming He

    (University of Maryland)

  • Yubing Zhou

    (University of Maryland)

  • Teng Li

    (University of Maryland)

  • Xuejun Pan

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Yuan Yao

    (Yale University)

  • Liangbing Hu

    (University of Maryland
    University of Maryland)

Abstract

Renewable and biodegradable materials derived from biomass are attractive candidates to replace non-biodegradable petrochemical plastics. However, the mechanical performance and wet stability of biomass are generally insufficient for practical applications. Herein, we report a facile in situ lignin regeneration strategy to synthesize a high-performance bioplastic from lignocellulosic resources (for example, wood). In this process, the porous matrix of natural wood is deconstructed to form a homogeneous cellulose–lignin slurry that features nanoscale entanglement and hydrogen bonding between the regenerated lignin and cellulose micro/nanofibrils. The resulting lignocellulosic bioplastic shows high mechanical strength, excellent water stability, ultraviolet-light resistance and improved thermal stability. Furthermore, the lignocellulosic bioplastic has a lower environmental impact as it can be easily recycled or safely biodegraded in the natural environment. This in situ lignin regeneration strategy involving only green and recyclable chemicals provides a promising route to producing strong, biodegradable and sustainable lignocellulosic bioplastic as a promising alternative to petrochemical plastics.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinqin Xia & Chaoji Chen & Yonggang Yao & Jianguo Li & Shuaiming He & Yubing Zhou & Teng Li & Xuejun Pan & Yuan Yao & Liangbing Hu, 2021. "A strong, biodegradable and recyclable lignocellulosic bioplastic," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(7), pages 627-635, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:7:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00702-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00702-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00702-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-021-00702-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Patria, Raffel Dharma & Rehman, Shazia & Yuen, Chun-Bong & Lee, Duu-Jong & Vuppaladadiyam, Arun K. & Leu, Shao-Yuan, 2024. "Energy-environment-economic (3E) hub for sustainable plastic management – Upgraded recycling, chemical valorization, and bioplastics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    2. Song, Wenlu & He, Yu & Huang, Rui & Li, Jianfeng & Yu, Yujie & Xia, Peng, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of deep-eutectic-solvent-assisted hydrothermal disintegration of microalgae for biodiesel and biogas co-production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    3. Siyuan Fang & Xingyi Lyu & Tian Tong & Aniqa Ibnat Lim & Tao Li & Jiming Bao & Yun Hang Hu, 2023. "Turning dead leaves into an active multifunctional material as evaporator, photocatalyst, and bioplastic," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Swikriti Khadke & Pragya Gupta & Shanmukh Rachakunta & Chandreswar Mahata & Suma Dawn & Mohit Sharma & Deepak Verma & Aniruddha Pradhan & Ambati Mounika Sai Krishna & Seeram Ramakrishna & Sabyasachi C, 2021. "Efficient Plastic Recycling and Remolding Circular Economy Using the Technology of Trust–Blockchain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    5. Erfan Oliaei & Peter Olsén & Tom Lindström & Lars A. Berglund, 2022. "Highly reinforced and degradable lignocellulose biocomposites by polymerization of new polyester oligomers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Guanjun Ji & Di Tang & Junxiong Wang & Zheng Liang & Haocheng Ji & Jun Ma & Zhaofeng Zhuang & Song Liu & Guangmin Zhou & Hui-Ming Cheng, 2024. "Sustainable upcycling of mixed spent cathodes to a high-voltage polyanionic cathode material," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:7:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00702-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.