Lignin Valorization: Recent Trends and Future Perspective

Dear Colleagues,

 A circular society requires a sustainable energy and chemical supply, as well as supplementary alternative energy resources, such as solar energy, wind power, hydropower, geothermal energy, etc. Sustainable chemical and material production still presents serious challenges necessitating a prerequisite of a stable and abundant renewable carbon source. Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising “candidate” for this role, having gained increasing attention in circular component production due to its high availability. However, the efficient extraction of high-value components from biomass, in particular from lignin with valuable functional aromatic features, presents a current bottleneck in biomass utilization.

Researchers have explored lignin extensively in recent years, developing two main strategies for the utilization of lignin. One involves a traditional sugar-oriented approach, in which lignin always serves as a byproduct, which has neither gained much attention nor value, such as in purpling processes. The other one is “lignin-first” biomass processing, in which lignin is catalytically converted into a more native-like state with labile linking motifs to valuable aromatic products. Typical examples of this processing strategy include reductive catalytic fractionation and acid-based lignin hydrolysis. Authentic results demonstrate the massive potential of these processes for lignin valorization. However, new findings and strategies still highly necessitate the study of lignocellulosic biomass, especially regarding lignin valorization. For instance, biological processing includes lignin depolymerization via microorganisms or enzymes as well as gene perturbation orienting to allow the lignin biosynthetic pathway to ‘create’ new lignin with a labile structure. Additionally, lignin as an aromatic polymer possesses great biodegradability and biocompatibility and exhibits enormous potential for the preparation of various functional and sustainable materials as alternatives to plastics, thus presenting a viable pathway for eco-friendly materials production and the tailored valorization of lignin in biorefinery.

This Special Issue aims to present fundamental and practical studies on lignocellulosic biomass with a special focus on lignin to provide general and innovative results oriented towards solving current challenges in lignin utilization. We welcome all original research papers, methods, mini reviews and reviews papers to this Special Issue.

Dr. Han-Min Wang
Dr. Zhiwen Wang
Dr. Fengfeng Li
Guest Editors

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