There is an increasing
urge to make the transition toward biobased
materials. Lignin, originating from lignocellulosic biomass, can be
potentially valorized as humic acid (HA) adsorbents
via
lignin-based mesoporous carbon (MC). In this work, these materials
were synthesized for the first time starting from modified lignin
as the carbon precursor, using the soft-template methodology. The
use of a novel synthetic approach, Claisen rearrangement of propargylated
lignin, and a variety of surfactant templates (Pluronic, Kraton, and
Solsperse) have been demonstrated to tune the properties of the resulting
MCs. The obtained materials showed tunable properties (BET surface
area: 95–367 m
2
/g, pore size: 3.3–36.6 nm,
V
BJH
pore volume: 0.05–0.33 m
3
/g, and carbon and oxygen content: 55.5–91.1 and 3.0–12.2%,
respectively) and good performance in terms of one of the highest
HA adsorption capacities reported for carbon adsorbents (up to 175
mg/g).