Deep Eutectic Solvent Extraction of High-Purity Lignin from a Corn Stover Hydrolysate

Dylan J Cronin; Xiaowen Chen; Lalehvash Moghaddam; Xiao Zhang

doi:10.1002/cssc.202001243

Deep Eutectic Solvent Extraction of High-Purity Lignin from a Corn Stover Hydrolysate

ChemSusChem. 2020 Sep 7;13(17):4678-4690. doi: 10.1002/cssc.202001243. Epub 2020 Jul 30.

Authors

Dylan J Cronin¹, Xiaowen Chen², Lalehvash Moghaddam³, Xiao Zhang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Bioproducts, Science & Engineering Laboratory, Washington State University, 2710 Crimson Way, Richland, WA, USA.
² National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 15013, Denver W Pkwy, Golden, CO, USA.
³ Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2432, 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
⁴ Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99354, USA.

PMID: 32671961
DOI: 10.1002/cssc.202001243

Abstract

A lactic acid/chlorine chloride-based deep eutectic solvent (DES) was used for the extraction of high-purity lignin (up to 94.7 %) in high yield (up to 75 %) from the hydrolysis/fermentation residue corn stover hydrolysate (CSH), which was generated from a pilot-plant-scale biorefinery. A range of extraction conditions were investigated, which involved varying reaction temperature, time, and DES composition. The relationship between lignin yield, purity, and structural characteristics with DES treatment conditions was determined. The extraction of high-purity lignin from hydrolysis/fermentation residues presents a promising approach for enhancing the economic feasibility of a lignocellulose biorefinery. It was also determined that DES extraction can produce lignin with a controlled range of molecular weight and functional group content.

Keywords: corn stover; deep eutectic solvents; depolymerization; hydrolysis; lignin.

Abstract

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