Table Of ContentEmmanuel Isaac Akpan
Samson Oluropo Adeosun Editors
Sustainable
Lignin for Carbon
Fibers: Principles,
Techniques, and
Applications
Sustainable Lignin for Carbon FibersPrinciples,
Techniques, and Applications
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
Samson Oluropo Adeosun
Editors
Sustainable Lignin for
Carbon Fibers: Principles,
Techniques, and Applications
Editors
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan Samson Oluropo Adeosun
Institute for Composite Materials Department of Metallurgical
Technical University Kaiserslautern and Materials Engineering
Kaiserslautern, Germany University of Lagos
Lagos, Nigeria
ISBN 978-3-030-18791-0 ISBN 978-3-030-18792-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18792-7
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims
in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
To God almighty, the all-knowing and
all-powerful
Preface
The future of automotive and aerospace industries is tied to the development of
cost-effective and environmental-friendly carbon fibre source. Recently, lignin has
been discovered as an ideal replacement for polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursors for
automotive grade carbon fibre production because it contains high carbon content
(≈60% carbon content) and is widely available. It can be obtained from nearly all
plants, agricultural wastes and even industrial by-products. However, lignin from
these bio-sources is different from PAN and other carbon fibre precursors in terms
of isolation, purification, and further processing into carbon fibres. Until now,
mechanical performance requirements for automotive applications have not yet
been realized from lignin-based carbon fibres. The way forward is a very good
understanding of the lignin complex system, the role of lignin chemistry as it relates
to carbon fibre production and the evolution of lignin carbon fibre structure during
processing. ‘Sustainable lignin for carbon fibres’ is designed to provide a wide
understanding of lignin carbon fibre processes, chemistry, mechanisms, and tech-
niques that will help in further development of lignin carbon fibre for automotive
applications. Each step in the processing of lignin carbon fibres is presented as a
separate chapter so that issues concerning the processes are exhaustively
discussed.
‘Sustainable lignin for carbon fibres’ is a comprehensive volume for academia,
industrialist and research scientist, who will learn basic principles and techniques in
the recovery, processing and application of bio-sourced lignin for carbon fibres.
Research challenges and gaps outlined within each chapter and summarized in the
conclusion/ outlook are very important to the research scientist. For the industrial-
ist, successful recovery and purification techniques, state-of-the-art melt processing
and stabilization techniques, most successful carbonization schedule for improved
properties, potential applications, and market value of lignin-based carbon fibres are
presented. All the chapters are structured such that they present basic principles
governing each stage of lignin carbon fibre processing, current state of research and
mechanisms behind the processes. Illustrations (graphs, structures and sketches)
and careful explanation of mechanisms are used for better understanding of princi-
ples. These make the book relevant to lecturers and university students.
vii
viii Preface
The book is divided into ten chapters with each chapter dealing with a specific
step in the processing of lignin carbon fibres. Chapter 1 gives a general understand-
ing of lignin as a polymer, its chemistry and molecular structure. Basic information
about lignin as a macromolecule and its potential are presented in this chapter.
Chapter 2 provides an overview of the processes involved in the processing of lignin
into final carbon fibre. General concepts behind the processing steps are outlined.
The different methods used in isolation of lignin from their sources are presented in
Chap. 3. Mechanisms behind these extraction methods and their effects on the lig-
nin structure are extensively reviewed. It is an important source of information for
any industry who will not want to depend on the pulping industry for lignin. Over
250 plant sources of lignin and their prevalent monomeric units are presented in
Chap. 4. In Chap. 5, techniques of the characterization of lignin and lignin carbon
fibres are presented. For each characterization technique, basic principles behind
the technique are presented with an extensive literature review on their use in lignin
characterization. Chapter 6 deals with the methods used in the formation of initial
lignin carbon fibres before stabilization. Mechanism and technology of melt, wet,
and dry spinning of lignin carbon fibres are explained in details. In Chap. 7, stabili-
zation methods for lignin carbon fibres are presented. A review of the current stabi-
lization methods and the properties of the fibres are outlined. An important aspect
of the chapter is the analysis of the effect of stabilization parameters on the proper-
ties of the carbon fibres. Chapter 8 provides a good understanding of carbonization,
activation and graphitization of stabilized fibres. Mechanism behind these process-
ing methods, their current state of the art and suggestions for improvements are
outlined. The economic efficiency, the cost analysis and the properties of lignin-
derived carbon fibres and activated carbon are presented in Chap. 9. The book closes
with a chapter on surface treatment of lignin-based carbon fibres for composite
applications.
We are grateful to Brinda Megasyamalan and Anita Lekhwani of Springer Nature
for their wonderful contributions toward the success of this book. We are also grate-
ful to the contributors who came to the rescue when the book project was about to
fail due to withdrawal of authors for various reasons.
Kaiserslautern, Germany Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
Lagos, Nigeria Samson Oluropo Adeosun
Contents
1 Chemistry and Structure of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
2 Lignin Conversion to Carbon Fibre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Oluwashina Phillips Gbenebor and Samson Oluropo Adeosun
3 Bio-sourced Lignin: Recovery Techniques and Principles . . . . . . . . . 65
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
4 Biosourced Lignin: Sources and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Samson Oluropo Adeosun, Oluwashina Phillips Gbenebor,
and Odili Cletus
5 Characterization Techniques and Quality Assessment
of Lignin and Lignin Carbon Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Samson Oluropo Adeosun and Oluwashina Phillips Gbenebor
6 Melt-Processing of Lignin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
7 Stabilization of Lignin Fibers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
8 Carbonization, Activation and Graphitization of Lignin-Based
Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
9 Lignin Carbon Fibres: Properties, Applications and Economic
Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Sikiru Oulwarotimi Ismail and Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
10 Surface Treatment of Lignin Sourced Carbon Fibers:
Principles, Processes, and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Sibel Demiroğlu Mustafov and Mehmet Özgür Seydibeyoğlu
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
ix
Contributors
Samson Oluropo Adeosun Department of Metallurgical and Materials
Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan Institute for Composite Materials, Technical University
Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany
Odili Cletus Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, University
of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Sibel Demiroğlu Mustafov Department of Nanotechnology and Nanoscience,
İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
Oluwashina Phillips Gbenebor Department of Metallurgical and Materials
Engineering, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Sikiru Oulwarotimi Ismail School of Engineering and Computer Science,
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Mehmet Özgür Seydibeyoğlu Department of Material Science and Engineering,
İzmir Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Turkey
xi
Chapter 1
Chemistry and Structure of Lignin
Emmanuel Isaac Akpan
1.1 Lignin in Nature
The quest for bio-based and renewable materials coupled with depletion of fossil fuel
resources has led to greater focus on lignin and its applications in chemical, material
and structural industries. Lignin happens to be the second most abundant lignocellu-
losic natural polymer after cellulose [1]. It is mainly found in the cell wall of plant and
woody species. It is regarded as the main source of renewable aromatic structures on
earth and is expected to play a role in sustainable production of fuel, functional poly-
mers, aromatic chemicals, phenols, vanillin, ferulic acid, etc. [2]. The study of lignin
dates to the nineteenth century. Payen in 1838 and Schulze in 1865 described and
defined lignin as a hydrophilic substance present in plant cell walls [3]. Lignin is a
very complex polymer with divergent structure and properties. Processing lignin into
useful products (such as carbon fibres) requires an extensive understanding of the
chemistry and structure of lignin. In this chapter, the chemistry and structural aspects
of lignin are discussed. Lignin macromolecular structure, possible reactions sites,
mechanism of reactivity, surface and colloidal chemistry are presented in details.
1.1.1 Occurrence and Abundance
Lignocellulose materials (plant and wood) are composed of cellulose, hemicellulose
and lignin with small portion of other extractives such as wax and pectin [4]. In lig-
nocellulose materials, cellulose occurs as microfibrils embedded within a pool of
E. I. Akpan (*)
Institute for Composite Materials, Technical University Kaiserslautern,
Kaiserslautern, Germany
e-mail: [email protected]
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1
E. I. Akpan, S. O. Adeosun (eds.), Sustainable Lignin for Carbon Fibers:
Principles, Techniques, and Applications, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18792-7_1
