Turning Natural Herbaceous Fibers into Advanced Materials for Sustainability

Pengcheng Luan; Xianhui Zhao; Katie Copenhaver; Soydan Ozcan; Hongli Zhu

doi:10.1007/s42765-022-00151-w

Advanced Fiber Materials ›› 2022, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (4) : 736 -757. DOI: 10.1007/s42765-022-00151-w

Review

Turning Natural Herbaceous Fibers into Advanced Materials for Sustainability

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¹Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, 02115, Boston, MA, USA

²Manufacturing Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, 37830, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

³Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Road, 37830, Oak Ridge, TN, USA

^e h.zhu@neu.edu

Pengcheng Luan

is currently an exchange Ph.D. student between Northeastern University and State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering in the South China University of Technology. His research interests focus on the extraction and functional modification of lignocellulosic biomass, including ecofriendly delignification processes, lignocellulosic sorbent, and cellulosebased reverse electrodialysis devices. Furthermore, he is also interested in the industrial applications of cellulose in the field of pulp and paper manufacturing and environmental protection.

Dr. Xianhui Zhao

is an R&D Associate Staff member of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He received a PhD in Agricultural, Biosystems and Mechanical Engineering from South Dakota State University in 2015. His research interests and expertise fall in the general areas of material development and characterization, biomass conversion to composite and biofuel, waste recycling and upcycling, CO2 utilization, 3D printing, and applied catalysis.

Dr. Katie Copenhaver

is an R&D Associate Staff member in the Manufacturing Science Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She received a BS in Polymer and Fiber Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2014 and a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2019. Her doctoral research focused on patterning of polymer surfaces for structured adhesives. She joined ORNL as a postdoc in 2020 and became a staff member in 2022. Her research focuses on the development of sustainable composites using natural polymers and fibers as well as their application in large area manufacturing.

Dr. Soydan Ozcan

is a senior R&D scientist and trust leader of Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies at the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His research addresses novel, high-value biomaterials from renewables and viable processes for their structural materials and manufacturing applications. He also facilitates the development of polymer recycling technologies.

Hongli Zhu

is currently an assistant professor at Northeastern University and program director of Advanced and Intelligent Manufacturing program in Northeastern University. Her group focuses on the research of solid state batteries, flow batteries, sustainable materials, and advanced manufacturing.

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Abstract

Considering the growing concerns about natural resource depletion, energy inequality, and climate crises, biomass-derived materials—the most abundant organic matter on the planet—have received a lot of attention as a potential alternative to petroleum-based plastics. Herbaceous biomasses and extracted cellulose have recently been extensively used in the development of high-performance and multifunctional materials. Herbaceous biomass has sparked interest due to its species diversity, abundance, low cost, lightweight, and sustainability. This review discusses the structure versus property relationships of various sources of herbaceous biomasses (e.g., sugarcane, straw, and bamboo) and their extracted biomaterials, as well as the latest emerging applications from macro- and microscales to nanoscales. High-strength structural materials, porous carbon materials, multichannel materials, and flexible materials are examples of these applications, which include sustainable electronics, environmentally friendly energy harvesting, smart materials, and biodegradable structural buildings.

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Pengcheng Luan, Xianhui Zhao, Katie Copenhaver, Soydan Ozcan, Hongli Zhu. Turning Natural Herbaceous Fibers into Advanced Materials for Sustainability. Advanced Fiber Materials, 2022, 4(4): 736-757 DOI:10.1007/s42765-022-00151-w