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

在纤维素乙醇工业中，在量子基础上生产大致相等数量的乙醇和木质素。预计每年将生产1000亿加仑的生物质乙醇，同时还将生产大约3000亿公斤的木质素。纤维素乙醇工业面临的挑战之一是如何从木质素中提取高附加值产品。本研究旨在通过先进的静电纺丝技术和可控碳化技术，研究从被低估的木质素中高效低成本合成连续碳纳米纤维结构的方法。它还将研究它们在替代能源装置中的应用，作为传统生产的高成本碳纳米纤维和纳米管的替代品。生物乙醇生产产生的木质素在结构上与造纸工业产生的木质素不同。因此，这个项目也采用了新的方法来研究纤维素乙醇工业中使用的不同原料和预处理的不同木质素形式。这将为了解木质素结构及其通过静电纺丝转化为纳米碳纤维增加新的知识。由于木质素的高含碳量，它作为碳纳米结构合成的前体具有优势，这有望使碳纳米纤维的收率很高。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工业应用。该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，以确保工业的适用性。木质素是一种“生物精炼副产品”，作为纳米碳纤维的原料来源，成功利用木质素将满足各种鼓励使用生物基材料的联邦法律法规，同时为生物燃料工业提供额外的收入。加拿大新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.