Abstract
The catalytic organosolv pulping of sugar maple bark was performed adopting the concept of forest biorefinery in order to transform bark into several valuable products. Our organosolv process, consisting of pre-extracting the lignocellulosic material followed by pulping with ferric chloride as a catalyst, was applied to sugar maple bark. The pre-extraction step has yielded a mixture of phenolic extractives, applicable as antioxidants. The organosolv pulping of extractives-free sugar maple bark yielded a solid cellulosic pulp (42.3%) and a black liquor containing solubilized bark lignin (24.1%) and products of sugars transformation (22.9% of hemicelluloses), mainly represented by furfural (0.35%) and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF, 0.74%). The bark cellulosic pulp was determined to be mainly constituted of glucose, with a high residual lignin content, probably related to the protein content of the original bark (containing cambium tissue). The biorefinery approach to the transformation of a solid bark residue into valuable biopolymers (lignin and cellulose) along with phenolic antioxidants from pre-extraction and the HMF derivatives from black liquor (applicable for 2,5-diformylfuran production) is an example of a catalytic process reposing on sustainable engineering and green chemistry concepts.
Highlights
The complete valorization of forest biomass residues through integrated biorefinery offers an opportunity for the sustainable and eco-friendly transformation of renewable materials
Tree barks are usually rich in phenolic extractives, which can be used as a source of natural antioxidants
We considered that the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses provided interesting for NMR and we consideredas that the XPS analyses interesting results for comparative comparative purposes, complementary resultsprovided to the other tests for the important finding of this nitrogen as content of bark, which is alsotodetermined organosolv lignin finding and purposes, complementary results the other both testsinfor the important of this cellulosiccontent pulp. of bark, which is determined both in organosolv lignin and cellulosic pulp
Summary
The complete valorization of forest biomass residues through integrated biorefinery offers an opportunity for the sustainable and eco-friendly transformation of renewable materials. Bark residues, produced in huge amounts by the forest industry, are available for transformation through an integrated biorefinery process, which could yield new products for interesting applications. The ash content of bark is between 4 and 8 times higher than that of the corresponding wood [3]. Tree barks are usually rich in phenolic extractives, which can be used as a source of natural antioxidants. Besides ash and extractive compounds, the structural components of bark cell walls, Catalysts 2017, 7, 294; doi:10.3390/catal7100294 www.mdpi.com/journal/catalysts
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