Article
Engineering, Environmental
Di Fan, Jian Yang, Xinyi Xie, Meifang Cao, Li Xu, Xueqing Qiu, Qiyu Liu, Xinping Ouyang
Summary: Production of high-yield noncondensed lignin via fractionation of lignocellulose using p-toluenesulfonic acid in methanol under microwave irradiation was achieved. Microwave irradiation effectively reduced the activation energy of lignin-carbohydrate complex (LCC) bonds cleavage and facilitated lignin exfoliation from carbohydrates. The lignin obtained showed promising yield and could be selectively depolymerized into monophenols with a high yield.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Di Fan, Xinyi Xie, Canxin Li, Xingwang Liu, Jian Zhong, Xinping Ouyang, Qiyu Liu, Xueqing Qiu
Summary: The novel extraction process using p-toluenesulfonic acid in ethanol successfully recovered 83.74% lignin yield from poplar sawdust, while retaining high amounts of cellulose and hemicelluloses. The major drivers of lignin condensation during fractionation were found to be acid concentration and extraction time. Ethanol reacted with lignin at the a-position to prevent the formation of condensed structures, leading to a promising yield of 50.35% of aromatic monomers during depolymerization over Pd/C catalysts.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Yin Yan, Lihe Zhang, Xi Zhao, Siyu Zhai, Qian Wang, Cui Li, Xu Zhang
Summary: This study presents the preparation of novel biocomposites using different lignin fractions and polylactic acid (PLA). The lignin samples were treated with deep eutectic solvent and esterification modification to improve the mechanical properties of PLA and provide antimicrobial and biocompatibility properties. The molecular weight of lignin was found to negatively influence the mechanical properties of the composites, highlighting the importance of the homogeneous utilization of lignin. The findings suggest that lignin-based composites have potential in biomedical applications.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Shaohua Fang, Qiuli Xia, Lin Zhang, Peng Zhan, Yan Qing, Zhiping Wu, Hui Wang, Lishu Shao, Na Liu, Jiaying He, Jin Liu
Summary: The effect of p-TsOH differentiated fractionation of poplar sawdust, eucalyptus sawdust, and rice straw below 100°C was investigated. The results showed that p-TsOH can effectively remove most lignin and hemicellulose from poplar and eucalyptus sawdust, while retaining cellulose. For rice straw, p-TsOH removed most lignin but retained most hemicellulose and cellulose under similar conditions. The structures and compositions of the pretreatment residues were characterized, and the fractionation mechanism of biomass was analyzed.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Rui Liu, Annika Smeds, Luyao Wang, Andrey Pranovich, Jarl Hemming, Stefan Willfor, Hongbo Zhang, Chunlin Xu
Summary: This study established a novel method to isolate lignin fraction with decreased heterogeneity based on detailed characteristic examination of softwood Kraft lignin fractions. A practical and feasible three-step extraction process was proposed to separate the low heterogeneity lignin fraction from industrial lignin. Overall, this work presented a comprehensive study on the properties of softwood lignin and proposed a method to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin.
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Ruoyan Li, Hui Ruan, Daihui Zhang, Chongyang Zhu, Chenhuan Lai, Qiang Yong
Summary: In this study, a combined pretreatment involving autohydrolysis and p-toluenesulfonic acid (p-TsOH) was performed on poplar to coproduce xylooligosaccharides (XOSs) and monosaccharides. The enzymatic digestibilities of the combined pretreated substrates were found to be extremely poor, but the addition of Tween 80 successfully improved the enzymatic hydrolysis.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2024)
Article
Materials Science, Paper & Wood
Songlin Wang, Zongjia Song, Hui He, Qian Wang
Summary: Poplar wood sawdust was chemically modified and separated into fractions using a mixture of p-toluene sulfonic acid and formic acid under different conditions. During the process, the rapid and nearly-complete dissolution of wood lignin was achieved by enhancing the cleavage of interunitary bonds. The optimized conditions led to the removal of over 80% of lignin while retaining almost all of the cellulose in the solid residue.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Antonio Ovejero-Perez, Victoria Rigual, Mercedes Oliet, Francisco Rodriguez, Juan Carlos Dominguez, M. Virginia Alonso
Summary: Biomass fractionation plays a crucial role in the development of competitive biorefineries, especially in the isolation and recovery of lignin. This study compared two fractionation processes, organosolv and ionosolv, using autohydrolyzed hemicellulose-free poplar as feedstock. The results showed that the ionosolv process at higher temperature achieved higher lignin recovery and produced more thermally stable lignin. The two processes had different effects on lignin recovery and properties.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Riku Maltari, Jussi Kontro, Klaus Koivu, Muhammad Farooq, Joona Mikkila, Rui Zhang, Kristiina Hilden, Jussi Sipila, Paula A. Nousiainen
Summary: Lignocellulosic biorefineries produce lignin-rich side streams with high valorization potential, but their recalcitrant structure limits their utilization. Fractionation and treatment with organic solvents such as ethanol and formic acid can produce homogeneous lignin fractions suitable for various applications.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Jacob D. Zwilling, Xiao Jiang, Franklin Zambrano, Richard A. Venditti, Hasan Jameel, Orlin D. Velev, Orlando J. Rojas, Ronalds Gonzalez
Summary: Recent advances in developing sustainable, micro- and nanoscale materials from biobased resources have focused on utilizing lignin to strengthen the bioeconomy. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the various interactions present during and after the formation of lignin micro- and nanoparticles (LPs). These interactions are influenced by the chemical composition, molecular weight distribution, and solvent/water polarity. Factors such as lignin concentration also play a role in nucleation and growth mechanisms, with LPs formed at low concentrations exhibiting larger particle sizes than those formed at higher concentrations.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Meysam Madadi, Dan Liu, Yuanhang Qin, Yinchao Zhang, Keikhosro Karimi, Meisam Tabatabaei, Vijai Kumar Gupta, Mortaza Aghbashlo, Sameh Samir Zahoor, Sameh Samir Ali
Summary: This study aims to develop an integrated pretreatment technology for the complete conversion of poplar biomass to XOS, glucose, and native-like lignin, using TsOH-catalyzed LHW and short-time ball milling. The optimized TsOH-catalyzed LHW pretreatment solubilized 98.5% of hemicellulose, releasing 49.8% XOS. Subsequent ball milling improved the enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and reduced crystallinity. This research proposes a sustainable waste-free biorefinery for biomass valorization.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Christian Henry, Graham Tindall, Mark C. Thies, Mojgan Nejad
Summary: This study explores the use of fractionated lignin as a component in the formulation of rigid PUR/PIR foams. Both hybrid poplar lignin and ALPHA-fractionated lignin were used as substitutes for petrochemical-based polyol in low-density foams. The ALPHA-based lignin outperformed the as-recovered lignin in terms of foam properties, and showed comparable performance to the control foam.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED POLYMER SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Junjun Zhu, Ningxin Jiao, Jinlan Cheng, Han Zhang, Guangliu Xu, Yong Xu, J. Y. Zhu
Summary: This study proposes an efficient biorefining strategy for co-producing bioethanol, furfural, and lignin nano particles (LNPs) from birch wood using acid hydrotropic fractionation. The process involves separate hydrolysis and fermentation of glucan-rich wood fraction to produce ethanol, concentration and catalysis of xylose-rich fraction to obtain furfural, and fractionation of enzymatic hydrolysis solid residue to prepare LNPs. The mass balance shows that 1.0 t ethanol, 0.61 t furfural, and 0.63 t LNPs can be produced from 6.5 t oven-dry birch wood.
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Chengqi Feng, Jiatian Zhu, Liming Cao, Li Yan, Chengrong Qin, Chen Liang, Shuangquan Yao
Summary: By using p-toluenesulfonic acid treatment, lignin was efficiently separated from lignocellulosic biomass. This study investigated the mechanism of lignin acidolysis, evaluated the efficiency and selectivity of lignin depolymerization, and provided important theoretical support for the use of p-TsOH treatment in the clean separation of lignin.
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Weiqi Guo, Shirong Sun, Ping Wang, Haonan Chen, Jiayi Zheng, Xuliang Lin, Yanlin Qin, Xueqing Qiu
Summary: This study demonstrates an organic solvent fractionation method for lignin homogenization, which effectively reduces the heterogeneity of lignin and utilizes each fraction to prepare polyurethane foams (PUFs) with excellent mechanical properties.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
(2022)
