Chenggu Cai, Zhanbiao Wang, Lei Ma, Zhaoxian Xu, Jianming Yu, Fuguang Li

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

Doi:10.1016/j.rser.2024.114651

Abstract：

Cotton is an important cash crop because it is the main natural fiber used in the textile industry and provides protein and oil to human and animal diets via cotton seeds. After the cotton fiber and seeds have been harvested, massive amounts of cotton stalk remain, which are typically underutilized and treated by burning or returning them to the field. However, cotton stalk has many valuable characteristics, such as good fiber properties, good mechanical performance, high cellulose content, and high heating value, making it suitable for applications in bio-based materials, chemicals, and biofuel production. In this review, the current knowledge related to these three main groups of value-added products generated from cotton stalk is comprehensively summarized. The results of techno-economic assessments of materials, chemicals, and biofuel production from cotton stalk are discussed. Furthermore, promising strategies to eliminate the main obstacles to cotton stalk valorization, including technological and processing approaches, are proposed. Overall, this review verifies the valorization potential of cotton stalk and provides new ideas for the high-value utilization of other agricultural wastes.