Furfural residue (FR), composed mainly of cellulose and lignin, is an industrial waste produced during furfural manufacture. In this study, dioxane, alkali, ethanol, alkali-ethanol, and alkaline hydrogen peroxide (AHP) were used to extract lignins from FR. The structural features of these lignins obtained were characterized by sugar analysis, GPC, UV, FT-IR and HSQC spectra. All the lignin fractions contained low levels of carbohydrates (0.14-0.77%) and showed low molecular weights (870-1150 g/mol), mainly due to the significant degradation of lignin during furfural production. As compared to dioxane lignin (DL), other lignins showed lower molecular weights (Mw) owing to the partial cleavage of the linkages between lignin units. Results from HSQC spectra revealed that �-O-4', �-5',and �-1' were still the major linkages of the FR lignin. Moreover, p-coumaric and ferulic acids were released and co-precipitated in the lignin preparations extracted with alkali and AHP, whereas part of esterification in DL was preserved during the dioxane extraction. Lignins extracted with alkali-ethanol and alkali showed higher antioxidant activity than BHT, suggesting that the alkali-ethanol and alkali treatments provided promising ways to isolate lignin for potential application.

Structural features and antioxidant activity of lignin fractionated with alkaline and organosolv from furfural residue

247th National Meeting (2014)

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