Levulinic Acid-Based "Green" Solvents for Lignocellulose Fractionation: On the Superior Extraction Yield and Selectivity toward Lignin
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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.

Författare

Elodie Melro

Instuto Pedro Nunes (IPN)

Universidade de Coimbra

Alexander Riddell

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Kemiteknik

Diana Bernin

Chalmers, Kemi och kemiteknik, Kemiteknik

Ana M. Rosa da Costa

Universidade do Algarve

Artur J. M. Valente

Universidade de Coimbra

Filipe E. E. Antunes

Universidade de Coimbra

Instuto Pedro Nunes (IPN)

Anabela Romano

Universidade do Algarve

Magnus Norgren

Mittuniversitetet

B. Medronho

Universidade do Algarve

Mittuniversitetet

Biomacromolecules

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

Vol. 24 7 3094-3104

Ämneskategorier

Fysikalisk kemi

DOI

10.1021/acs.biomac.3c00169

PubMed

37288956

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2024-03-07