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Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Designed for Molecular Recycling: A Lignin-Derived Semi-aromatic Biobased Polymer
Published on: November 30, 2020
Recyclable Choline Nicotinate and Ferulate Aqueous Solutions as Efficient Lignin Solvents
Airong Xu1, Lin Chen2, Xingmin Xu3
1School of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutics, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan 471003, China. airongxu@126.com.
Abstract:
Four novel choline carboxylate aqueous solution systems were developed by mixing H₂O with choline nicotinate [Ch][Na], choline ferulate [Ch][Fa], choline vanillate [Ch][Va] and choline syringate [Ch][Sa]. The solubility of lignin in the four solvents was determined at 25 °C. The influence of the molar ratio of H₂O to [Ch][Na] ([Ch][Fa], [Ch][Va] and [Ch][Sa]) and the anionic structure on lignin solubility were systematically investigated. It was found that, the anionic structure and H₂O content significantly affected lignin dissolution. Interestingly, H₂O/[Ch][Na] and H₂O/[Ch][Fa] solvents show efficient capacity for lignin dissolution even at room temperatures. The dissolution of lignin in H₂O/[Ch][Na] and H₂O/[Ch][Fa] solvents is mainly ascribed to the interaction of lignin with the alkyl chain in the anion and cation dissociated from [Ch][Na]([Ch][Fa]) by H₂O. In addition, the recycling of the lignin solvent was examined, and the structure and thermostability of the lignin regenerated from the solvent were also estimated.
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