Review Articles

Lignin, a prospective bioresource from plants, has been undervalued for several dozen years because of the unpredictable structures and their changeability during extraction. Recently, lignin has become a star for certain researchers who are aiming to develop sunscreen products offering production against UV radiation. The preparation of lignin into sunscreens as a natural alternative to chemical products may offer new perspectives. This review discusses how lignin isolation methods and the resulting structural characteristics affect UV absorption, thereby determining the potential of lignin as a UV-absorbing and blocking agent in sunscreen formulations. The application of lignin in cosmetics may present great benefit to humans and their skin care needs.

Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant renewable energy resource whose total energy content far exceeds current global demand. Its polysaccharides, cellulose, and hemicelluloses are primary targets for valorization; however, the recalcitrant structure of plant cell walls necessitates effective pretreatment. Among physical, physicochemical, chemical, and biological methods, advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) have emerged as an efficient and environmentally compatible chemical strategy. This review systematically evaluates nine major AOPs for lignocellulosic biomass pretreatment: Fenton and Fenton-like processes, alkaline H₂O₂, peracetic acid, persulfate, ozone, photocatalysis, electrochemical oxidation, wet air oxidation, and cavitation-assisted methods. For each, reaction mechanisms, advantages and limitations, recent advances, economic considerations, and scale-up challenges are discussed. Persulfate-based systems, wet air oxidation, and hybrid strategies (e.g., photo-Fenton, alkaline H₂O₂–cavitation, electrochemical–ozone–H₂O₂) are identified as particularly promising. Future research should prioritize novel catalyst development, reactor optimization, multi-mechanism integration, and rigorous techno-economic and life-cycle assessments. Coupling AOPs with renewable energy sources will be critical to improving energy efficiency and enabling cost-effective large-scale application.

Establishing an economically efficient supply chain for biomass feedstock is a critical prerequisite for achieving large-scale bioenergy development under China’s “dual carbon” strategy. Focusing on agro-forestry residue feedstocks, this paper systematically reviews the technologies and models for the key stages of their collection, storage, and transportation (CST) system. The inherent physicochemical characteristics of biomass, such as low bulk density and high moisture content, constitute a fundamental physical bottleneck that constrains its economic viability. To this end, pretreatment technologies, with densification at their core, are widely recognized as a critical technological stage for enhancing logistics efficiency and achieving value addition. In contrast to the technological optimization of individual stages, systemic integration strategies—such as establishing a hybrid “decentralized-centralized” supply chain model and employing multi-modal transport—represent a more effective pathway to achieving whole-chain cost reduction and efficiency enhancement. Through a systematic integration of research in this field, this paper emphasizes that the key to resolving CST bottlenecks lies in adopting a whole-chain perspective that involves the deep coupling of essential pretreatment technologies with innovative supply chain organizational models.