About this Research Topic
Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable biomaterial that is mainly composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in different proportions. The constituents of cellulose and hemicellulose have been widely used as the precursors to prepare bio-materials, dietary fibers, and intermediates, which can be applied in the areas of biomedical therapy, food preservation, food additives, and cosmetics. Lignin is the most naturally abundant aromatic polymer that can be used to prepare bioactive components. Due to the natural recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass, an isolation approach should be carried out to obtain these constituents with high purity. In addition, various technologies of modifications are often applied to these constituents to improve their reactive activation or tailor the polymers with specific functions. Hence, seeking the appropriate approaches to isolation and modification is essential for the effective utilization of these biomass components.
To obtain the constituents in biomass, physical, chemical, and combined methods have been widely investigated. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the development of these isolation technologies, there still exist some problems, such as bulk chemical consumption, low isolation yield, low purity for final products, and harsh extraction conditions. Hence, seeking environmentally friendly, sustainable, and industrialized technologies to obtain the constituents in different biomass is still quite challenging to a large extent. In addition, due to the structural diversities of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in different biomass, the modified constituents can be explored to prepare the diversified bio-materials and bio-chemicals for being applied in undiscovered bio-applications. Combining the new isolation, modification, and characterization technologies with novel applications will be the key steps to ultimately unlock the integrated, economically viable, and multi-product biorefinery process.
The Topic Editors encourage submissions of Original Research articles, Perspectives, and Review articles that cover the following topics:
- Biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose
- Enzymatic and microbial modifications of biomass-based polymers
- New methods to prepare the cellulose derivatives from different biomass and their potential applications
- Environmentally friendly, sustainable, and industrialized technologies to prepare the products from different biomass for application in food and cosmetics areas.
- Upgrading of bio-applications of lignin
- Biological technologies to obtain the constituents in different biomass
- Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin-based bio-materials
To obtain the constituents in biomass, physical, chemical, and combined methods have been widely investigated. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made in the development of these isolation technologies, there still exist some problems, such as bulk chemical consumption, low isolation yield, low purity for final products, and harsh extraction conditions. Hence, seeking environmentally friendly, sustainable, and industrialized technologies to obtain the constituents in different biomass is still quite challenging to a large extent. In addition, due to the structural diversities of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in different biomass, the modified constituents can be explored to prepare the diversified bio-materials and bio-chemicals for being applied in undiscovered bio-applications. Combining the new isolation, modification, and characterization technologies with novel applications will be the key steps to ultimately unlock the integrated, economically viable, and multi-product biorefinery process.
The Topic Editors encourage submissions of Original Research articles, Perspectives, and Review articles that cover the following topics:
- Biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose
- Enzymatic and microbial modifications of biomass-based polymers
- New methods to prepare the cellulose derivatives from different biomass and their potential applications
- Environmentally friendly, sustainable, and industrialized technologies to prepare the products from different biomass for application in food and cosmetics areas.
- Upgrading of bio-applications of lignin
- Biological technologies to obtain the constituents in different biomass
- Cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin-based bio-materials
Keywords: cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, biotechnology, bio-applications
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