Biorefinery Approach for Aerogels

Polymers 2020
Tatiana Budtova, Daniel Antonio Aguilera, Sergejs Beļuns, Linn Berglund, Coraline Chartier, Eduardo Espinosa, Sergejs Gaidukovs, Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra, Angelika Kmita, Dorota Lachowicz, Falk Liebner, Oskars Platnieks, Alejandro Rodríguez, Lizeth Katherine Tinoco Navarro, Fangxin Zou, Sytze J. Buwalda

According to the International Energy Agency, biorefinery is “the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable bio‐based products (chemicals, materials) and bioenergy (fuels, power, heat)”. In this review, we survey how the biorefinery approach can be applied to highly porous and nanostructured materials, namely aerogels. Historically, aerogels were first developed using inorganic matter. Subsequently, synthetic polymers were also employed. At the beginning of the 21st century, new aerogels were created based on biomass. Which sources of biomass can be used to make aerogels and how? This review answers these questions, paying special attention to bio‐aerogels’ environmental and biomedical applications. The article is a result of fruitful exchanges in the frame of the European project COST Action “CA 18125 AERoGELS: Advanced Engineering and Research of aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences”.

Keywords
Aerogel, Alginate, Biomass, Carrageenan, Cellulose, Chitosan, Lignocellulose, Nanocellulose, Pectin, Starch
DOI
10.3390/polym12122779
Hyperlink
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/12/2779

Budtova, T., Antonio Aguilera, D., Beļuns, S., Berglund, L., Chartier, C., Espinosa, E., Gaidukovs, S., Klimek-Kopyra, A., Kmita, A., Lachowicz, D., Liebner, F., Platnieks, O., Rodríguez, A., Tinoco Navarro, L., Zou, F., Buwalda, S. Biorefinery Approach for Aerogels. Polymers, 2020, Vol. 12, No. 12, Article number 2779. e-ISSN 2073-4360. Available from: doi:10.3390/polym12122779

Publication language
English (en)