The sequential disassembly of hardwoods has been suggested to start with the removal of hemicelluloses in hot-water extraction (HWE) and continue with the removal of lignin in an organosolv delignification in oxygen-pressurized acetone/water system (AWO). During HWE, lower-molecular-weight lignin fractions are removed (~15% of the total lignin) and cleavage of some acid-labile lignin-carbohydrate bonds occurs. Therefore, the organosolv lignin recovered from hot-water extracted hardwoods is expected to be of high purity and relatively low polydispersity. Promising results were obtained in AWO delignification of Paulownia tomentosa with/without HWE pretreatment. Both processes removed almost 95% of the total lignin; however, the AWO resulted in much higher delignification selectivity if performed after HWE. Hence, to evaluate the benefits of the inclusion of HWE on the organosolv lignin uniformity and purity, lignin will be recovered from the spent liquor produced after AWO delignification of P. tomentosa with/without HWE pretreatment and characterized using analytical and spectral methods.

Characterization of organosolv lignin from hot-water extracted <i>Paulownia tomentosa</i>

245th National Meeting (2013)

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Characterization of organosolv lignin from hot-water extracted Paulownia tomentosa