Fabrication and Characterization of Lignin/Dendrimer Electrospun Blended Fiber Mats

Abstract

Blending lignin as the second most abundant polymer in Nature with nanostructured compounds such as dendritic polymers can not only add value to lignin, but also increase its application in various fields. In this study, softwood Kraft lignin/polyamidoamine dendritic polymer (PAMAM) blends were fabricated by the solution electrospinning to produce bead-free nanofiber mats for the first time. The mats were characterized through scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, zeta potential, and thermogravimetry analyses. The chemical intermolecular interactions between the lignin functional groups and abundant amino groups in the PAMAM were verified by FTIR and viscosity measurements. These interactions proved to enhance the mechanical and thermal characteristics of the lignin/PAMAM mats, suggesting their potential applications e.g. in membranes, filtration, controlled release drug delivery, among others.

Oil structuring properties of electrospun Kraft lignin/cellulose acetate nanofibers for lubricating applications: influence of lignin source and lignin/cellulose acetate ratio

“…All KL/CA solutions exhibit a Newtonian behavior in the range of shear rates applied (see Figure S1 in the supplementary material). As can be observed in Table 2, shear viscosity values increase with CA proportion, as a consequence of the higher CA molecular weight, which corroborates previously reported findings for other lignin/polymer blends (Aslanzadeh et al 2016;Akbari et al 2021;Borrego et al 2021). Once again, it is observed that EKL/CA and PKL/CA solutions present similar viscosity values whereas OKL/CA solutions show significantly higher viscosity (0.181 and 0.475 Pa.s for 9:1 and 7:3 O KL:CA weight ratio, respectively).…”

Electrohydrodynamic Processing of PVP-Doped Kraft Lignin Micro- and Nano-Structures and Application of Electrospun Nanofiber Templates to Produce Oleogels

“…These fibers have significant advantages for several applications such as being extremely lightweight, and their low-cost production, large aspect ratio with reduced defects (small and uniform diameters), high molecular orientation, and flexibility in surface functionality [ 27 , 35 ]. Others researchers have been succeeded in producing electrospun lignin fibers, but each study focused on a single type of lignin, hence it is difficult to translate the findings related to one type of lignin to another [ 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

End-of-Life of Composite Materials in the Framework of the Circular Economy

“…In order to approach a circular thinking regarding the difficult end-of-life opportunities of composite materials, many R-strategies of circularity (i.e., reuse, reduce, recycle, refurbish, remanufacture, etc.) should be taken into account (Figure 3), namely [3,[40][41][42][43][44], (i) reuse to extended the lifetime of composites to avoid disposal implications; (ii) repair, maintain, and upgrade products to ensure efficiency and usability; (iii) recover products and increase the number of their cycles; (iv) remanufacture the structural elements while preserving material composition; (v) refurbish materials in another context of life construc-tion; (vi) replace composites with other lightweight materials (i.e., integrate biocomposites) for easier waste management; and (vii) recycle materials to close the loop (i.e., recycled carbon fibers).…”