Revealing G-lignin model compounds pyrolysis behavior: β-O-4 and 5-5′ dimer and trimer

It is anticipated that the insight into the formation of the pyrolysis products would contribute to a fundamental understanding of the bond cleavage mechanism. Herein, in order to have a better understanding of the lignin pyrolysis property, the lignin pyrolysis property was investigated by using multi-scale lignin model components. The TGA and Py-GC/MS data indicated that even the lignin trimer contains both of the beta-O-4 and 5-5' chemical structures can be cleaved simultaneously and multiple bond cleavage mechanisms come into play, any of which has an effect on each other. But, overall, the low pyrolysis temperature (450-550 degrees C) is conducive to the enrichment of guaiacols as the main bio-oil, especially for guaiacol. This evidence could provide theoretical support for the pyrolysis of softwood lignin and the guidance for industrial lignin's high-value utilization and directional conversion.

Automated summary

The study investigates the pyrolysis property of lignin using multi-scale lignin model components and reveals multiple bond cleavage mechanisms even in smaller lignin molecules. It also shows that lower pyrolysis temperature is beneficial for the enrichment of guaiacols as the main bio-oil. This research provides important theoretical and practical insights for the utilization of lignin.