During the project, we developed a simple and green approach to produce conductive 3D porous structures with high surface area and excellent bulk conductivity. Lignin is the third most abundant natural polymer, next to cellulose and chitin, and ranks as one of the most abundant phenolic natural polymers. Lignin is usually obtained as a byproduct of the chemical pulping and biofuel production. With a large fraction being burned as low-valued fuel, lignin represents a significantly under-utilized biomass. 3D porous carbon structures based of nanocellulose and lignin were manufactured during the project using wet spinning and electrospinning techniques. Different carbonization and chemical activation (KOH and NaOH) procedures were explored in order to maximize the electrochemical properties of produced spun fibers. Different ratios of lignin and crosslinking agent (alginic acid and CaCl2) were tested to examine the crosslinking capability of the agent in such systems. Finally, we characterized the chemical and mechanical structure of the carbon fibers, in addition to the electrical conductivity, wettability and microstructure.

Carbonization of electrospun and wetspun lignin based fibers

255th National Meeting (2018)

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