Levulinic Acid-Based "Green" Solvents for Lignocellulose Fractionation: On the Superior Extraction Yield and Selectivity toward Lignin
Journal article, 2023

The high potential use of lignin in novel biomaterialsand chemicalsrepresents an important opportunity for the valorization of the mostabundant natural resource of aromatic molecules. From an environmentalperspective, it is highly desirable replacing the hazardous methodscurrently used to extract lignin from lignocellulosic biomass anddevelop more sustainable and environmentally friendly approaches.Therefore, in this work, levulinic acid (a "green" solventobtained from biomass) was successfully used, for the first time,to selectively extract high-quality lignin from pine wood sawdustresidues at 200 degrees C for 6 h (at atmospheric pressure). Moreover,the addition of catalytic concentrations of inorganic acids (i.e.,H2SO4 or HCl) was found to substantially reducethe temperature and reaction times needed (i.e., 140 degrees C, 2 h)for complete lignin extraction without compromising its purity. NMRdata suggests that condensed OH structures and acidic groups are presentin the lignin following extraction. Levulinic acid can be easily recycledand efficiently reused several times without affecting its performance.Furthermore, excellent solvent reusability and performance of extractionof other wood residues has been successfully demonstrated, thus makingthe developed levulinic acid-based procedure highly appealing andpromising to replace the traditional less sustainable methodologies.

Author

Elodie Melro

Inst Pedro Nunes

University of Coimbra

Alexander Riddell

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Technology

Diana Bernin

Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chemical Technology

Ana M. Rosa da Costa

University of Algarve

Artur J. M. Valente

University of Coimbra

Filipe E. E. Antunes

University of Coimbra

Inst Pedro Nunes

Anabela Romano

University of Algarve

Magnus Norgren

Mid Sweden University

B. Medronho

University of Algarve

Mid Sweden University

Biomacromolecules

1525-7797 (ISSN) 1526-4602 (eISSN)

Vol. 24 7 3094-3104

Subject Categories

Physical Chemistry

DOI

10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00169

PubMed

37288956

More information

Latest update

3/7/2024 9