Abstract
This work assesses the behavior of organosolv lignin aggregates derived from Miscanthus x giganteus using different ethanol concentrations (10%, 25%, 50%, and 75% by volume). The percentage of lignin recovery was found to decrease from 75.8% to 71.4% and 25.1%, as the ethanol concentration was increased from 10% to 25% and 50%, respectively. Increasing the ethanol concentration further to 75% led to zero recovery. The purity of the precipitated lignin was consistently found to be ≥90%. Lignin derived from the dried supernatant obtained at 50% ethanol concentration resulted in high lignin purity (51.6%) in comparison with the other ethanol concentrations used. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis showed that the precipitated lignin and dried supernatant at 50% ethanol concentration possessed the highest peak intensity apportioned to wavenumber of lignin as compared to that of at 25% and 10% ethanol concentrations, and the results linked with the percentage of lignin purity. The results of particle size analysis for precipitated lignin demonstrated particle sizes of 306, 392, and 2050 nm for 10%, 25%, and 50% ethanol concentrations, respectively, and the remaining supernatant with average particle sizes of 1598, 1197, and 875 nm, respectively. These results were verified with the morphology of lignin macromolecules in scanning electron microscopy images. Results of the particle size distribution of lignin revealed that the overall size of lignin aggregates decreased with decreasing ethanol concentration. In summary, these findings suggest that ethanol concentration affected the behavior of lignin aggregates in water–ethanol solution.
Highlights
The demand for finite resources such as fossil fuels and natural gas are growing in most countries in the world in spite of the current energy crisis
The post hoc test analysis illustrated that percentage of lignin recovery using ethanol concentration (71.4%) did not differ significantly from the 10% ethanol concentration (75.8%), 25% ethanol concentration (71.4%) did not differ significantly from the 10% ethanol concentration at a 95% confidence level
The focus of this study is primarily trying to understand the behavior of lignin aggregates and the study has raised important question on whether the effect of ethanol concentration influenced the behavior of lignin aggregates
Summary
The demand for finite resources such as fossil fuels and natural gas are growing in most countries in the world in spite of the current energy crisis. The increasing awareness of the need for renewable and sustainable sources of energy has driven interest in lignocellulosic second-generation bioethanol. Miscanthus sp., a genus comprising of about 25 species has been proven as one of the biomass crops having high biomass energy potentials [1]. Miscanthus x giganteus (MxG), a hybrid between Miscanthus sinensis and Miscanthus sacchrisflorus, is a promising high-yield lignocellulosic biomass crop that is currently used as a solid fuel used in co-firing power stations [2]. Miscanthus sp., which can be obtained mainly from the Europe and the United States, has enormous potential to become a feedstock to support second-generation bioethanol production
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