Researchers use kraft paper lignin to make low-cost carbon fiber

The amount of fuel consumed by a car is not only related to the performance of the engine, but also related to the weight of the car.
Since the carbon emissions of a car have a greater impact on the global climate, reducing the weight of the car to reduce the amount of fuel is also the research direction of many researchers
.
? In a recent study published in the "Chemical Engineering Journal", researchers from Kanazawa University in Japan chemically modified an industrial waste and processed it into a lightweight structural material
.
This achievement is expected to reduce the amount of fuel used in automobiles, etc.
, thereby improving fuel economy
.
? Researchers started with kraft lignin, a by-product of the common wood pulping process
.
Paper mills usually burn kraft paper lignin to generate electricity, because it is difficult to have any other uses
.
Chemical processing of kraft paper lignin into more useful materials will improve the environmental sustainability of paper production
.
? "We performed a chemical modification called acetylation on the kraft lignin polymer," said first author László Szabó
.
"Optimizing the degree of acetylation is very important to our research work
.
"? Controlled reaction is very important for optimizing the compatibility of kraft paper lignin with another polymer called polyacrylonitrile, so as to prepare high-quality carbon fibers.
Create engineering composites
.
If the acetylation is too little or too much, the quality of the carbon fiber will be very low
.
? "Our reaction was quite mild and only produced a benign by-product, acetone, without changing the polydispersity of kraft lignin," co-author Kenji Takahashi explained
.
"Therefore, we were able to mix kraft paper lignin with polyacrylonitrile to obtain a coating solution for electrospinning with more compatible polymer segments, and finally produce high-quality carbon fibers
.
"
? The researcher's carbon fiber mat contains fine and uniform fibers without reducing the fiber quality due to heat treatment .
In fact, compared with unmodified kraft paper lignin, the mechanical strength of the fiber mat is increased by nearly 3 times by using modified polymers.

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? "The mechanical properties of our fibers are due to the custom graphite structure of the material," Szabó explains
.
"This result is due to improved polymer interaction, resulting in a more aligned polymer network, and then heat treatment
.
"? Engineering composites are common in spacecraft, automobiles, plastics, concrete, and many other products and technologies
.
When these researchers minimize the cost of preparing new carbon fibers, perhaps future vehicles will be lighter, more durable, and more fuel-efficient
.
Given that every industry will use transportation, everyone will save money, and every company will be more environmentally friendly and sustainable
.
? The title of the paper is "Controlled acetylation of kraft lignin for tailoring polyacrylonitrile-kraft lignin interactions towards the production of quality carbon nanofibers"
.