Biobased polymers from lignocellulosic sources
Rachele N. Carafa, Daniel A. Foucher, Guerino Sacripante
Abstract
The ongoing threat of global warming has resulted in numerous attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and impede its ramifications. Replacing fossil fuels in products with renewable biobased materials is currently one approach to tackle the climate change crisis. Lignocellulose is the most abundant natural biomass source and is a potential candidate to replace the non-renewable resources currently made with petroleum-based products. Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, which together make up lignocellulose, are all suitable choices for the creation of biobased materials. This review aims to highlight some of the recent efforts towards synthesizing renewable biobased polymers from raw lignocellulose, as well as refined cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin sources while identifying some of the current applications to which they are suited.