Lignins from various poplar genotypes were isolated by using organosolv fractionation and subjected to rheological treatment at various temperatures. Physicochemical characterization of the lignin variants shows a broad distribution of glass transition temperatures, melt viscosity, and pyrolysis char residues.Rheological treatment at 170°C induces lignin repolymerization accompanied with an increase in condensed linkages, molecular weights, and viscosities. In contrast, rheology testing at 190°C results in the decrease in lignin aliphatic and phenolic hydroxyl groups, β-O-aryl ether linkages, molecular weights, and viscosity values. Lignin under air cooling generates more oxygenated and condensed compounds, but lower amounts of ether linkages than lignin cooled under nitrogen. Lignin with a lower syringyl/guaiacyl ratio tends to form more cross-linkages along with higher viscosity values, higher molecular weight and larger amounts of condensed bonds.
Recycling hazardous wastes to produce value-added products is becoming essential for the sustainable progress of our society. Herein, highly porous carbon (1625 m(2) g(-1)) is synthesized using waste tires as the precursor and used as a supercapacitor electrode material. The narrow pore-size distribution and high surface area led to good charge storage capacity, especially when used as a three-dimensional nanoscaffold to polymerize polyaniline (PANI). The composite paper was highly flexible, conductive, and exhibited a capacitance of 480 F g(-1) at 1 mV s(-1) with excellent capacitance retention of up to 98% after 10,000 charge/discharge cycles. The high capacitance and long cycle life were ascribed to the short diffusional paths, uniform PANI coating, and tight confinement of the PANI in the inner pores of the tire-derived carbon through π-π interactions, which minimized the degradation of the PANI upon cycling. We anticipate that the same strategy can be applied to deposit other pseudocapacitive materials to achieve even higher electrochemical performance and longer cycle life-a key challenge for redox active polymers.
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