Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin

Rui Liu; Annika Smeds; Luyao Wang; Andrey Pranovich; Jarl Hemming; Stefan Willför; Hongbo Zhang; Chunlin Xu

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725

Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin

Rui Liu, Annika Smeds, Luyao Wang, Andrey Pranovich, Jarl Hemming, Stefan Willför, Hongbo Zhang^*, Chunlin Xu^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Industrial lignin fractionation is attracting increasing interest due to its enormous potential in the development of high value-added materials. However, the widely reported fractionation approaches are primarily focused on the separation of fractions with a low polydispersity index (PDI). In this study, based on the detailed characteristic examination of carefully sequential-extracted softwood Kraft lignin fractions, a novel method to isolate lignin fraction with decreased heterogeneity (LGF-dh), was established in consideration of impurities, elemental composition, molar mass distribution, carbohydrate content, functional hydroxyl content, and the content of lignin-relevant aromatic units. To characterize the mentioned properties, an elemental analyzer, SEC-MALS, GC-MS, GC-FID, Py/GC-MS, 31P-NMR, and HSQC-NMR were used to compare the differences of the sequential lignin fractions that were obtained by methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), acetone, and dioxane. Moreover, a practical and feasible three-step extraction process was proposed to separate the low heterogeneity lignin fraction from industrial lignin according to the different solubilities of each fraction in the green cosolvent system of EtOH/water, MeOH/water, and acetone/water. Overall, this work presented a comprehensive study on the properties of softwood lignin as well as proposed a feasible and convenient method to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin, which would promote its valorization.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13862-13873
Number of pages	12
Journal	ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering
Volume	9
Issue number	41
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725 https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725
Publication status	Published - 18 Oct 2021
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

R.L. acknowledges the financial support by China Scholarship Council (201908120132) and the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Finland. The Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020) is acknowledged for the research funding to support the current work. This work is also part of activities within the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre (PCC) at ÅAU. This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201908120132), the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Finland, and the Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020).

Keywords

compositions
lignin fractionation
softwood Kraft lignin
solvent fractionation
structural characteristics

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Liu, R., Smeds, A., Wang, L., Pranovich, A., Hemming, J., Willför, S., Zhang, H., & Xu, C. (2021). Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 9(41), 13862-13873. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725

@article{f96f6c6b9d154b17b2663896d5b6249a,

title = "Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin",

abstract = "Industrial lignin fractionation is attracting increasing interest due to its enormous potential in the development of high value-added materials. However, the widely reported fractionation approaches are primarily focused on the separation of fractions with a low polydispersity index (PDI). In this study, based on the detailed characteristic examination of carefully sequential-extracted softwood Kraft lignin fractions, a novel method to isolate lignin fraction with decreased heterogeneity (LGF-dh), was established in consideration of impurities, elemental composition, molar mass distribution, carbohydrate content, functional hydroxyl content, and the content of lignin-relevant aromatic units. To characterize the mentioned properties, an elemental analyzer, SEC-MALS, GC-MS, GC-FID, Py/GC-MS, 31P-NMR, and HSQC-NMR were used to compare the differences of the sequential lignin fractions that were obtained by methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), acetone, and dioxane. Moreover, a practical and feasible three-step extraction process was proposed to separate the low heterogeneity lignin fraction from industrial lignin according to the different solubilities of each fraction in the green cosolvent system of EtOH/water, MeOH/water, and acetone/water. Overall, this work presented a comprehensive study on the properties of softwood lignin as well as proposed a feasible and convenient method to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin, which would promote its valorization. ",

keywords = "compositions, lignin fractionation, softwood Kraft lignin, solvent fractionation, structural characteristics",

author = "Rui Liu and Annika Smeds and Luyao Wang and Andrey Pranovich and Jarl Hemming and Stefan Willf{\"o}r and Hongbo Zhang and Chunlin Xu",

note = "Funding Information: R.L. acknowledges the financial support by China Scholarship Council (201908120132) and the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at {\AA}bo Akademi University ({\AA}AU), Finland. The Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020) is acknowledged for the research funding to support the current work. This work is also part of activities within the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre (PCC) at {\AA}AU. Funding Information: This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201908120132), the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at {\AA}bo Akademi University ({\AA}AU), Finland, and the Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.",

year = "2021",

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doi = "10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725",

language = "English",

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Liu, R, Smeds, A, Wang, L, Pranovich, A , Hemming, J , Willför, S , Zhang, H & Xu, C 2021, 'Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin', ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, vol. 9, no. 41, pp. 13862-13873. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725, https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity

T2 - Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin

AU - Liu, Rui

AU - Smeds, Annika

AU - Wang, Luyao

AU - Pranovich, Andrey

AU - Hemming, Jarl

AU - Willför, Stefan

AU - Zhang, Hongbo

AU - Xu, Chunlin

N1 - Funding Information: R.L. acknowledges the financial support by China Scholarship Council (201908120132) and the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Finland. The Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020) is acknowledged for the research funding to support the current work. This work is also part of activities within the Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre (PCC) at ÅAU. Funding Information: This work was supported by the China Scholarship Council (201908120132), the Doctoral Programme in Chemical and Process Engineering at Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Finland, and the Business Finland Project (43674/31/2020). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.

PY - 2021/10/18

Y1 - 2021/10/18

N2 - Industrial lignin fractionation is attracting increasing interest due to its enormous potential in the development of high value-added materials. However, the widely reported fractionation approaches are primarily focused on the separation of fractions with a low polydispersity index (PDI). In this study, based on the detailed characteristic examination of carefully sequential-extracted softwood Kraft lignin fractions, a novel method to isolate lignin fraction with decreased heterogeneity (LGF-dh), was established in consideration of impurities, elemental composition, molar mass distribution, carbohydrate content, functional hydroxyl content, and the content of lignin-relevant aromatic units. To characterize the mentioned properties, an elemental analyzer, SEC-MALS, GC-MS, GC-FID, Py/GC-MS, 31P-NMR, and HSQC-NMR were used to compare the differences of the sequential lignin fractions that were obtained by methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), acetone, and dioxane. Moreover, a practical and feasible three-step extraction process was proposed to separate the low heterogeneity lignin fraction from industrial lignin according to the different solubilities of each fraction in the green cosolvent system of EtOH/water, MeOH/water, and acetone/water. Overall, this work presented a comprehensive study on the properties of softwood lignin as well as proposed a feasible and convenient method to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin, which would promote its valorization.

AB - Industrial lignin fractionation is attracting increasing interest due to its enormous potential in the development of high value-added materials. However, the widely reported fractionation approaches are primarily focused on the separation of fractions with a low polydispersity index (PDI). In this study, based on the detailed characteristic examination of carefully sequential-extracted softwood Kraft lignin fractions, a novel method to isolate lignin fraction with decreased heterogeneity (LGF-dh), was established in consideration of impurities, elemental composition, molar mass distribution, carbohydrate content, functional hydroxyl content, and the content of lignin-relevant aromatic units. To characterize the mentioned properties, an elemental analyzer, SEC-MALS, GC-MS, GC-FID, Py/GC-MS, 31P-NMR, and HSQC-NMR were used to compare the differences of the sequential lignin fractions that were obtained by methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), acetone, and dioxane. Moreover, a practical and feasible three-step extraction process was proposed to separate the low heterogeneity lignin fraction from industrial lignin according to the different solubilities of each fraction in the green cosolvent system of EtOH/water, MeOH/water, and acetone/water. Overall, this work presented a comprehensive study on the properties of softwood lignin as well as proposed a feasible and convenient method to reduce the heterogeneity of lignin, which would promote its valorization.

KW - compositions

KW - lignin fractionation

KW - softwood Kraft lignin

KW - solvent fractionation

KW - structural characteristics

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DO - 10.1021/acssuschemeng.1c04725

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AN - SCOPUS:85117845212

SN - 2168-0485

VL - 9

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JO - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering

JF - ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering

IS - 41

ER -

Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin

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Fractionation of Lignin with Decreased Heterogeneity: Based on a Detailed Characteristics Study of Sequentially Extracted Softwood Kraft Lignin

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