Abstract
Obtaining renewable fuels and chemicals from lignin is an important challenge in the use of biomass to achieve sustainability and energy goals. At present, acid-based catalysts for lignin depolymerization are considered to be a potential but challenging way to produce low-molecular-mass aromatic chemicals. The main concerns with the use of Lewis acids and zeolite catalysts are the corrosive nature of the acids, the possible formation of unwanted byproducts, and the possible formation of harsh reaction conditions. We achieved high-yield conversion using phosphotungstic acid (PTA) polyoxometalate catalysts in ethanol/water under different reaction conditions with little formation of bio-char. The monomeric products were mainly composed of various types of aromatic compounds. Our method does not require the use of precious metals and harsh reaction conditions—it only requires relatively mild reaction conditions and homogeneous catalysis—thereby greatly reducing operating costs and increasing the yields. Therefore, this PTA catalyst, which has excellent performance in bulrush lignin catalysis, would be a good alternative to the traditional catalysts used in lignin depolymerization and have wide application in biomass use.
Highlights
The development of industry and growth of the world’s population have increased the global consumption of fossil fuels and related environmental problems
The results from this study indicate that the phosphotungstic acid (PTA) catalyst would provide a viable option for the production of aromatic monomers from lignin under different reaction conditions
Is theofweight of the WC is dissolved lignin residue, WTL is the weight of the THF-dissolved lignin residue, WC is the weight of the bio-char, and WPM is the weight of the phenolic monomer, which was determined by gas chromatography–flame ionization detector (GC–FID)
Summary
The development of industry and growth of the world’s population have increased the global consumption of fossil fuels and related environmental problems. Lignin is the second largest source of biomass on Earth, and, compared to cellulose and hemicellulose, is the most abundant natural source of non-fossil-based aromatic hydrocarbons, due to having high carbon content and high thermal stability [3]. It represents a sustainable natural resource and is a phenolic polymer derived primarily from three hydroxycinnamyl alcohols: p-coumaryl alcohol, coniferyl alcohol, and sinapyl alcohol [4]. The presence of these advantages and functional groups suggests that lignin has great potential in the production of renewable aromatic platform chemicals and carbon materials
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