Potential sustainable biomaterials derived from cover crops

Abstract

Plant-derived biopolymers are renewable and readily available, thus making viable alternatives to synthetic polymers. The present study examined properties of biopolymers from cover crops such as rye, oat, clover, vetch, and barley, which were grown organically in a greenhouse. The yields of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin of the cover crops were calculated based on the dry weight. Structural variations and thermal properties of the isolated cellulose were characterized and compared with commercial cellulose using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The average yield percentages of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were 19 to 27%, 9 to 25%, and 1.42 to 4.86%, respectively. The FTIR and Raman spectral analysis indicated that the isolated cellulose had similar peaks and patterns to commercial cellulose, and confirmed the removal of non-cellulosic constituents. The onset decomposition temperature occurred at 270 °C in all samples. Interestingly, the maximum degradation temperature beyond 370 °C in cellulose was isolated from black oat, which was higher than commercial cellulose (350 °C). The findings of this research suggest that cellulose isolated from cover crops may be a benefit to the polymer industry in the development of bio-based materials such as biofuels, bio-composites, and biomedical devices.

Eco-Friendly Cellulose Nanofiber Extraction from Sugarcane Bagasse and Film Fabrication

“…For example, Su et al fractionated lignin and hemicellulose from corncobs with removal ratio of 75.4% and 38.7%, respectively, after 6 h of treatment with AHP [29]. Recently, our team also used AHP hydrolysis and successfully extracted cellulose from various cover crops [30]. After the pretreatment process, CNCs are usually obtained from acid hydrolysis [31].…”

Biomaterials and Regenerative Agriculture: A Methodological Framework to Enable Circular Transitions

“…It is mostly composed of cellulose, together with smaller amounts of hemicellulose, and lignin. Cellulose is a natural polysaccharide with a wide range of applications including packaging, drug delivery, automotive and aerospace parts, and textiles [3,23,24]. Cover crop residues are an essential lignocellulosic biomass resource for regenerative farms, playing a key role in enriching soils and supporting crops, which could also serve as a promising biomaterial feedstock [23].…”

“…Cellulose is a natural polysaccharide with a wide range of applications including packaging, drug delivery, automotive and aerospace parts, and textiles [3,23,24]. Cover crop residues are an essential lignocellulosic biomass resource for regenerative farms, playing a key role in enriching soils and supporting crops, which could also serve as a promising biomaterial feedstock [23]. Therefore, cover crop residues are the main potential feedstock examined, followed by additional prospective regenerative feedstock sources.…”

“…In a recent study [23], the composition of commonly used cover crops, i.e., rye, oat, clover, vetch, and barley, grown under regenerative practices was analyzed, with cellulose being the most dominant component (Table 1). Cellulose isolated from cover crops was characterized and compared with commercially available cellulose using spectroscopic and thermogravimetric analyses.…”

Alcoholamine enhanced fractionation of cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass in ionic liquids

“…The methods for separating cellulose from lignocellulosic biomass include physical treatment, chemical treatment, biological treatment, 10 etc. Chemical pretreatment of biomass is one of the most common methods utilized in industry for lignocelluloses separation.…”