Preparation, characterization and environmental/electrochemical energy storage testing of low-cost biochar from natural chitin obtained via pyrolysis at mild conditions

The Innovation Comes from the Sea: Chitosan and Alginate Hybrid Gels and Films as Sustainable Materials for Wastewater Remediation

“…Chitosan has unique properties among biopolymers since it contains primary amino groups [14] and is considered a low-toxic, non-immunogenic and biodegradable polysaccharide [15]. Indeed, chitosan and its derivatives have been used in the cosmetic industry, for food packaging, agriculture, environmental remediation and biomedical applications such as drug-delivery systems and/or as antimicrobial agents [16][17][18][19].…”

Aquatic-Derived Biomaterials for a Sustainable Future: A European Opportunity

“…In order to overcome this solubility-problem, chitin is generally converted into the more soluble chitosan (its N-deacetylated form), which can be dissolved into weak acid environments. The enhanced solubility of chitosan allows its use in several technological fields, such as in membranes for water softening processes [52], in water treatments as adsorbing material (alone or grafted to selected nanometric substrates) [53][54][55][56], in the agriculture industry as a protective agent against oxidation [57], as a bioplastic for food packaging [58,59], in the cosmetic industry as a moisturizing/conditioning agent [50], as carbon precursors for the development of cathodes in Li-S batteries [60], and in biomedicine as a drug delivery system and/or as hydrogels [61][62][63], as an antimicrobial agent/coating [34,64,65], and as technical anti-allergic textiles/sutures [66,67].…”

“…In their study, the authors reported a significant consideration concerning the valorization of chitin-containing biomasses: "countries such as China, Thailand and Ecuador have well-established aquaculture industries and hence, well established chitin and chitosan industries" [85]. Recent studies reported the possibility of the recovery of gaseous products (NH 3 , H 2 O, CO, and CO 2 ), as well as N-rich aromatic biochars via pyrolysis [46,60,85,86]. Depending on the chemical treatment employed on chitin, it is possible to obtain a platform to produce different chemicals, such as: 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) [87], lactic acid [88], 3-acetamido-5-acetylfuran (3A5AF) [89], levoglucosenone, acetic acid, and 4-(acetylamino)-1,3-benzenediol [86] (see Figure 3).…”

In Situ‐Derived Porous SiO2/Carbon Nanocomposite from Lichens for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

“…Among the numerous carbon materials, biochar is of particular interest because of its low cost and material consistency, which can be realized from abundant and nontoxic biomass precursors . Various precursors, such as lignin, pomelo pericarp, rice husk, litchi shells, and peanut shells, have been used to prepare biochar, which was commonly carbonized at 500–900 °C under argon atmosphere and followed by acid or alkaline‐washing to remove the impurities, and then applied in LIBs as high‐capacity electrode materials . Thus, the fabrication of SiO 2 /carbon composite will be a highly attractive idea.…”