Multifunctional electrospun carbon nanofibres from bio-refinery byproducts for alternative energy devices

在纤维素乙醇工业中，乙醇和木质素的产量大致相同。预计每年将生产1000亿加仑生物质乙醇，同时还将生产约3000亿公斤木质素。纤维素乙醇行业面临的一个具有挑战性的问题是研究木质素的增值产品。这项提案旨在通过先进的电纺丝技术和受控碳化作用，研究以被低估的木质素为原料，高效、低成本地合成连续碳纳米纤维结构。它还将研究它们在替代能源设备中的应用，作为传统生产的高成本碳纳米纤维和纳米管的替代品。生物乙醇生产的木质素与造纸工业的木质素在结构上是不同的。因此，本项目还采用了一种新的方法，从不同的原料和前处理中研究不同形式的木质素，用于纤维素乙醇行业。这将为理解木质素的结构以及通过静电纺丝将其转化为碳纳米纤维增加新的知识。木质素作为合成碳纳米结构的前驱体具有很大的优势，因为它的含碳量很高，有望获得优异的碳纳米纤维产量。该项目的总体目标是通过创建科学知识库来加速纳米生物材料的产业化。这一基础将通过将基础科学与经济上可行的工艺技术相结合来建立，以确保对工业的适用性。木质素是一种“生物精炼副产品”，作为碳纳米纤维的原料来源，如果利用成功，将满足鼓励使用生物基材料的各种联邦法律和法规，同时为生物燃料行业提供额外收入。加拿大新的纳米生物材料知识库的出现将提高加拿大替代能源设备制造部门的全球竞争力。

In cellulosic ethanol industries, roughly equal amounts of ethanol and lignin are produced on a quantum basis. The forecasted 100 billion gallon of biomass ethanol to be produced per year will be accompanied by around 300 billion kilograms of lignin. One of the challenging issues for the cellulosic ethanol industry is to investigate value-added products from the lignin. This present proposal looks to investigate the highly efficient low-cost synthesis of continuous carbon nanofibre structures from undervalued lignin by an advanced electrospinning techniques followed by controlled carbonisation. It also will study their application in alternative energy devices as a substitute for high cost traditionally produced carbon nanofibres and nanotubes. The lignin from bioethanol production is structurally different than lignin from paper industries. Therefore, this project also takes the novel approach of investigating different lignins forms from varied feedstocks and pre-treatments as used in the cellulosic ethanol industry. This will add new knowledge to the understanding of lignin structures and their conversion to carbon nanofibre by electrospinning. Lignin has an advantage as a precursor for the synthesis of carbon nanostructures due to its high carbon content, which expected to give an excellent yield of carbon nanofibres. The overall goal of this project is to accelerate the industrial use of nano-bio-materials by creating a scientific knowledge base. This foundation will be established by combining fundamental science with economically viable process technologies to ensure applicability to industry. Success in the utilization of lignin, a "bio-refinery byproduct," as a source of raw materials for carbon nanofibres, will satisfy various federal laws and regulations that encourage the use of biobased materials, while providing additional income to the biofuel industries. The emergence of a Canadian knowledge base for new nanobiomaterials will enhance the global competitiveness for the Canadian alternative energy device manufacturing sector.