Development of Lignin-Based Mesoporous Carbons for the Adsorption of Humic Acid

[Image: see text] 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).