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To decrease climate changes, more research focuses on decreasing waste wood biomass (WWB) burning and increasing its conversion into value-added products. The WWB was isolated from model wood processing wastewater with a new hybrid coagulant by the coagulation/flocculation method. This study is aimed to characterize the WWB and to investigate its effect in the composition of a hybrid lignocellulosic filler on the properties of recycled polypropylene (rPP)-based wood–plastic composites (WPCs). The waste biomass contained high-molecular lignin and hemicelluloses substances and represented a finely dispersed powder. It was hydrophobic and was characterized by enhanced thermal stability. To minimize the negative effect of polymer wastes on the environment, recycled polypropylene as a polymer matrix was used with the hybrid filler in fabricating WPC samples. The presence of the coagulated WWB in the hybrid filler composition positively affects the mechanical properties, water uptake and dimensional stability of the composite samples. Such a behavior of the waste biomass showed its function as a compatibilizer, which promoted the interfacial adhesion in the composite system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been shown that the found regularities of the interaction between lignosulfonate and polymeric cations in aqueous media can serve as a scientific basis for chemical modification of lignin by way of the formation of the interpolyelectrolyte complexes. This energy-saving and non-complicated method of modification was applied for obtaining new lignin-based soil improving agents. Water-soluble polymeric products of the interaction of lignosulfonate with three synthetic polymeric cations have been used in order to study the effect of their adsorption at the clay soil surface on the water stability of the artificially soil aggregates formed by the treatment of soil with lignin-based polyelectrolyte complexes (LPECs). The obtained results are explained from the viewpoint of the complex mechanism of soil structure formation, combining simultaneously the flocculation of soil particles and stabilization of the formed aggregates. The conducted field tests have shown that the application of the lignin-based polyelectrolyte complex as a soil conditioner at a deep loosening of heavy clay soil allows the improvement of the hydrophysical properties and the filtration ability of the soil sublayers and, thereby, to enhance the barley yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]