Environmental management through effective utilization of biowastes has been a topic of intensive research in recent years. This study examines the effect of pyrolysis temperature on the physical and morphological characteristic of biochar (BC) derived from lignocellulosic wastes. The biochar was prepared by pyrolysing date palm biomass at various temperatures, i.e., 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 °C. These pyrolysed biochars were then characterized for their carbon content, mineral compositions, chemical functionalities, and morphological structures, for understanding their physicochemical characteristics and microstructural evolution. It was revealed that the pyrolytic condition plays a key role in the formation of biochar microstructure. These biochar samples were then utilized without any further treatments/purifications for their practical application as reinforcement materials for polymer composites. They were blended with a polypropylene matrix by a melt mixing technique followed by injection molding process. The type of biochar was found to significantly affect the composites properties. Differences in microstructure, surface chemistry, and chemical compositions of BCs were observed to be determining factors affecting the compatibility and thermomechanical properties of resulted composites.

Highly pure cellulosic polymers obtained from waste lignocellulose offer great potential for designing novel materials in the concept of biorefinery. In this work, alpha-cellulose and nanocrystalline cellulose were isolated from the date palm trunk mesh (DPTM) through a series of physicochemical treatments. Supercritical carbon dioxide treatment was used to remove soluble extractives, and concentrated alkali pretreatment was used to eliminate the lignin portion selectively to obtain alpha-cellulose in approximately 94% yield. Further treatments of this cellulose yielded nanocrystalline cellulose. The structure–property relationship studies were carried out by characterizing the obtained polymers by various standard methods and analytical techniques such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDX-XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Almost 65% yield of pure cellulose was achieved, out of which 94% is the alpha-cellulose. This cellulose shows good thermal stability and crystallinity. The microscopic analysis of the nanocellulose showed a heterogeneous mix of irregular-shaped particles with a size range of 20–60 nm. The percentage crystallinity of alpha-cellulose and nanocellulose was found to be 68.9 and 71.8, respectively. Thus, this study shows that, this DPTM-based low-cost waste biomass can be a potential source to obtain cellulose and nano-cellulose.

Cellulosic polysaccharides have increasingly been recognized as a viable substitute for the depleting petro-based feedstock due to numerous modification options for obtaining a plethora of bio-based materials. In this study, cellulose triacetate was synthesized from pure cellulose obtained from the waste lignocellulosic part of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.). To achieve a degree of substitution (DS) of the hydroxyl group of 2.9, a heterogeneous acetylation reaction was carried out with acetic anhydride as an acetyl donor. The obtained cellulose ester was compared with a commercially available derivative and characterized using various analytical methods. This cellulose triacetate contains approximately 43.9% acetyl and has a molecular weight of 205,102 g·mol⁻¹. The maximum thermal decomposition temperature of acetate was found to be 380 °C, similar to that of a reference sample. Thus, the synthesized ester derivate can be suitable for fabricating biodegradable and “all cellulose” biocomposite systems.

Epoxy coating formulations containing 1%, 3%, and 5% SiO₂ nanoparticles were produced and applied on a mild steel substrate to achieve the objective of high performance corrosion resistance. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was employed to measure the anticorrosive properties of coatings. The corrosion tests were performed by exposing the coated samples in a solution of 3.5% NaCl for different periods of time, varied from 1 h and up to 30 days. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses revealed the presence of nanoparticles in the final cured samples. Establishing the incorporation of the nanoparticles in the coating formulations was confirmed by employing both of XRD and FT-IR techniques. The FT-IR spectra have proved to be satisfactory indicating that there was a complete reaction between the epoxy resin with the hardener. EIS measurements confirmed that the presence and the increase of SiO₂ nanoparticles greatly improved the corrosion resistance of the epoxy coating. The highest corrosion resistance for the coatings was obtained for the formulation with 5% SiO₂ nanoparticles content, particularly with prolonging the immersion time to 30 days.