Continuous-Flow Microreactor Accelerates Molecular Collisions for Lignin Depolymerization to Phenolic Monomers and...

Area of Science:

• Chemical Engineering
• Biomass Conversion
• Sustainable Chemistry

Background:

• Lignin depolymerization is crucial for its valorization.
• Existing methods primarily use batch processing, limiting scalability.
• Microreactor technology offers potential for continuous lignin processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a continuous-flow microreactor system for lignin depolymerization.
• To investigate the influence of process parameters on product yields.
• To establish an efficient strategy for producing fine chemical intermediates from lignin.

Main Methods:

• Development of a continuous-flow microreactor.
• Optimization of temperature, pressure, residence time, NaOH dosage, and solvent.
• Characterization of depolymerized products using analytical techniques.

Main Results:

• Achieved a 77.73 wt % lignin conversion rate.
• Obtained a 13.26 wt % monomer yield, with 77.81% phenolic compounds.
• Identified phenolic tetramers and trimers as major oil components, with high 2,6-dimethoxyphenol yield due to β-O-4 linkage cleavage.

Conclusions:

• Continuous-flow microreactor enables effective lignin depolymerization.
• Process parameters can be tuned to control monomer and oligomer yields.
• This approach presents a promising strategy for lignin valorization into fine chemical intermediates.