Just Accepted – Beaucamp et al – Lignin for energy applications – state of the art, life cycle, technoeconomic analysis and future trends, Green Chemistry, 2022, 24, 8193-8226

Anne Beaucamp¹, Muhammad Muddasar¹, Ibrahim Saana Amiinu², Marina Moraes Leite², Mario Culebras³, Kenneth Latha⁴, María C. Gutiérrez⁵, Daily Rodriguez-Padron⁶, Francisco del Monte⁵, Tadhg Kennedy^2,7, Kevin M. Ryan^2,7, Rafael Luque⁶, Maria-Magdalena Titirici⁴ and Maurice N. Collins*^1,7

¹Stokes Laboratories, School of Engineering, Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
²Department of Chemical Sciences, Bernal Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland.
³Institute of Material Science, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
⁴Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, SW7 2AZ UK.
⁵Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Calle Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, 3, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28033, Madrid, Spain.
⁶Departamento de Química Orgánica, Universidad de Córdoba, Campus de Rabanales, Edificio Marie Curie (C-3), Ctra Nnal IV-A, Km 396, 14014 Cordoba, Spain.
⁷SFI AMBER Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland.
Correspondence: Maurice N. Collins (Maurice.collins@ul.ie)

Received: 21st July 2022, Accepted: 5th October 2022, First published: 12th October 2022

Link: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2022/gc/d2gc02724k

ABSTRACT
Lignin is produced in large quantities as a by-product of the papermaking and biofuel industries. Lignin is the most abundant aromatic biopolymer on the planet with its chemical structure rendering it ideal for carbon materials production and finely tailored architectures of these sustainable carbon materials are beginning to find use in high value energy applications. This review focuses on lignin chemistry, various lignin extraction and fractionation techniques, and their impact on lignin structure/property relationships for energy applications are discussed. Chemistries behind important and emerging energy applications from recent research on this increasingly valuable sustainable polymer are described.