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- Melro, Elodie, et al.
(författare)
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Dissolution of kraft lignin in alkaline solutions
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. - : Elsevier BV. - 0141-8130 .- 1879-0003. ; 148, s. 688-695
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lignins are among the most abundant renewable resources on the planet. However, their application is limited by the lack of efficient dissolution and extraction methodologies. In this work, a systematic and quantitative analysis of the dissolution efficiency of different alkaline-based aqueous systems (i.e. lithium hydroxide, LiOH; sodium hydroxide, NaOH; potassium hydroxide, KOH; cuprammonium hydroxide, CuAOH; tetrapropylammonium hydroxide, TPAOH and tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, TBAOH) is reported, for the first time, for kraft lignin. Phase maps were determined for all systems and lignin solubility was found to decrease in the following order: LiOH > NaOH > KOH > CuAOH > TPAOH > TBAOH, thus suggesting that the size of the cation plays an important role on its solubility. The π∗ parameter has an opposite trend to the solubility, supporting the idea that cations of smaller size favor lignin solubility. Dissolution was observed to increase exponentially above pH 9–10 being the LiOH system the most efficient. The soluble and insoluble fractions of lignin in 0.1 M NaOH were collected and analyzed by several techniques. Overall, data suggests a greater amount of simple aromatic compounds, preferentially containing sulfur, in the soluble fraction while the insoluble fraction is very similar to the native kraft lignin.
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2. |
- Melro, Elodie, et al.
(författare)
-
Levulinic acid : A novel sustainable solvent for lignin dissolution
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. - : Elsevier BV. - 0141-8130 .- 1879-0003. ; 164, s. 3454-3461
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Lignin is a natural, renewable resource with potential to be used in biomaterials. Due to its complex structure, its efficient dissolution is still challenging, which hinders its applicability at large scale. This challenge become harder considering the current need of sustainable and environmentally friendly solvents. To the best of our knowledge, this work reports for the first time the dissolution of kraft lignin in levulinic acid, a “green” solvent, and compares its efficiency with common carboxylic acids and sulfuric acid. It has been found that levulinic acid has a high capacity to dissolve kraft lignin at room temperature (40 wt% solubility), and it efficiency is not compromised when diluting the acid with water (up to 40 wt% water content). The Kamlet-Taft π⁎ parameter of the different acidic solvents was estimated and found to correlate well with their solubility performance. Lignins previously dissolved in levulinic and formic acids were selected to be regenerated and minor differences were found in thermal stability and morphological structure, when compared to native kraft lignin. However, an increase in the content of the carbonyl groups in the regenerated lignin material was observed.
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