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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

Extraction of Lignin with High β-O-4 Content by Mild Ethanol Extraction and Its Effect on the Depolymerization Yield
Published on: January 7, 2019
Oxidative C-C bond cleavage of lignin via electrocatalysis
Jinshu Huang1, Yumei Jian1, Min Zhou1
1State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Key Laboratory of Green Pesticide and Agricultural Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, State-Local Joint Laboratory for Comprehensive Utilization of Biomass, Center for R&D of Fine Chemicals, Guizhou University, Guiyang, China.
Abstract:
Lignin, which is an important component of biomass in nature and is constantly produced in industry, becomes potential raw material for sustainable production of fine chemicals and biofuels. Electrocatalysis has been extensively involved in the activation of simple molecules and cleavage-recasting of complex scaffolds in an elegant environment. As such, electrocatalytic cleavage of C-C(O) in β-O-4 model molecules of lignin to value-added chemicals has received much attention in recent years. This mini-review introduces various anodes (e.g., Pb, Pt, Ni, Co., and Ir) developed for electro-oxidative lignin degradation (EOLD) under mild conditions. Attention was placed to understand the conversion pathways and involved reaction mechanisms during EOLD, with emphasis on the product distribution caused by different electrodes.
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