Assesment on the chemical fractionation of Eucalyptus nitens wood: Characterization of the products derived from the structural components

Abstract

Following an integrated approach, Eucalyptus nitens wood samples were subjected to consecutive stages of aqueous fractionation and organosolv delignification, in order to separate hemicelluloses (mainly converted into soluble products from the aqueous stage) from lignin (largely converted into soluble fragments in the organosolv stage) and from cellulose (accumulated in the solid phase from pulping). The compositions of selected reaction media were studied by selected spectrophotometric, spectrometric, chromatographic, and nuclear magnetic resonance methods; and the solid phases from treatments were studied by diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental information from the above tasks provides a deep insight on the yields, properties and potential applications of the target fractions in the scope of biorefineries.

Keywords: Autohydrolysis; Biorefinery; Characterization; Delignification; Eucalyptus nitens; Fractionation.