TITLE:
Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Lignin
AUTHORS:
Julia Schuler, Ursel Hornung, Andrea Kruse, Nicolaus Dahmen, Jörg Sauer
KEYWORDS:
Lignin Liquefaction, Hydrothermal Cleavage, Chemical Use of Biomass
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
20,
2017
ABSTRACT: The majority of platform chemicals are currently
provided through crude oil processes. Nevertheless, the substitution of the
crude oil with biomass should be the ecological aim. Lignin, an aromatic
macromolecule, may play an important role in that exchange, as it is the only
bio based source of aromatic compounds. For instance, it could be a source of
bifunctional aromatic molecules, like the monocyclic compounds catechol or
guaiacol, or bifunctional oligomers. However, no process for the production of
aromatics from lignin in technical scale has been established until now. Hence,
the focus of this work is to clarify the chemical degradation mechanism under
hydrothermal conditions, to liquefy lignin delivering high functional molecules
and to increase the yield and selectivity of the cleavage towards bifunctional
molecules like catechol. The combination of fast hydrolysis, thermal
degradation reactions and hydrogenation drives the hydrothermal liquefaction;
this gives the possibility to narrow down the product spectrum in comparison to
other “dry” cleavage methods, towards a higher yield of e.g. catechols.