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Published on: March 9, 2021
Utilization of guaiacol-based deep eutectic solvent for achieving a sustainable biorefinery
Chen Huang1, Jinyuan Cheng2, Yunni Zhan2
1Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Jiangsu Province Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Materials, Nanjing 210042, China; Co-Innovation Center for Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee Knoxville, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Abstract:
This study proposed a renewable deep eutectic solvent (DES) pretreatment using lignin-derived guaiacol as the hydrogen bond donor. The DES showed excellent biomass fractionation efficiency after the incorporation of trace AlCl3 as the reinforcer, which removed 79.1 % lignin while preserving more than 90 % glucan. The pretreated bamboo exhibited 96.2 % glucan enzymatic hydrolysis yield at only 110 °C. The physicochemical properties of the pretreated solids were comprehensively investigated to explain how the DES fractionation overcame the biomass recalcitrance. The regenerated lignin from the DES pretreatment was also analyzed, which revealed that lignin β-O-4 bond was significantly cleaved. This guaiacol-based DES could greatly contribute to establish a closed-loop biorefinery sequence with high lignin fractionation efficiency and great solvent recyclability.
